Keep your website up to date without the costs and delays of
depending on others

Many businesses are handicapped by artfully (and
expensively) designed websites that resist easy updating.
Although these sites may initially look "cool" and
"professional," their complexity makes them resistant to
change.

In these situations, "art" and "design" are the enemies of
your profits and success. If the simplest change requires
time and money, you're website is unlikely to be working for
you the way it should be.

Success in business requires the ability to update your own
website. You need to be able to quickly make changes by
yourself, adding, deleting, and editing text, adding
graphics and adding links, without incurring extra costs or
waiting for someone to "get to" your changes.

Reasons for continuous change

At the absolute minimum, you must be able to change the home
page of your website. Repeat visitors should never encounter
the same home page two visits in a row.

The home page of your website is like the front page of a
daily newspaper. How many would read the New York Times if
the front page of every issue was always the same?
Circulation would drop like a stone if every issue looked
the same, even though the inside pages were totally
different.

The same is true of your website! If your home page isn't
continually updated with fresh content, few visitors will
return.

Categories of change

Here are some of the changes you should be able to make by
yourself, for free:

o New content. Every time you update your platform, your
home page should feature a brief description of it, and plus
links to it. Daily or weekly tips are also popular.
o Event marketing offers you opportunities to build close,
personal relationships with clients and prospects. Examples
include promotions, demonstrations, teleseminars, and
workshops,
o Engagement tools also encourage repeat visits. Ideas
include assessments, quizzes, surveys, "Ask the Expert," and
tip sheets.
o Industry news, includes upcoming events, i.e., trade
shows, comments on challenges, and trends, plus links to
recent news. All can enhance your obvious expert status.

Testing, testing

Marketing success requires the ability to constantly test,
measure, and refine web content. You must be able to test,
track, change, and retest every variable: offers, prices,
headlines, descriptions, and bonus incentives.

Testing is the essence of direct marketing, where content is
directly correlated with sales. Only testing can provide the
information you need to improve your site.

If direct marketing professionals can't predict which
offers, words, or prices, will be most effective, how can
you expect yourself-or your web designer-to get it right the
first time?

Easy site editing is here

Edit.com offers an easy and cost effective way to update
your website by yourself, even if you have not had-and don't
want-training in html coding or using the latest website
editing programs.

Edit.com permits you to edit and update website content, and
add new pages, using entry-level word-processing skills,
i.e., delete, copy, paste, etc.

Is it worth it?

To decide if Edit.com makes sense for you, ask yourself the
following questions:

o Hourly fees. How much do you pay your web designer, per
hour, to make changes? (Some pay their web designer more per
hour than Edit.com charges per year!)
o Delays. How much time goes by between the time you contact
your web person, and the time your website is updated?
o Resources. How much would it cost you to purchase a web
authoring program, like Dreamweaver or Front Page?
o Training. How much would it cost you, in tuition, to
master these programs?
o Opportunity costs. How much more money could you make
selling and servicing clients, rather than learning and
using Dreamweaver or Front Page to update your website?

Conclusion

If you're one of the many with an unproductive, "hostage,"
site, the ability to make your own changes could be the
profit tool you need to turn your website into a powerful
marketing tool.