In addition to focusing on increasing last minute holiday sales, now is the time to make sure everything is in place to make 2011 a great year for your site and business.
We should all check our sites for errors and be focused on SEO and Social Media all year long but not everyone has the time or knowledge to do everything they should. If you are one of the offenders, now is the time to make it up to your neglected website. Go through the checklist below and make sure you have everything in place to start 2011 off right.
An old Chinese Proverb says
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.”
That kinda says it all! Now on to the checklist:
SEO:
- Make sure all your “Local/Places/Maps” listings are set up and claimed
- Review your On-Page Optimization and make sure it’s all complete
- Make sure you have a content addition strategy in place
- Make sure your product feeds are all submitted
- Make sure your keyword research done (for now) with plan to check often for new keywords
Site:
- Review your Newsletter/Follow Up Series and make sure it’s current and compelling (create one if you don’t have one yet)
- Make sure web stats/analytics are installed and configured
- Check site for broken links (and fix them!)
- Review/update text (make sure nothing it outdated or old info)
- Test order links
- Review order process for user-friendliness
- Update photos
- Create a plan to keep site fresh and updated
- Make sure you have a plan in place to review web stats regularly
General Marketing:
- Put a plan in place to run split tests on marketing campaigns and landing pages
- Review results from previous split tests and see what you learned from it
- Put a plan in place to syndicate articles
Blog:
- Create a plan to post regularly
- Make sure you Blog is properly configured with the latest and best plugins
- Make sure you are submitting your RSS Feed
- Make sure you have a good strategy for using Keywords/Tagging/Categorizing on posts
- Make sure your Blog is properly connected to your various social media sites
Twitter:
- Make sure your custom background done and compelling
- Take some time to be sure your goals and objectives outlined (you’ll get more out of Twitter if you know what you are doing and why)
- Create a plan to build followers
- Review how often you are tweeting and what tweets you are getting results from – you’ll need to fine-tune your Twitter campaign as you go
Facebook:
- Take some time to be sure your goals and objectives outlined (you’ll get more out of Facebook if you know what you are doing and why)
- Set up a strong personal profile
- Set up KILLER Fan Page with FBML Tabs and special features (like offering a discount after someone clicks the LIKE button to become a Fan)
- Create an action plan to increase Fans and promote page
- Make sure your FB badge is placed on your site and you are linking from sig line in emails etc.
- Create an action plan to network and engage friends/fans
- Create an action plan to keep content updated
LinkedIn:
- Make sure your profile is set up and complete
- Request endorsements
- Participate in Questions and discussions
- Connect your profile to your other social media accounts
Other social media sites:
- Find other relevant industry social media sites
- Create your profile and create action plan to participate
- Consider a video strategy with YouTube
Holiday Marketing:
- Outlined all holidays and action plan for holiday promotions (I know it seems early but holidays sneak up on your, at least outline a rough action plan for the year and assign deadlines in advance of each holiday to get work done and campaigns in place)
PPC:
- Review results and adjust bids
- Add new keywords
- Split test ad copy
- Split test landing pages
Feel free to share your questions/comments and tips from your own checklist.
Get planting those trees people!
