Keeping Your Site Fresh

Nothing is more tedious than an abandoned or poorly maintained web site - and an online storefront that never changes will do nothing to encourage customer confidence or long-term consumer interest. Securing customer loyalty and enticing shoppers to return frequently is a major objective of e-commerce, and a big part of getting return business comes down to keeping your storefront dynamic.

That's because the Internet is dynamic. If the Internet has one never-changing principle, it's that it's always changing. What you find online today will be different from what you see tomorrow. And e-commerce follows that same model of accelerated evolution and mobility. That's why the best online businesses emulate this principle of dynamism by keeping their storefronts sharp, their information up-to-the-minute, their copy interactive, and their features, inventory, and promotions fresh.

Unfortunately, too many e-businesses forget that novelty both attracts - and keeps - customers: they let their storefronts stagnate. Gradually, content becomes dated, dead links accumulate, stale news proliferates and old promotions linger. Refining and updating your storefront is imperative. More than that, it's a continuing process that demands attention, marketing creativity, and fresh perspectives.

Here, the key is: don't just maintain your website, invigorate it. A storefront should evolve and adapt and even reinvent itself if necessary. Bring a passion and creative energy to that process. But first, make sure that prices, inventory, product copy, news items, press releases, links, and contact information are all up to date - and make improvements where possible. Now, provide new features, products, and special offers - and rotate these items on a regular basis. If you have the resources, try to provide a daily feature - something quick and entertaining like a 'link of the day', a fragment of news that might spark interest, an interactive customer poll on an issue, or an editorial contributed by one of your staff members. And keep it fascinating or funny so your clients want to come back.

Needless to say, different tasks need to be addressed with varying frequency. Some changes should be made to your site at least every few days or daily; others can be dealt with on a monthly basis. Best yet, develop a web-invigoration schedule to secure return business and then stick to it. Here are a few ideas to help keep things lively:

• Create a 'What's New Page' One common feature of electronic stores is a 'What's New' page. This provides merchants with a forum for showcasing the latest developments in your business or industry. As you might expect, this page cannot go long without an infusion of fresh material.
• Rotate your Sale Products Another way to demonstrate to your customers that you're on the ball is to continually rotate your featured sale products. This gives you the chance to shine the spotlight on products that could benefit from a little additional exposure.
• Regular Features You may also choose to include a 'Tip of the Week' or daily news feature on your site that relates to your product line and encourages shoppers to check back frequently. Whatever you do, be consistent and follow through on your scheduling.

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The following articles will help you brainstorm ideas for maintaining your website and e-storefront.

Euthanizing Internet Content In this article, outdated web content is blasted - and the authors' offer suggestions on what you can do with stale information.

Top Ten Mistakes of Web Design A top-ten 'negative' list with solid, cautionary advice for web designers. Stale web content makes the list.

Stale Equals Fail Strategies for keeping your web content fresh.

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