When was the last time you updated your company website? Today? Last week? Last month? Last year? I’m hoping it was no later than last week, but a recent report suggests otherwise. SiteKreator’s Small Business Usage Study found that 54% of small businesses update their websites less than once per month.

Why it Matters: Content Is Still King. 

From an SEO perspective, if you want Google and the other search engines to rank your site high for your chosen keywords, your site needs to supply a steady flow of fresh, quality content related to those keywords.

From a search perspective, when the ‘searcher’ types what he’s looking for into the Google search bar, he now looks for the most relevant information AND the most recently produced. For instance, when I’m searching for a technical solution to a website problem, I’m not interested in results from 2008. Google gives me the option to filter by time range and I find that very useful.

From a viewer’s perspective, when a new visitor arrives at your site, will he find what he’s looking for? If not, your ranking on the search results page won’t matter.

Introducing the New Green Light Sign Solutions Website

Our client, Green Light Sign Solutions, specializes in energy-efficient electronic message centers and LED outdoor signs. As we developed their new website, we returned again and again to the three perspectives mentioned above. Honing in on the viewer’s perspective, we looked for ways to build-in opportunities for engagement and interactivity. And let me add a quick disclaimer here: we’re still building out portions of the site behind the scenes.

This site is built using WordPress because it’s versatile, full-featured, and user-friendly. Our client will be able to easily and frequently add content – in the form of posts, image galleries, and video. A support forum will make it easy to provide troubleshooting assistance and answer customer questions. The key idea here is ease of use for every staff member who will have access to the site, so that quality information can consistently be delivered in a variety of formats for site visitors.

Have you been thinking about how to make your website more interactive and easy to update? Then you’re on the right track. Share your plans with us by leaving a comment, we love to hear from you. Here’s to a successful 2011!

Related Off-Site Articles:
Online Engagement and the Small Biz Success Correlation

Exact Target reports that Twitter users are more likely to post regularly to blogs, more likely to post product and service reviews, and more likely to share coupons on coupon sites. We’re also more likely to write articles, post videos, contribute to wiki’s, and comment on other people’s blogs. This rings true for me, because as a Twitter user, I like to find interesting or educational tidbits that I can share with my readers. 

I found the statistics above on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim, a site I follow in Google Reader. They could have just as easily come from a short post and link on Twitter. Either way, I’m sharing with you here, and I’ll share this information on Twitter and our Zero To Sixty Marketing Facebook page, and a variety of other sites. Other people do the same thing, and that’s how online content gains wings.

What does this have to do with your local business? Give us something to talk about! Post your in-store specials to Twitter, offer recipes, how-to articles, tip sheets, etc. If it relates to your product or service or offers something of value, share it on Twitter, Facebook, and directly on your blog. Doing so multiplies your message and provides more opportunity for your readers to expand your reach. Get it right, and it’s free viral promotion for your business.

Are you on Twitter? Let’s connect! Just click the link or look for @ShariV. Please include your Twitter address in your comments, below.

Do you write your own Web site and blog content? Your own articles? If you are paying to have your content written, consider the source.

There’s an old saying that still holds true – you get what you pay for. If you purchase from freelance writing boards and only offer low-ball pay, you may end up with regurgitated content that was previously written for someone else, or student work.

Not that you can’t find good writers on a freelance job board, of course you can. But some writers who are willing to work for less may not believe your project is worth their best effort. If you do hire off of a job board, offer a decent rate of pay for the job to be done. This benefits everyone and gets you closer to the writer who knows what good content is worth and is willing to do a great job if paid fairly. This is a business.

“Fairly” isn’t the lowest price. A writer has to know style, grammar, punctuation, and often conduct research. Your writer may need to be capable of writing in your voice. You may need the material to be humorous, edgy, maternal or technical. All of these characteristics make up more than most realize when it comes to a writer’s competence.

Some writers can’t deliver creative, original, style-appropriate copy. The ones that can’t, often don’t understand what good writing is worth. Some offer their services on the cheap looking for easy money for little effort. So do you want 20 inexpensive, somewhat usable, lower quality posts? Or do you want four, great, keyword-rich, insightful and professional sounding posts at a higher rate per post? It’s all in how you look at it.

If you don’t want to take chances, get your writing done by people who understand the writing business. Hire writers who have their work reviewed, and are knowledgeable about how to convey your perspective in the correct style to the right people in the right arena.

At Zero To Sixty Marketing, that would be Shari Voigt and Susan Hamilton. Call us today for more information about how we can help you with all your copywriting needs, and be sure you’re getting the best copy for your money.

I gave away a little of today’s post in my last one, where I addressed how to use keywords. Remember, I asked you if you could:

• Use them effectively in your H1, or header title.
• Use them in your H2, or header for a bullet or numbered list.
• Use them in the body of your short, opening paragraph.

That’s a start. Choosing one keyword, and using it like I showed you in Part 4 is very important. Using too many keywords can often take away from the quality writing you want to share with your readers. That one primary keyword should be used as described above, and it should be used in the opening lines of text under your title.  

More Keyword Effectiveness

Another important placement of your primary keyword is in the anchor text of a link. Here’s why:

• The anchor text, or the different colored wording used when linking, provided the links connect (and you must always check), adds good authority.
• Anchor text used for linking outbound to another, possibly higher ranking site, may naturally turn into an inbound link once a relationship between authors is established. Keyword-rich anchor text coming in on an inbound link is good for authority.
• Anchor text using effective keywords for your internal linking between pages of your website is also good for your reader, and by default, you.
• Posting comments on relevant blogs and forums will also bring links in from other sites, so you want to include good keyword-rich anchor text when you leave them.

You’re not completely limited to one keyword for all your content. If used too frequently, you can actually hurt your site, not help it. Shoot for using your primary keyword naturally 2-3 times on a page in the places we’ve talked about. Then, go back and see if another word or phrase that you’ve researched can be used as a subordinate, worked into the text of your content. Don’t use it more than a few times.

It’s imperative that you write for your readership; your potential customers, your existing customers, and others, such as information gatherers and peers in your business to business relationships. If you can do this fluidly, and maintain the quality of your content, you’ve got the basics of a recipe for success.

One more thing as I wrap up this series. Be a good steward of your site. Make sure to reply to comments and return links to readers who have helped you link. It’s not going to hurt your company to complement or agree with a competitor’s comments or product lines, and doing so can actually be helpful for more than just linking. Once relationships are built, and that takes some time, you may very well find yourself in a situation where you’re offered extra work. Sometimes a company finds it better to send extra work to someone they trust than to risk turning down work with no alternative for their customer. That could only be possible with effective link strategies.

We’d love to hear from you. Be sure to leave your comments or questions with a link to your company along with your name below. Here’s to your small business success!

Photo Credit:   Flickr’s danielle_blue

Related Posts:

Very Basic SEO 5 PT Series

Where Do You Find Your Keywords PT2

Using Keyword Research Tools PT3

How Do We Use Those Keywords PT4