Most marketers get asked when they are going to update their website. Why? Because those that work in your business see the website all the time and get tired of it. Or they believe there is nothing new to keep customers and prospects interested. However internal users are not usually the target audience for your public website. So should you listen to their suggestions?

The problem with listening to these suggestions is that they do not take into account what your prospect or customer needs. And this is who is really using your website and getting you business. Which could include finding your product information, locations, or even how to contact you.

Yes you should update content, but complete rewrites or navigation changes can confuse and frustrate more than they improve the quality of your website. Just think when you yourself have had to learn new software and you have to learn where everything is located. When you slow down visitors from finding what they are looking for your new change could be perceived as a change for the worse. Not what you were hoping for with a website rewrite.

At the same time you want to make sure people revisit your website and you keep them engaged. So the best compromise to appease everyone would be to space out the full redesign so they do not happen too often or are tied to re-branding or business changes. Some good ideas for keeping your content up to date and fresh include adding a news section or blog articles to your website to keep people coming back. Without hindering regular users of your website.

Another possibility before making wholesale changes to your website layout and content is to test using A/B testing. This way you can try different variations and see if they make a difference either positive or negative to your conversion rates or time spent on your website. Depending on your website traffic you may want to run these tests over several months to see if changing your button colors or navigation menu improves the user experience. A good point to keep in mind when redesigning your site navigation and workflow is that your Time On Site or Bounce rate type metrics may decrease if you effectively make finding information easier to find.

For more information on A/B Split testing we had an early article on this topic called:
A/B Test Splits and How to use them

Image Credit: john_a_ward (via Flickr)

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One way to get more attention is through the power of online videos. Online videos are a great way to get your company more exposure and to get noticed. With the onset of sites such as YouTube, and Twitter, a video can be viewed by hundreds if not thousands of people in a very short period of time. Sometimes referred to as a “viral” video because people like it so much they share it with their friends.

Both consumers and small business owners go to online videos for three main reasons:

1) To find tutorials for learning new things
2) Product demos and reviews
3) To find answers to their questions

Source: Enterprise Council on Small Business

They may be looking for how to videos to help them along with a complex problem or they may be looking to view a product demo prior to spending the money on a new product for their company. It is always important to research any purchases prior to making them. Someone, somewhere will have done your research ahead of time, saving you the hassle of countless hours figuring out which product is best for you.

As YouTube has become a phenomenon around the globe, millions of people make, upload and view videos on a daily basis. YouTube has now surpassed corporate sites as the number 1 source of finding videos. And something you may not realize is that YouTube has become a sort of search engine overnight. If you need to find information on a topic there is likely a YouTube video that you can watch to learn more.

Uploading video to your company site is still important, but uploading your videos to YouTube is even more important. Make sure if you have are posting a video online that you use popular keywords that will ensure you get noticed within search results. Here is a list of some key pointers when using the power of video as part of your marketing.

A) Always keep your videos as short as possible !

People for the most part have short attention spans, if the video they are watching is not short and to the point they will lose interest quickly. Time is important and if your viewer feels as though watching your video is wasting their time, they are less likely to come back and view more videos by your company in the future.

B) Focus

Keeping your videos focused on your topic and reaching your point quickly will enable your viewer to feel that your video was informative and likely keep your company in mind for a future purchase. Just like in presentations the less information you convey in a short time the more people will remember. This is not the time to tell us everything about your product or service. Keep the viewer wanting more.

C) Using social media to your advantage

With the help of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, etc videos have a chance of going viral or at the very least attracting other’s attention. If your content is entertaining or light-hearted in the form of a short funny skit, informative demo or even a multi week webinar will keep your fans interested and coming back for more.

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