Site Stagnation – Are You Letting Your Reputation Rot?

Success in the online business world is so difficult that if and when it appears like things are going well, it can be natural to sit back and start drinking in the fruits of your efforts. This is precisely what happens when so many get up and running with their SEO efforts for the first time…or outsource SEO to a third-party…treating the sudden influx of traffic like a one-way ticket to fame and fortune.

Sadly though, SEO is just like all other forms of marketing in that it will only hold onto its lustre for so long. Think of any marketing campaign you’ve ever seen – would it have still been effective if used constantly without change for years on end? Of course not…your website and SEO efforts are not different.

Even if you’ve invested every effort in SEO for your site and all seems to be paying off in a big way, it’s important to understand that complacency is a killer. SEO and online marketing in general are on-going processes that even the biggest brands on Earth have to tend to all year-round – for smaller businesses therefore the need is even greater.

A Tailored Response

The key to success with any online business has always been that of keeping close tabs on what’s happening and acting accordingly. The real beauty of the online business as opposed to the High Street alternative is the way in which you instantly get so much more information about each visitor. You know where they came from, how they were referred, what they were searching for, how long they stuck around and so much more. Within this information lies the marketing/website action plan you need to guarantee success – keep on doing what works and cease what’s turning them off. By contrast, sit idly by leaving things to their own devices and you’ll have zero chance of finding out what makes your market tick and subsequently tailoring a response.

Getting Stuck In

It’s also important to remember that it isn’t all about what your site and service has to say either – you need to put a voice to the brand you’re building. People these days don’t respond well to one-way channels of communication and instead revel in being able to make their voices and their opinions heard. And when they do, they expect to hear from those that are supposed to know the niche better than anyone else…as in you! As such, the value of guest blogs, comment sections or even just allowing replies to posts and the like cannot be understated. Again, sit back and eventually they’ll lose interest…guaranteed.

Maintaining Authority

Last but not least, the content you came up with when you put the site together may have been a shining beacon to the industry, but what about now? If you haven’t made concerted efforts to keep your site right on the cutting edge of the industry, you run the risk of your authority and credit being driven into the ground. Authority and respect must be chased and earned constantly – the longer you allow your site and its content to age, the less of both you’ll be graced with as a result.