I started holding web classes again two weeks ago, the first discussed creating your website strategy. We talked about the importance of setting goals, understanding you conversion rate, and places to market online; oh yes, and creating and implementing a plan of action. Not bad for a 75 minute interactive web class. At the conclusion one of the attendees said, "This is all very interesting, but I can barely keep my website up to date. How am I supposed to do this too?" After that, a few other people felt relieved that they were not the only ones feeling that pain. I expressed my understanding for their issues but explained, "If you don't market your website, why does it have to be up to date?" If your not driving people to your website, why have one? A website is meant to be a marketing tool that works for you 24/7. After I expressed my comments, I have to say, I began to wonder why keeping up a website is such a painful task for so many people?

How many people feel the pain of keeping a website up to date? If you're reading this and are relieved to hear you are not alone, I think it is time we take a step backward and look at the tools available for you to use to update your website.

If you have a website, what tools are you using to keep it up to date? There are web design and editing programs like Adobe's Dreamweaver or Contribute, just to name a few. These applications while useful, do require (in my opinion) some time for training. When we create a website for clients I recommend, and actually now require, they use a content management system. A content management system allows you to edit your website copy through a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) type interface, similar to a word processor. The main design elements are put into an include, or header file; something like a template. This setup allows the designer to make a change to a design element and have it populate all the pages associated to that template quickly and efficiently. A content management system, depending upon the style and setup, can allow you to grant permission to certain staff members for editing designated areas. For example, the Human Resources department can edit the career opportunities page and the marketing department can edit the upcoming specials, without either author having access to other pages.

The success of your company's web marketing initiatives relies on the maintenance of your website. You will not be able to run creative marketing specials or launch new ideas if you can't edit your website. A website is never done and is the one area that should be constantly growing, so don’t let editing your website hold you back. Get the keys to your website, take back the control and eliminate the pain of managing a website.

Labels: driving web traffic, updating a website, web marketing