What is the single most important marketing tactic you can do to help your business succeed?
Keep your website from going dark!
Believe it or not, we have clients who come to us and say, “Our website is down, and we don’t know why.” In too many cases, it’s because their web address (a.k.a. URL or domain name) has simply expired!
This may sound too simple, and it is! But before mastering SEO and PPC and every other digital marketing abbreviation there is to keep track of, let’s make sure your website stays ‘on.’
Here are 6 simple steps to keep things up and running:
- Know who is hosting your website. Your website hosting company could be one of the big guys like GoDaddy, Blue Host, Amazon, or a smaller, local firm. (Note: As all of our clients know, we prefer a small firm named Bizmarquee, who has hosted our site and almost all of our clients for 16 years running.)
- Know your login. Contact your hosting company and get control of your username and password. Today. This is often as easy as attempting a log-in and selecting the “Forgot Your Password” option to have a reset link sent to your inbox. Keep a record of the new password you select.
- Make sure you – the business owner – own all essential logins and assets. IMPACT Marketing recommends that our clients own their website addresses, in their own names. Sure, you can give your marketing partners access to your site, but you want to make certain the site is under your name and that ownership is crystal clear! As much as we hope our clients stay with us forever, should you ever want to leave, you will want to take your assets with you. We know it’s easier to have your marketing company handle your URL purchase, but resist the easy path and do it yourself.
- Set up your website URL ownership for auto-renewal. Forgo future headaches and set up your domain name for auto-renewal! There are many options here: 1 year, 3 years, 5 years. Choose what works best for you – but the longer the better.
Just two more steps (and perhaps the most important):
- Make certain the credit card information on file with the hosting company is up to date! An expired card = an expired website if it’s renewal time.
- Whitelist update reminders. Make sure important messages are making their way into your inbox, so that you’re never late on renewal.
Taking these 6 steps will ensure your website is always accessible to your clients and customers, and that you never ‘go dark’ to new business.
Questions about this most important marketing tactic and others? We’re always available to chat.
