Becky runs a local wedding business. She’s doing all the right things. She has a really nice website, networks well in town, and runs ads in the local media. Her business was doing well up until a few months ago. To pump things up, last month she paid $800 for an ad in our bride’s magazine. Still no calls. This is the time bride’s are planning their weddings, and her business had dried up completely. Then she received an email from her server saying that 4 months ago her credit card had expired and they had paused her service. When she went to her website, it said “under construction.”

That isn’t just a waste of $800, it has far-reaching effects. Someone else may mention her service and that person will say, “She’s out of business. Her website’s gone.”

ARE YOU CHECKING YOUR WEBSITE FREQUENTLY?

Every two weeks, log on to your own website and see what you find. It can be shocking.

Links can go down, servers can terminate you and not let you know. It’s the Internet, after all.

Occasionally I’ll log on to someone’s site in August and there’s an ad for a Valentine’s Day special. That says to me “neglect.”

Or I’ll go to a site and they promise a weekly poll, and the same one shows for months. This says to me “doesn’t do what they say they will.”

Sometimes I go to a coaching site and it feels old. It’s stale, stagnant. After months, nothing has changed. Things move fast on the Internet. You can appear ‘old’ quickly.

When you drop in at your website, typos will also pop out at you. Typos translate as “careless.”

Care for your website like a living thing. Pets need food, plants need watering. Your website needs attention too!

Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach,
http://www.webstrategies.cc. Marketing consultation,
implementation, website review, SEO optimization, article
writing and submission, help with ebooks and other
strategies. Susan is the author or How to Write an eBook
and Market It on the Internet. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc
for information and free ezine. Specify Checklist.