A website can say a lot about a business. As a regular user of the internet, if I see a poorly designed site, it automatically makes me question the ethics of that particular business. If the content of a site is exactly the same day after day, month after month and even year after year, I sometimes wonder if the organisation is still open. And I probably would not visit that site again.

Return visitors are very important to a successful website. It is a sure sign that people are interested in what the site is selling or the information that is being provided. If the content of the site is of high quality too, visitors will refer or link others to the site boosting site numbers even further.

As they say “Content is KING”.

What you do as a site owner to keep your site fresh with new content?

DO – Add a blog to your site if you have the time to update it and something worth saying. My new years resolution is to add new content to this blog every two weeks. I simply don’t have the time to commit to more frequent updates but this also means I have more time to develop blog ideas.

DO – Make sure your content sticks to a theme relevant to your business. If you run an IT business include reviews of software, your latest specials and user tips. Don’t blog about your Persian cat or your fishing trip to the reef.

DO – Link to other sites that would benefit visitors and their relationship with your business or organisation.

DO – Get a guest blogger for your site occasionally.

DO – Add an image gallery of your clients. One of my customers requested an image gallery on his site where he displays photos of the various business cars that use his motel.

DO – Give away a freebie or discount voucher. If you are a photographer, have a monthly calendar with one of your photos to download and print.

DO – Send out emails to your mailing list to inform of site updates (watch the spam laws though!).

DO NOT – Copy and paste content from other sites and pretend that it is your own.

DO NOT – Use automated content creation unless it is reliable and links seamlessly with your site (advertisements for other business should only appear if you receive something in return).

Think of your website like a physical shop – you want people to return again and again. They will do this if there is something worth returning for.