Managing Your Site

Websites Need to Be Updated

Though it requires an investment of time and energy, I encourage clients to update their sites at least once a week. If the most recent news entry is several months old, you may be inadvertently conveying a sense of carelessness. New content, on the other hand, can reflect your dedication to your business and your desire to keep the lines of communication with your audience open.

WordPress: From a Client Perspective

WordPress is my CMS of choice since it is user-friendly and accommodates many different types of sites. Because of the active and vibrant user community, many helpful resources are available. The WordPress Codex is a great place to start.

Feedburner

While you’re working hard producing new content, why not make it easier for your site visitors to keep track of updates? Unless you decided on a brochure or static format, I will install a Google service known as Feedburner during development. Visitors can then sign up for an RSS-feed or email subscription on your site. Subscribers will benefit from a stronger connection with your company, and your name will stay on their minds.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is an amazing free tool which collects online traffic data. I install Analytics on all my sites.

To login to your Analytics account, go to www.google.com/analytics. Click “Access Analytics” and use your Google email address and password to login. Click “View report” next to your site address.

When you access your report, you can analyze stats such as the number of visitors, how they arrived on your site, the average amount of time spent on the site, where visitors are from geographically, and the pages they are visiting the most. Keeping an eye on your Analytics allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. You can monitor the number of visitors and their sources after initiatives such as a redesign, an email campaign, or a print promotion. The resulting insights can inform your future marketing decisions and make you a smarter business owner.