You Have a WordPress Site, Now What?

You have spent a good amount of money (and time) having your WordPress site built, but what should you do now? Can you just leave the site the way it is and see if things work out, or are there certain things you should be doing to maximize the effectiveness of your new site?

Below is a list of the top things you should be doing so that you get the best return on your investment:

1. Do Keyword Research: Start doing keyword research so you know what search terms your site should be targeting. Setup an Adwords account (for free), then use Google’s Keyword Planning Tool.
2. Add A SEO Plugin: Setup an SEO plugin so that you can start targeting those keywords with each new piece of content that you write. We love WordPress SEO by Yoast.
3. Add Content Over Time: Plan to write one piece of content per week, focusing on those keywords you found in step 1. WordPress’s first function was as a blogging platform; use your blog!
4. Keep It Up To Date: Make sure your plugins, and WordPress itself, is being kept up-to-date. Letting this get behind can put you at risk of being hacked.
5. Continually Evolve: Your site was not done when it was launched. You need to be adding pages and changing content so it stays current with your messaging and brand. Don’t let you site sit there for another 4 years and then be too far behind to make any changes.
6. Create One Content Offer: Write an ebook or whitepaper that gives value to your potential customer. When most people reach your site, they are at the top of the funnel (not yet ready to buy). Capture their email with a free offer so you can follow up with them and nurture them into a customer. For example, our content offer right now is: The Top 5 Reasons Customers Hate Your Site and How to Fix It. We give away this valuable piece of content so we can build trust with new site visitors. Get it here.
7. Make Sure Your Site Is Loading Fast: Now google takes your site speed into consideration when ranking your site. Your visitors will appreciate it too! Take a look at our free guide on speeding up your WordPress website.

Even doing just one of these items, you will be ahead of 90% of the people that have a new site built and let it go stale. Continually improving your site will extend its lifespan and give you the best return on your investment. What have you done to your site since launching?