Top 10 Website New Year's Resolutions

At this time every year we review our lives Major Matt Mason come up with resolutions to try and improve in the year ahead. Your Website should not be excluded from this important effort considering online is more fluid and ever changing. Website owners are safe to assume that there is no standing still or resting on your laurels when it comes to doing business online (That's when your perceived competitors fly right by you!).

Below are the Top 10 issues, that in my experience, most Web site owners have resisted to acknowledge when it comes to their Web site program's ability to reach any tangible goals.

10. First I need to do a genuine self assessment to ensure I am up to the challenge that online success requires of all who do business online. The build it and come days, are years behind us. Online is now the playground of serious businessmen and women with the insatiable desire to succeed -- which means doing things right and not cutting corners. From best practices, to necessary application integration to budgeting time and expenses, off-line business staples apply online and can no longer be dismissed and still expect ROI. Gross Out Gang you honestly up to this challenge?

9. I will review my e-mail and customer service practices to ensure all communications with customers are grammatically correct, professional in appearance and tone and include the information the customer desires. I will respond to e-mails as quickly as possible realizing the rabidly competitive environment online will settle for no less - only Extreme Customer Service and proper Business E-mail Etiquette will do! This includes using my 1971 Topps baseball cards domain name for all business e-mail communications which lends to my credibility and my initial responses to inquiries Webkinz recognized instead of being misidentified as spam.

8. I will review my site at the beginning of the year, then minimally quarterly, to ensure information is current and updated at all times. This includes updating my "About" page to reflect now - not yesterday. I realize by not updating, my site is stale, offers no real value to my site visitors and hinders gaining any relevant rankings with search engines.

7. I will finally embrace the concept that to have a chance at any relevant organic (free) search engines rankings that I have to change how I view my site. Not as brochureware, but as a living, breathing interactive tool used to acquire, support and maintain customers and cater to their needs. If I don't have a Blog to accomplish this task, I will set one up Q1 and commit to posting at least 3 times each week with new useful and relevant information my site visitors will appreciate.

6. In line with #5 above, I will learn about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) basics and principles, so that I have a solid understanding in regard to how search engines actually work, how they rank sites, and what I need to consider when adding content to my site. Without a solid grasp of this information I am literally handicapped and working at a deficit.

5. While content is King; promotion is Queen. After writing a new article I'll then submit it to article repository Web sites so that it is available to be published on other sites and newsletters. I will keep a notebook with me at all times so that when I get an idea to Blog about, create a video or for an article or informative white paper, I'll write it down and not forget to follow through. Unique helpful information is what makes Web sites popular and valuable which assists to increase ranking popularity.

4. I will sit down and create thorough and comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for my site to include the questions I get asked most through my site and to provide the necessary information customers need to know to determine that they want to do business with me. If I already have a FAQ page, time for an update. No doubt I have been asked new questions that can be added to this Web site staple.

3. I will setup alerts through my favorite search engines to keep tabs of competitors, manage my company reputation and track my targeted keyword phrases. By tracking this criteria I am then aware of what is going on in my industry and what others are typing about. This is crucial for me to keep up or better yet - ahead of the competition. Alerts also give me the opportunity to network and comment on other Blogs that cover my area of expertise by informing me of current conversations and posts.

2. I will update my site's visuals and functionality if my site is now more than 3 years old. Moving to WordPress as a Content Management System (CMS) will allow me to easily accomplish much of the above. I will then investigate all the social media networking opportunities and establish my site's feeds wherever possible. Twitter, Linkedin, Technorati are just a few of the sites I need to setup profiles on and use on a regular basis to brand and market my business.

And the number one resolution that every site owner needs to embrace to succeed in the year ahead....

1. I will pledge to use interactive technology as it is now and whatever it evolves to be in the year ahead to its full potential for my business. From Blogging to Videos and everything in between, by not investigating how to best use these applications for my business is simply lost opportunity. I understand this will take some time and a bit of a learning curve to learn about using these resources effectively on a daily basis, but I'm a smartie and I know if it needs to be done for the health of my enterprise - I'm there!

Those site owners that embrace the interactivity options available to them will be found, will gain new customers and will maintain more business than those site owners who do not openly welcome these opportunities. If you do not embrace these 10 items in 2009, you can bet your competitors who do will reap the rewards.

With all the doom and gloom being fed to us in anticipation of the year ahead, I'm choosing to take a different stance and that's why I've written this article for you. As one commentator I recently heard said, "Time to man up and make 2009 what you want it to be. Don't be a passive observer but an active aggressive participant. Man up!

And that's exactly what I plan on doing here @ TheIStudio! Wishing you all the best in the year ahead!

About the author:

Judith Kallos is an experienced good-humored Technology Muse who has offered theistudioWordPress Consulting and Web Site services for over a decade. Check out her Business E-mail Etiquette Blog and join in the conversation @: businessemailetiquetteBusinessEmailEtiquette