Earlier this week I posted my 12 point check list for those of you seeking to develop your web presence this year. The list itself was drawn from a guest post I wrote some months ago, the 12 Most Crucial Web Presence Considerations.
As promised, we’ll start to dive into more detail for each point
Today, we’ll kick things off with ownership and the ‘span’ of your online platforms.
Own It
Ownership boils down to the simple need to control the hub of your online existence. This will usually be a traditional website, though it can also apply to blogs, photo galleries that form your online portfolio, or anything else that you consider your central base of operations on the web.
In a hub & spoke approach to building your online presence, elements like social network pages and third party platforms branch out from the aforementioned hub, adding value and functionality without detracting from the allure of your main platform.
But these are all third party players.
Your hub should be under your ownership and control.
This means registering your domain name of choice, directing any previous and related sites through to this domain, and plugging in analytics tools that give you visibility of what’s happening. It also allows you greater control over end goals such as building a contact list and selling your wares.
Every site will have limitations, except your own. Being able to change design elements, content, and structure, as well as using deep analytics to measure what your site is delivering, are all key reasons to not put your most valuable eggs (you know, the organic, cage-free, reared-on-a-diet-of-truffles hen eggs) in someone else’s potentially rickety basket. A Tumblr site is great, until it goes down for maintenance and someone important can’t find your contact details the one time they visit. A Facebook page is certainly important, but your ability to influence people to take action there is limited, as is its design flexibility.
Width & Depth
I summarized this one into the following two questions:
How widely will you spread your web presence?
How much time can you set aside for each element?
If you’ve ever seen those bands that have a presence on every social network, you’ll probably have wondered when they find the time to actually, you know, write music. Chances are that either: a) they’ve neglected a large proportion of those sites, or b) the music is appalling, so they’re focusing on every marketing channel to make up for it. Possibly both.
The reality is that we all have limited time in the day, so tough decisions need to be made in terms of where you commit your resources. How much time and effort you can invest in your web presence will vary according to many factors, from whether you are a solo creator to the requirements of what you need to set up.
The crucial consideration? Don’t over extend yourself from the outset.
Decide roughly how much time you can devote each week to the following activities, many of which will apply to each platform:
- Creating and posting content
- Curating content
- Design and structure tweaks
- Interactions with fans and community
- Monitoring key metrics (& making improvements based upon them)
- Basic maintenance and admin
Once you understand the time requirements, you can apportion the duties accordingly to other creative members, assistants, employees, and anyone that helps you share your creative wares. Assign appropriate tasks to those most suited, such as the ever-gregarious drummer taking up starting conversations on Facebook, or that detail-obsessed assistant digging into the numbers and trends of your website traffic. The more natural a fit the duty is to someone’s existing skills and interests, the more likely they’ll be to keep it up.
A series of abandoned or barely maintained platforms in your web presence can mean a bad first impression, frustrated potential fan, or even lost sales/business opportunities, if the visitor can’t quickly find the information they’re looking for. By all means experiment with new platforms, but ensure you have a plan for them or close them down if they don’t elicit the results you desire.
The next post will naturally flow from this point, focusing more detail on prioritizing your various platforms and understanding which are best for engaging your audience.
How much time a week do you dedicate to your web presence?
Please, share your tips and tricks below!
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