In the "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" department: if your site includes helpful or interesting information (and every site should), make sure to update it regularly -- no matter how busy you are with clients. The information will keep visitors coming back, as long as it's always fresh.
--Find a way to offer something for free -- and the more closely it relates to your product or service, the better. Get creative. Do you design Web sites? Offer a free consultation or cgi script. Sell gardening supplies? Offer a free planting guide over e-mail. By giving your visitors a freebie that promotes your product or service, you'll give them a better idea of how they could benefit from becoming customers.
--Could your site use more traffic? Getting listed in the search engines is key. Recent studies show that over 80% of Web surfers use search engines (like AltaVista or Google) and directories (like Yahoo! and About.com) to find what they're looking for. But here's the kicker: the vast majority will only view the first three pages of results. So the goal is to be listed among the top 30 results.
What's the simplest, most effective, legitimate way to do that? Focus on your content. Sure, there are plenty of other tricks to it, but when you boil it down, your site content is the place to start if you're determined to do it yourself. Make it readable, make it interesting, make it relevant. You still may not get listed in the top 30, but you'll have a much better chance than you would otherwise. And the visitors that do come to your site will enjoy the information they find there.
That's it for this week's Web Writing Tips & Tricks . . . look for more here next week and be sure to check out our Tips & Tricks archives. In the meantime, I hope you'll have a look around the site. Thanks for stopping by!
--Melissa Mitsch
Written Communication Senior Writer
