When clients want ideas on how to rank higher with the search engines, I always suggest that fresh content is a key factor in keeping the search engine gods happy and visiting. For a lot of my clients, I suggest adding a blog to their website, so that they can add new content on their own. Many of my clients have had fun with their blogs – posting news about company events and specials, some sharing a more personal and friendly voice to their business, and uploading photos into their galleries.
Having a blog on your site is a great way to offer your web audience a more intimate view into your business or personal philosophy. But they only work if you commit to posting to them on a consistent basis… and this is where I’m guilty of not practicing what I preach!
Recently I had lunch with a colleague and I confessed to him that my own website was sorely in need of an update. I’ve been so busy this year with new and long-term client projects, that my website has become sort of the shoe-maker’s daughter. I haven’t touched it since January. The homepage content is stale, the portfolio sorely out of date, and my blog… well we won’t even go there. Suffice it to say that my colleague, apologetically admitted that, yes, I really should take the “Happy Holidays” posting down now. Yikes! Bad web designer… BAD!
So, here I am, gearing up for a major website overall of my own and making a “mid-year” resolution to do as I say, and make my website a better example of my own philosophy. Here is my plan:
- Keep a notepad of blog posting ideas at my desk, and add to it AS IDEAS HAPPEN. That way, I’ll have a list of ideas in front of me each week to choose from. No more excuses for writer’s block!
- Set a goal for a new website overhaul. When I take on a new client project, we set a goal date for project completion. My goal is July 31, 2008. I’m making that public. Now you know.
- Set aside at least an hour a day to work on the website. Just like exercising, it has to be a priority or else the old excuses can creep in and get in the way.
Now that I’ve made my confession public, let’s see how I do. In the coming weeks, I’ll share more of the process. For active clients it will sound oh, so familiar, as I’ll take the same steps that we’ve taken on their projects. For visitors looking for a web designer, you’ll see how I approach a project, using my own website as an example.
I’m excited to be getting started. It’s a fun process, and I look forward to posting progress reports in the coming weeks.
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