Most businesses today have and need a website. However, the process of ensuring that the website runs smoothly and delivers effective results is still new to a lot of smaller businesses. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may invest in a new website but then find that they are unsure how best to use it.
There are a number of steps that smaller businesses can take to ensure that their website works effectively and is easy and efficient to maintain.
Get to know Sharepoint
Microsoft Sharepoint is one of the most complete, effective tools on the market today for maintaining websites. For many businesses, it will be the platform of choice for running and updating a site. If you have yet to create your site, you may wish to ensure it is built with Sharepoint, in which case see here for Sharepoint development help.
If your website will be managed by you directly, or by a staff member in-house, make sure that you or that staff member take the time to properly familiarise yourself with all of Sharepoint’s capabilities. This will mean that you are able to implement changes and updates quickly and effectively and use every feature to its full potential. If you are hiring somebody externally to do this, make sure that they are very familiar with the platform.
Get your SEO in order
Even if your website is a masterpiece of design and best practice, it will do little good if nobody sees it. Most businesses will rely on search engines for them to be found online, so take the time and effort necessary to make your site appeal to them. That way, you will appear prominently in search results when people type in relevant queries.
You will probably want to hire external help in order to get your SEO in order. Some assistance from an expert, professional company that specialises in SEO can make a huge difference to your search rankings and your chances of being found. This can source new business through your website that would otherwise go to a competitor.
Promote it on social media
Another way to ensure that your site delivers well and sources new business is to promote it through social media. This will not only help your SEO, but also provide you with a way to maintain ongoing contact with potential customers. Often, this will include past customers who may give you repeat business. Maintaining contact on social media will ensure that these potential customers do not forget about you and keep abreast of everything you offer.
Make sure you craft your posts carefully. They should be well-written without spelling or grammar errors and interesting to your target audience. Once again, you may want to seek external help for an effective social media campaign. Each post should include a link to the most relevant part of your website, encouraging people to visit and get in touch with you for your services or buying the goods that you offer.