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News
Thursday, 12 January 2006
A really simple idea to keep your site fresh is to implement a “news” section on your website. Basically write 2 articles a month and either them post to your website via a Content Management System (if you have one), or get your web developer to do it for you. Some really great ideas that you can use for your new section could include: New products, recent jobs or contracts your company may have won or completed, any events that you are holding, some tips about your particular industry, reminders (“Christmas is coming up – we are holding a 10% off sale), commentary, staff appointments or awards.
If you are doing a news column it is also really important that each article contains “substance”. A good news article should be least 200 – 300 words, preferably with a couple of great photos. On the flipside, don’t make an article too long – remember reading information off a screen is really difficult to do. So 200 – 300 words is an ideal length.
This principle of having new “substantial” content on your website is relevant whatever you do – whether it be a new product, recent job or staff appointment the user who reads it should feel that is relevant, punchy and interesting. Having punchy and interesting content on your site will encourage your customer to return your site more regularly and either get in contact with you to discuss their needs, or purchase your product online if you have an eCommerce facility.
These are all great ideas, however you’ve really got to allocate time to these tasks to get them working effectively for you. To write 2 articles a month (of say 200 – 300 words), realistically is going to take about an hour per article. Also it’s a good idea to brainstorm as many ideas as possibly so that if you have a month light on news, you’ve got a store of ideas.
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