Every time you take your car in for an oil change, most
shops give you a 15- or 30-point checkup when they change
your oil to alert you to any other potential problems you
might experience in the future. In the same way that your
mechanic conducts a regular inspection of your automobile,
you need to conduct an annual checkup of your website.
Here are 7 critical areas that need to be checked yearly on
your site:
1. Copyright notice. In years past it would take me until
March or April to update my copyright notices primarily
because I had to go in and update every single page of my
site. More recently, however, I've used an includes file,
which is one file that can be inserted in many pages to
hold my copyright and contact info. Consequently, when I
need to update the copyright info, I open this one file in
my HTML editor, update that file, save and upload it. Once
it's revised, the new information miraculously appears on
all the pages in which it's included, updating them all at
once.
2. Opt-in forms. The beginning of each year is a great
time to ensure that all of the opt-in forms are working on
your site. Do you need to add additional fields to the
opt-in form to collect mailing addresses, for example, or
to ask how visitors found your site? Is the information
contained on your confirmation page (the page to which a
visitor is sent upon her initial request to opt into your
list) still current and relevant? How about the thank you
page (the page to which your visitor is sent when she has
confirmed her desire to join your list)?
3. Autoresponder followup. Next, review the content of the
autoresponders that you've set to follow up the opt-in.
Are they still current? Do they mention offers or upsells
that are still available? Do you need to update any
copyright or contact information contained within them?
Are they making it through spam filters? Use this tool to
ensure that every email gets into your contact's inbox,
SpamCheck from SiteSell, http://spamcheck.sitesell.com/
4. Signature files. Does your email signature file
contain a call to action that's still working for you, or
does it need to be updated? Have you changed any portion
of your contact information? After you review your
signature files in your email client, do the same check of
your email signature file in your shopping cart program or
autoresponder program.
5. Client attraction device. Take a look at the free
giveaway you provide to your visitors in return for them
opting into your list. Whether it's a document or an audio
or video file, update the copyright and content information
in it and review any biographical/profile information that
you list about yourself or your business. Is the content
you provide in this giveaway still valid and current? Do
you want to keep the current call to action, or does it
need to be updated to better fit with your current business
model?
6. Missing images and dead link check. When your website
fails to properly display images, your business appears
unprofessional. Tour your website to ensure that all
images are displaying as they should. If you link to or
make reference to many resources on your site, run a dead
link check annually to weed out or update those that no
longer work. You may be able to do this with your HTML
editor. If not, try the free weekly link checking service
offered by iNetDog, http://www.inetdog.com/link_checking.php
7. Order forms. Be sure that your order form works all the
way through. Most online business owners, when checking
order forms, stop at the point where they need to enter
credit card information. If your merchant account
agreement prohibits you from using your credit card to
order from your company, ask if they have a test card
number you can use, or have a reciprocal agreement with a
colleague to check each other's forms. Check your followup
autoresponders that are set to go out after someone makes a
purchase, as well, to ensure that they are still up-to-date.
Websites that are obviously out-of-date or aren't working
properly are a huge deterrent to doing business with you.
Check these 7 key areas yearly on your site to convey to
your visitors that your site is regularly updated and
maintained.
----------------------------------------------------
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business
Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals
learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their
expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To
claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing
Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizU.com . Ask
Donna an Internet Marketing question at
http://www.AskDonnaGunter.com .
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