Met a new client today and while discussing the ins and outs of content, design, architecture, etc – of course, we came around to Search Engines-

The site in question, (names have been removed for obvious reasons),  had not been changed in many, many years, thus, the site  was not ranking very well.  We did not go into details regarding how the site if- updated more frequently would assist in results ranking, because he stopped me before I opened my mouth-

“It ain’t gonna happen-  I don’t have the time,  It ain’t gonna happen”

OK-  I am a firm believer that the client is always right-  but our clients expect us to bring our expertise to the table, don’t they?  Sephone is a firm believer to share opinions, not force opinions. Sharing what you know and what we know, makes us succeed and faster. Since we fell on deaf ears, we decided to post this on our blog to get it out there anyway.

We all know the adage “Time waits for no man”-  Right?  This goes even more for the Internet-

Time waits for no website-(neither does Google).  If you do not spend time to manage or promote your site today, then tomorrow there will be more competition and it will be more challenging than ever.  Maybe, depending on your business – too late?

In order to stay relevant, timely and  competitive you need to be seen-  Depending on the type of business you are, or the services you provide to the pool of customers you want to wade in, as this is a dynamic pool, the answer is similar-  You need to be seen and you never know when someone is looking for you.

Simply stated-

• if your entire business is virtual then you need to get it as exposed as much as possible, within reason and within your budget (and time is money too, so social media efforts need to be realistic also).
• if your business is regional or local to any degree, you need to focus on that region or locality.

Exposure in this case is visibility to your target audience, whether through links, banner ads, traditional advertising, or in this case Internet Marketing, Social Marketing Services and SEO.

This includes traditional internet methods as well as socially based methods.  [It can also be extended to traditional 'print' advertising too.]

Your Website is your initial exposure to new clients- Your Online Brochure;  If it is not current, then you could be losing business.  Even if it appears to be dated, but isn’t; the perception is you are still using the 2003 catalog and not today’s calendar.

This goes for layout, info and images.  (info includes, text, press releases, testimonials and references).  If it is not current, you could be losing business, ooops I said that already, but it is worth stating again.

So, if YOU dont have the TIME for your business- why be IN business?   Now perhaps what the client really meant was:

“I don’t have the time to make updates to my web site, or the ability to make the updates or the “Know-How” to make updates;”

The response to that is- then find someone, an individual, a Company or LEARN how to make these changes; and you don’t need to know HTML!

That is where we come in with datAvenger  (see http://www.datAvenger.com ), but more on that later-

In addition to keeping your website current- there are other ways to do that, that can help-  If you BLOG, use FaceBook, Twitter or other social networking tools like YouTube-  these can be referenced on your website that show timeliness!  And these DO NOT HAVE BIG COSTS Associated with them-

This is  where time IS on your side as it is more YOUR time that you are already spending while doing these things that can be merged into (or linked) to your site!

So why not benefit from it and gain some well earned points and “‘cred” on the Internet for your business?

If you don’t Tweet, use FaceBook, etc-  you can still have a ‘presence’ but use someone to help you get started.  That can be a friend or someone like Sephone.  We can help you get started and then when you do feel comfy about it and you will, we can turn it over to you to keep fresh- but we are always here to help.

We don’t usually have “hit you over the head” posts like this with a sales pitch but in this case we (Joe) couldn’t help himself without offering any assistance- so please forgive us (him). And remember- Sephone is a resource for these services and you may have access to your own resources-

Therefore, we encourage our clients to consider timely updates to their sites, Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Services, no matter who does it.