Five years ago pages on the internet didn’t seem to change that often. My common searches would return well-known pages in a familiar order. But during the day now I am constantly updating pages on sites I work with to reflect the latest news for customers and visitors. It’s remarkable how dynamic the internet is becoming – a swirling pool of ideas updated and annotated by a community of readers and visitors.
The commercial core of websites aren’t changing a lot – the best e-commerce design and functionality of five years ago still works today. This is a relief to store owners who aren’t faced with upgrading the nuts and bolts of their stores – because changes right now are around connecting with your customers better. Progress in this area relies on Twitter or Facebook – which stand alongside your website, woven into its fabric for sure but not part of its scaffolding. The investment here is time – something that startup businesses may have in abundance if customers are still a bit thin on the ground!
In website promotion improvements are continual and I am revisiting two areas I have spent time researching before that I am planning to learn and do more with this year. I am dusting off my web analytics experience and I really want to make some videos! There are two articles at the top of my reading for this – one on Video and SEO and this one on Analytics.