Get the year off to a great start
2012 looks set to be an exciting year online, with social media becoming more and more mainstream, mobile internet access on the rise and new gadgets galore.
What better time to take stock and make sure you’re well placed to take advantage of all the digital world has to offer. Here are 5 ‘resolutions’ to make sure your online presence is in the best shape it can possibly be.
1. Get blogging
We’ve spoken before about how important we think blogs are to your online marketing success.
If you don’t have one yet, now is a great time to set one up and start blogging. With every new post you publish increasing your chances of being found, blogs are a fantastic way to drive traffic – and customers – to your site and services.
Blogging is a cheap and easy way to make a big impression online and – as long as you make the time to blog, ensuring it stays fresh and engaging – your blog will be one of your best online assets in 2012 and beyond.
2. Check your social media networks
2011 saw a number of new social media networks spring up or gain exposure: Quora, Pinterest, Google+…maybe you joined some, maybe you didn’t. Maybe you have a presence on others which you haven’t updated in months.
Whatever networks you’re on, this is the perfect time to take stock.
In our opinion, you must be on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But do you still need to be on MySpace? Is that old Blogger site sitting there gathering dust instead of readers? Worse still – are the updates on the old forgotten networks out of date and not reflecting who you are any more? Too bad – the search engines won’t care, and will still happily serve up your less than scintillating online past to anyone who searches for it.
Take the opportunity now to decide which social networking sites you’re going to focus on – and get rid of the rest.
3. Make sure your profiles are perfect
From our eBook - Writing a Killer Profile
Once you’ve done that, make sure your profiles on all the networks you use are complete.
Make sure they describe what you do accurately, consistently and honestly. Put the relevant keywords in there, making sure you’ve got the best chance of being discovered by potential customers and clients.
In this increasingly joined-up online world, make sure your profiles are consistent – don’t claim to be one thing on one network, and another thing on the next!
Lastly, make sure you’re presenting your best face online by making sure your profile picture is up to date and showing you in your best possible light.
There’s an entire chapter of our FREE eBook – 5 Ways To Light Your Way Online dealing with writing a killer profile – why not download a copy now and read more?
4. Have a content audit
Take a look at what you’re saying on your website. Perhaps the content there was written a couple of days before the site went live, when you were under pressure and in a hurry.
Does it still reflect you and your brand? Is it complete? Is there more you could be saying online to attract customers? Less?
Why not go into 2012 with a fresh new content strategy for your site and social networks? Decide on a tone of voice which represents your brand, revisit your existing content and come up with a publishing schedule to make sure everything’s kept up-to-date.
What you say online is often your first – and only – chance to make an impression: so take some time to make sure what you’re saying is as good as it can possibly be.
5. Give your website a healthcheck
Once you’ve got the words right, have a good look at the site itself. Does the layout still work? Are there pages which no-one ever goes to? Do you need all those widgets?
Sometimes it’s better to have a fresh pair of eyes look over your site and give you their honest and objective opinion of what’s working well and what could be improved (our RightSteps Online service is designed to do just that).
Then, spend a little time tweaking and changing things until your website is transformed from little more than an online brochure into something which really works for you.
Put your best foot forward
Take a little time now to examine what you have online and ask yourself what you could do to make it even better.
Then step forward into 2012 confident that you’re making as good an impression online as you possibly can.
