Enforced Down Time? Use the time to enhance your Online Presence

Here are some key, free and simple things you can do to update your website while in Covid-19 lock down.

As you find yourself stuck at home due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic it may well be the perfect opportunity to address some of those task you never get round to.     It certainly is an opportune time to spend some quality time on your website.  Your bricks and mortar office or shop may be closed, but your online business can still be active and productive with just a small effort.  At Dmac Media, we are currently assisting many of our clients to use this unusual hiatus to normal business workings to direct their attention to their online presence and tending to their websites. Ironically, online business, websites and  eCcommerce sites are having their moment to shine as the real world slows down and the digital world comes to the fore.  With just a few key modifications, your website can sparkle amongst the best of them.   And it will cost you no more than some time and a little effort.  Here are some simple ideas for improving your website while in social isolation.

 Update your Websites Content 

This literally means adding or changing any of current information on your website.  So, you might add new images, update the existing information, text, videos etc.  Websites that are regularly updated rank better in searches than static sites than never change or refresh.   The updating of content is something that you should be doing on a regular basis anyway and this down time from other tasks will allow you to focus on a website overhaul. Think of new ways to revamp and update your site.  You might consider publishing a page of information on a particular product or service.  Or you could insert links to trade related sites and videos.   For information on ideas for content and for practical information on uploading and resizing images, check out our blog section.

Write Some Blogs

Blog writing is a huge game-changer in terms of pulling traffic to your site.  No, you don’t have to be a best –selling author or even a novice writer.  Blog writing works when you use your own voice (followed by spell checker) and when you write about what you know.  At Dmac Media, we have nurtured many a nervous client into prolific blog writing using our simple ‘template method’ and some basic blog writing instructions.  If you need to be convinced on how valuable blog writing is to improving the readability, reachability and ranking of your website, you can learn from our own experience.  Dmac Media had an increase in search visibility of a staggering 144.74% in 2019 for our main website and we are now organically ranking for a range of keywords we had once thought impossible. One of the main pointers for this change was our increased uploading of blogs. Unique and original content is essential to getting your website noticed.  A blog is an easy way to deliver just that.

Optimise Your Web Pages

Optimise your website by adding relevant key words and phrases and by editing Meta tags and other tags.  Don’t panic. Let me put that in plain English.  Optimising simply means making it easier for search engines to find and place (rank) your site.  You do this by ensuring   that the keywords, the magic words for your industry, are used liberally in the text.  Simple.  Keywords come naturally in trade related blogs and information pages, so if your updating those, then you will hit that target easily. Sometimes using keywords, means adding a few different variations of industry phrases and relevant words into your text.   Meta tags are snippets of text that describe a page’s content.  They don’t actually appear on the page itself, but in the page’s source code and search engine results pages.  You can learn a bit more here

Add your business to some (free) business directories  

– Link your site to online directories.  Essentially this is the equivalent of your website doing a bit of networking.  You remember how physical networking was, before we all went into imposed quarantine? This gets your website socialising on free business directories, making connections that send connections back to you.   Business directories can often be industry specific, such as construction ireland which caters to the building industry.  General Business directories are LinkedIn, Golden Pages & Cyclex to name a few, and of course, the big daddy of them all, Google My Business.    If you have not got a Google my Business page for your business, this has to be your starting point point as it is both proven and effective way of generating exposure in your locality. Place your business on as many free directories as you can. This is what networking is all about, no matter whether you are a website or a quarantined human.

Use social media to your advantage

You can finally trawl Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat all day without feeling guilty.  Purely business and brand related, of course. Get your brand name out there and promote your business. Advertise your services if you can still provide them. Promote your products, if you can still sell them. And if everything you normally offer is on hold, then put forward your own brand of good humour, interesting links and motivational images. Hootsuite is well worth learning for future days when your time promoting the business on social media is short.  Put up links to your blogs and to website content and  don’t be shy about putting yourself ‘out there’ on social media.

Consider the possibilities of selling online 

Companies that already sell online can avail of this time to update their product catalogues and re write product information as they wait for the doors to open again.  But if you are new to the possibilities of selling online, this is your opportunity to check out what the competition are doing and assess what it would take to get your own ecommerce business up and running. Most web site/digital marketing businesses are still working as normal in this challenging time. A phone conversation or an email to discuss selling online is free and may open doors to possibilities and opportunities that you had never even considered.    

It’s a very strange and challenging time for us all.    There are important things to remember as we navigate the fallout of Covid-19.  Your business did not fail. The demand for your goods or services did not end. The circumstances in the world changed and all of this change will be temporary, and you can build business back up again.   Those companies who spend the downtime wisely will be the very ones who bounce back buoyantly once we get reverted to our former lives.  In the meantime, stay safe, stay sane, keep your sense of humour and put that resilience to work on improving your online presence.

Get in Touch

Dmac Media Ltd have a full experienced Digital Marketing Team/Graphic designers/content writers and web developers just a phone call away for a conversation on how best to use this time.