Both the search engines and your customers love to see fresh content on your website. To the search engines, it sends the message that your website is active, and gives them cause to re-crawl your content, which is a good thing. For your customers, fresh content adds interest and justifies return visits.
Unfortunately, it is often not clear what to update, who should take responsibility, and how often changes should be made. Whether you’re a small company with one person responsible for the website, or a corporation with staff dedicated just to marketing, eCommerce, design and advertising, your content must change.
What should change?
Start with a plan for which pieces will change, and how often. Some examples of regularly rotating content on an eCommerce site include:
- Home page “hero space” or similarly showcased content
- Featured products
- Featured departments
- On-site ads for promotions and specials offers
- Articles
- Blog posts
The hero space is a large banner, image, or animation on the home page. This is usually something impressive that presents key products, lifestyle imagery, or brand-building visuals.
Featured products should appear on the home page, but may also show in the sidebar or other space on interior pages. They may be new products, best sellers, or frequently viewed. Ideally, the featured products are served dynamically based on the current customer’s previous browsing and buying behaviors.
Smart eCommerce website managers recognize the necessity to appear current. By enabling featured departments your website will never seem stagnant. Consider focusing on seasonally relevant products, holiday-related items, or even just offering a sale on a certain type of product. Featured departments on the home page might educate customers about the products you carry, and should incite deeper browsing into your site.
Your website offers a constant opportunity for advertising. The power of on-site advertisements, especially in conjunction with supporting emails to your list, is immeasurable. Ads might include specials on certain products or combinations of products, shipping discounts, and other promotions.
Posting articles to your site helps establish you as an expert in your field. It gives customers a reason to return and helps you to organize your content addition strategy. Group articles by subject and keep them current.
An easy way to regularly update content is by integrating blog posts with your website. The search engines love this constantly evolving content, and in the less formal blogging environment, a more casual tone is common. Posts do not need to have the finished feel of published articles, but can be lighter and may focus on industry news and events.
How often should updates occur?
| Seasonally or Monthly |
Weekly |
Daily |
|
Hero Space
Featured departments |
Featured Products
On-site Ads, Articles |
Blog Posts |
The easiest way to ensure that content will not become stagnant is to set a schedule for regular updates. Our suggestions may need adjustment to work for you. With regular maintenance, your content will bring in more traffic and increase your eCommerce success.