Hello everyone! Here is another exciting and helpful newsletter from us, Kat & Shaun at Online Designs. You'll find this newsletter stuffed full of website tips & ideas, plus all of our exciting news from Online Designs HQ.
To anyone receiving this for the first time, welcome! You are getting this because you're signed up to a Web Management Plan with us. To everyone else, sorry, it's us again...
Has anyone else had millions of MASSIVE daisies pop up this year?
You! Yes you. Have you been sending us new content for your website recently? 👀
We have a lot of clients who are really good at frequently sending us new text and pictures for their websites.
BUT it's nowhere near all of our clients. We now have quite a few websites that are going stale having not been updated in months (or sometimes years!) 😭
If this is you, then please think about what you could update. Have your services changed? Could you use some new photos? Are you updating your blog?
Without regular updates, your website will begin to drop in the Google rankings despite our hard work.
Here are some ideas to keep it up to date:
Monthly Newsletter. Update your customers with everything new in one easy to read post with lots of images.
Company Updates & Achievements. Staffing changes, awards you've won, certificates you've gained, courses someone has been on etc. Anything to make you look reliable and knowledgable.
Industry Insights. Keep customers up to date with news in your industry, in an interesting and engaging way that is relevant to you. If you're a plumber, how about writing about renewable energy sources? Or if you're a restaurant, write about what the season's veg quality has been like locally and how the weather has affected it? Even if you don't think anyone will be interested, it shows you are interested, and you are up to date with your sector.
New products/services Have you trained in a new service? Do a nice long description with some images and then a link to contact you.
Reviews/Testimonials. Don't let these just get lost on Facebook or Google. Pull them into a nice blog post and shout about them or let us post them to your website.
Where is your domain name?
To all of our clients that have chosen to manage their own domain names... do you know where it is? Do you know the login? What is the renewal date?
Is it with GoDaddy? 123-reg? IONOS?
We are finding more and more people aren't sure how to access their domain name. This is scary!!
If you are choosing to manage your own domain name, PLEASE make sure you have it under control and are on top of any communications your provider sends you. It's very important to make sure your website stays connected.
If you manage your own domain name, you will be receiving an online disclaimer we'd like you to sign, making sure you know you're responsible for the technical & legal aspects of managing it.
If we're managing your domain name for you, it's safe in our GoDaddy partners account, always with you as the legal owner :)
Analytics reports, Google Business posts & more, for just £10 extra a month
We already run your website, but have you got any sort of analytics profile setup so you can see how it's performing? Who is running your Google business, making sure you're posting at least twice a month?
If the answer to this is a big shrug (you're not alone!) then have a think about upgrading to our Web Management Pro plan. It's only an extra £10 a month and includes a monthly analytics report straight to your inbox, meaning you'll know how your website is performing. Plus, 2 Google business posts a month which looks great, keeps your customers in the loop plus is a HUGE help for your Google rankings.
You can upgrade anytime, and it doesn't affect your yearly renewal date.
Oh, and for anyone on the Pro or Plus+ plans - you can downgrade any time to the standard £20/month plan hassle free.
You can chill out until you get a renewal email, or you can upgrade early.
"Yes, yes" I hear you say. "You keep saying this but I don't have time." Your website is one of your most important marketing tools. Why spend hundreds of pounds on Facebook adverts or other marketing before you're doing everything we recommend on your website, or before you've tried to improve your Google results? As a small business owner, you should always set aside time for your own marketing and growth. We've spent hours and hours (and hours) writing helpful articles, on anything from "How do I get my website to climb in Google", to "What is a domain name?!" Anything and everything you want to know is there. And if it's not, let us know!
Personal news & updates...
Life is ticking on as normal here. Work and life as a small business owner is a constant juggle, as you all know, but we're managing to find time to pursue our interests too. For example...
We made it up Helvellyn 🥾
We're working through our 'hiking bucket list' and last weekend decided to summit Helvellyn and a few surrounding peaks. We're getting pretty good at mastering the "having short breaks while running a business" thing, leaving late on Fridays and being back in the office chair by Monday and still having smashed out over 50k of walking in that time 💪
Kat's 30th Birthday 🎂
Yep, I'm an old lady now!
Our long standing clients are used to us working remotely from the US once a year, so you won't be surprised to hear we decided to spend my 30th birthday in New York City before heading north up the East Coast to Maine. After failing to spot any moose at Moosehead Lake (marketed as "you can't miss the Moose here"), we shot across New England taking in the covered bridges and eating a million calories a day in maple syrup. Then we headed down to DC before heading back up to NYC to fly home. An amazing birthday!
Grabbing a day of work in NYC
Bucket list destinations being ticked off in the baking heat
That's it for now!
As always, pop us an email if you want to chat. We love hearing from you all. Bye for now!