Have you watered your website lately?

 

It’s officially spring and that means gardeners are getting excited. Several of our team members are among them, and that got us thinking about this analogy. Building your website is like planting a seed on the internet. It’s just the first step, and there are many more steps to take before you can enjoy your harvest.

Watering is the attention your website needs on a regular basis. Sites that never change just don’t perform as well as those that are kept fresh. Add a new image of your latest completed project, or a new product offering. If you have a blog, make sure you are adding posts at least once a month.

Thinning the seedlings is counterintuitive for new gardeners, but the pros will tell you that it’s essential. Removing the sprouts around your healthiest plants gives them room to thrive, and leaving them to compete with each other results in less, not more. More information on your website doesn’t translate into better sales. Focus on your best sellers and the most important information for your customers’ decision-making.

Weeding is getting rid of plants that you don’t want growing in your internet garden, and you don’t know what’s growing until you look. Search for your business and for individuals who are spokespersons or in senior management positions. Make sure that your address and phone number are correct on all of those directories that come up. See what reviewers are saying about you. Find out if perceived bad acts by individuals associated with your business are having an impact on your reputation. If you find things you don’t want to get any bigger, we can help with the weeding.

Fertilizing gives your garden nutrients to feed your plants. It helps deepen the roots, strengthen the stalks, and encourages more blooming. And the analogy continues in that there are many different kinds of fertilizer to choose from, depending on your crop, phase of growing, and environment. One is search engine marketing (SEM). This is for your early seedlings, getting visitors to your site when your status in the search engines is still low. Then there’s search engine optimization, an all-purpose fertilizer that provides basic nutrients – visitors to your website. If your target market is likely to be on social media, social media marketing (SMM) is your fertilizer of choice. When your business starts to bloom, let us set up a review tunnel for you. Those testimonials fertilize the blooming plants to produce bigger fruit.

Harvesting is the best part! You hard work pays off. Like mounds of zucchini, you have tons of green in the bank.

Now share your bounty! Sharing in the way of special discounts for your most loyal customers, or donating to charity, builds loyalty and goodwill that will keep your internet garden growing for years to come.

Happy hoe-hoe-hoeing!