Member Article

Spring Cleaning

With Business Link

Spring appears to have sprung, at long last! At this time of year, with the first signs of daffodils, milder weather and lighter nights, people often start thinking about clearing out, sprucing up and getting on top of those jobs that have been put off all winter. While it might be a good time to give the house a lick of paint, it could also be a good opportunity for businesses to think about spring-cleaning and tackling those jobs that we often put to one side, such as updating the company website.

A company’s online presence can be a key marketing tool for businesses so it’s important that it looks fresh and appealing in order to promote an image of professionalism to help attract and retain visitors and potential customers. The Business Link website gives lots of practical information about updating your website and managing its content, to help keep it as current and relevant as possible.

If you have a news section or announcements about new products or services then it is vital that these reflect the current situation. Old news stories that you feel will be of interest to your visitors, but which could make the main sections of the site look dated, could be placed in an archive to be searched by interested parties.

Another tip for keeping it looking up-to-date is to ensure that all photos on your site are recent and include only your current staff.

If the number of pages on your website and the frequency with which they change is significant then you may wish to consider using a content management system which helps assist in the collection, assembly and control of content on a website, an intranet or an extranet. Such software is particularly valuable where the content is dynamic and parts of it must be capable of changing depending upon circumstances such as the identification of the visitor, the day of the month, the price of the product, or the requests of the visitor.

A final tip is to remember to change the notice on your website stating when the site was last updated as current information will help attract visitors!

You might be thinking this all makes sense but how do I go about putting it into practice?

The Business Link website provides details of the options available including Do it yourself routine maintenance; paying your Internet service provider (ISP) on an Ad-hoc basis; Investing in a fixed-cost Maintenance Agreement with your provider to allow for regular updates or making use of User tools, such as simple content management software which enable users to update parts of the website themselves. Whichever option you decide it is important to fully budget for it however, managed correctly, it could be a very worthwhile business investment.For Business Link services in your local area, call 0845 600 9006 or visit the website, www.businesslink.gov.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .