In the 1990s, innovative business owners started using the internet to market their companies. They understood that the World Wide Web offered a whole new realm of marketing opportunities. Once they had a domain name and a website, their job was done. These days, that’s not good enough.
In the modern business world, your website may be your most valuable marketing tool. You can use a website to promote your business and sell to a huge audience. Your website content and online marketing efforts can have a huge impact on your business’s growth and success.
However, to reap these benefits, you need someone to take care of your website. That person is your website manager.
Small Business Websites: A Modern Perspective
The internet is a different beast now. A decade ago, you could create any old website and people would probably find it. These days, there are so many websites, so many pages, that it isn’t that simple. Your small business website isn’t just an advertisement for your business – it’s the online version of a brick-and-mortar store. You aren’t just marketing your business through your website. You need to market your business website too.
This might seem like a lot of work. As well as marketing in print, radio, and television, you have to market your website itself. However, there are big advantages to online marketing. Traditional media simply can’t provide these benefits.
- Website space is essentially unlimited. A website can contain text, video, audio, and images, which makes it more of an all-round marketing tool than any other platform.
- You can sell your product directly through your website thanks to the booming ecommerce market. In this way, your virtual store can create real revenue.
- You can easily find statistics about your website performance. This lets you quickly analyze the ROI from your online marketing campaigns.
- Thanks to search engine optimization, you can market to specifically targeted potential customers. This gives you a higher chance of making a sale and a higher overall ROI.
As the internet and website technologies develop, it becomes more important to work hard on your website. In today’s online world, you need to really invest in your website so it works for you. You can’t just hire a website designer, create a site, and leave it to do its thing. You need someone to manage your site and ensure that it performs highly. This person is your website manager.
Duties Of A Website Manager
The job of a website manager varies. There isn’t one simple set of duties for a website manager. For some, website management is a full-time job, while others give just a few hours a month to website management. A website manager might work only on a website’s code and technical specs, while others will manage online marketing campaigns for a business too. However, most website managers will handle these duties:
- Keeping a website’s domain registration and hosting updated
- Performing software updates
- Updating website functionality
- Monitoring and analyzing a website’s performance
- Creating and updating content
- Managing online marketing campaigns, including social media marketing and SEO best practices
You or one of your employees could act as your website manager on a part-time basis. Alternatively, your website designer may help you with your website on an ongoing basis after the original build. However, if you’re serious about your online presence, you should work with a professional website manager. A dedicated manager will know how to get the best possible performance from your website and use their skills to help you maximize the success of your business.
All Small Businesses Need A Website Manager
Small business owners can effectively manager their own websites now using content management systems. With a bit of time and study, a small business owner can learn the essentials of online marketing and managing a website. If you really love technology and working online, this might be for you.
Realistically, however, most entrepreneurs cannot take on the full role of website manager. The internet changes rapidly, becoming more and more complex. You can make basic changes and updates to your site, but you need to know what content and updates it needs in the first place. You need enough coding expertise to fix any bugs and functionality issues. You have to analyze data and statistics to choose where you should invest your time and money. Essentially, you need to be a website expert.
Website managers are dedicated professionals who work hard to understand everything about the ever-changing internet. A small business owner or entrepreneur needs to spend their time running their business, not desperately trying to analyze website statistics and change finicky code. A website manager is an expert who can make these changes quickly and effectively. As a result, it makes sense for a small business owner to hire a website manager.
Here at A La Carte Web Services, we can provide you with expert website management services for your small business. Contact us to find out more.
