Samantha Martin — May 9, 2018 — May 9, 2018
I do believe that the sun may have put his hat on after what feels like 56 months of winter. That may be a slight exaggeration, but this winter really has been long for many of us. So the sight of a bit of sunshine gets the natives all restless and once the thermometer hits 15 degrees the milk bottle white legs are out in force, in their denim cut-offs and vest tops. Yep, Spring has finally sprung and we can all stop lining the pockets of the gas companies and turn the central heating off that’s not been off for 6 months.
So what about your business? We’ve gotten through the horrors of the first quarter and the new tax year, so it’s time to give your business a Spring clean and a bit of tender loving care. It’s not just the carpets and curtains that could do with a deep clean. Spring is the ideal time to give all the dark corners of your business the once over.
So here are 5 ways to Spring clean your business
SEO AND WEBSITE AUDIT
Websites often have a mind of their own and things can go wrong without you being aware. WordPress, themes, plug-in updates can all create issues that you may not find unless you are constantly clicking through your own site. So now’s the time to check every page and click on every link. And don’t forget to check your backups are running.
For your website to get better rankings it’s important to have good SEO. The problem with SEO is that it’s not one size fits all and a one-stop solution. It’s fluid and ever-changing. Therefore it’s a good idea to review each pages SEO on a regular basis to make sure that it is compliant with Google’s latest best practice. Things like broken links and poor internal navigation around your site can affect your SERPS. So that’s another good reason to get click happy on your website.
Look for things like pages that have too many keywords or not a clear keyword strategy. Many moons ago, the (false) gurus of SEO used to write website content that was so keyword stuffed that it pretty much didn’t make much sense. If you have an older website that may have some of this older style copy lying around then now’s the time to give it a little rewording. Also, check that all your meta titles and descriptions match what the page is about. I recently took a look under the hood of someone’s website and the metadata didn’t match what the page was about. This just confuses search engines and can even make them rank your pages lower as the algorithm thinks you’re trying to trick it.
CONDUCT A SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEW
Social media trends and best practise change like the wind. What may have worked 12 months ago may not be getting you seen anymore. Now is a great time to review your strategy and which platforms you are giving your time and attention to. Create a new plan – and stick to it! Consistency is key. Don’t post today and then leave tumbleweed to grace your profiles for a week. Show up every single day and create content your audience wants to see.
Even though social media is essentially what I work in, sometimes I struggle to keep up. We went for a few years with not very much changing but the past couple of years seem to have had those changes coming at us thick and fast. You don’t need to go jumping on every passing bandwagon that the self-proclaimed experts say are the latest game changers. By that, I mean every new trend, platform and hashtag revelation. If a ‘guru’ declares a platform is a game changer, then go in the opposite direction and don’t waste your time. Honestly, I mean that. You could taste so much of your precious time on some fad app that won’t last a month.
And here’s an insider tip for you. When the so-called experts start banging on about some new thing, they are often being paid to shill the living daylights out of it and get their audience on it. Naturally, they often don’t disclose this. What you’ll also find is that these bandwagons, whilst in their infancy, are just full of marketers, marketing to other marketers. Honestly, don’t waste your time. If the bandwagon is still rolling in 6 months’ time, then perhaps cast your eye over it. But chances are the wheels will have fallen off by then.
CHECK YOU’RE GDPR COMPLIANT
GDPR is coming and comes into force on May 25th 2018. Don’t get caught out. Check that you have the correct privacy statements and you are complying with the data security regulations.
I am absolutely not an expert in this. However, the basics of it are, that you can’t go abusing email addresses and for someone to be on your email list they must have specifically opted in to be there. As in given express consent. This is achieved via double opt-in and also having a very clear privacy policy on your website as well as making it clear what someone is signing up for.
There is an awful lot of incorrect information out there so it’s advisable that if you haven’t already done so, take a look at the IOC Website and follow what they have to say.
If you do more than just send out email marketing and you handle people’s data a lot more, for example, if you are processing transactions on your website or dealing with specific and/or sensitive data, then there is a lot more you need to do. So I hope this isn’t the first time you’re hearing about GDPR.
All this also means you can no longer spam anyone in any way, because if you get caught then you can and will be fine. Will this be the end of spam? I doubt it, but hopefully, it might stop some chancers abusing your email inbox.
REVIEW YOUR LIST BUILDING STRATEGY
As well as ensuring your list building efforts comply with GDPR, take a look at how effective they are. Streamline them if need be. Or come up with new methods. The most important thing is to make sure that you are list building and not just collecting followers on social media.
It’s all well and good having loads of followers on Facebook and getting a bucket load of retweets on Twitter. But you don’t own those pieces of land. Whatever activity happens there is really just being rented out to you. And it can stop at a moments notice.
I’m pretty sure most of you have suffered with reach on Facebook whenever they change the newsfeed algorithm. What would happen if all of a sudden Facebook shut down, or worse still, shut you down, as in kicked you off? Yep, all those followers you’ve been collecting would be gone. That is why it’s so important to get as many people on your email list as possible. Whilst complying with GDPR of course.
Take a look at what you are offering by way of enticing people over to your email list. Would you give up your email in return for your fabulous freebie? Make it worth someone’s effort to go through the sign-up process. And then make sure you deliver. This is where your audit also kicks in to make sure your list automation is still working. Honestly, the number of times I’ve signed up to something only for it to never arrive in my inbox. But the regular newsletters do. Click and check!
CREATE NEW OFFERS
Whilst you’re spring cleaning your business so are others. So why not come up with some great new offers to deliver value to clients old and new. Have you got a new product or service you want to soft launch? Create an offer for it to see how it goes before a full launch.
Over time what people want from you will change. They may initially come to you as a complete novice, but after 2 years of reading all your blogs and newsletters, they are far more advanced now. Some may not want a basic course or even a done for you service. They may want more in-depth strategy work. So be sure to change up your services to match where your audience is at. Plus if someone has been on your list for a while they have a greater, know, like and trust factor with you so they are more likely to buy from you. You could even email out asking what services people would like from you.
Remember it’s all about delivering value to your audience. Not just having a high ticket item that you want to sell.
What’s your tip for Spring cleaning your business? And more importantly, have you set your goals for the Spring? Download my goal setting worksheets to help you set them and stay on track to achieve them.
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