Why your website should never be a one-time project

Your website needs ongoing work after it launches. I mean testing content, seeing how it performs in Google Search Console, and making changes based on what you learn. If you're running ads or launching a lead magnet, you also need a page for that specific offer rather than sending everyone to your home page.

What should happen after your website launches?

A lot of people think websites are kind of like a one-time thing. You get the website built, it goes live, and then you move on to running your business.

But if you look at the best companies, they're testing with like 50 articles in a single day. They're seeing how those perform and optimizing certain words based on that.

I wouldn't turn that example into a publishing target for a local service business. The useful part is the process: put something out, see how it does, and use that information to decide what to change.

That means a website plan should leave room for reviewing existing pages, not just adding new ones.

What can Google Search Console help you review?

Google Search Console is Google's tool for seeing how your website performs in Google Search. It can show which searches bring up your pages and which pages people click.

When I talk about pulling that information into Search Console, the point is to see how the content performs. You don't have to guess at every word on the page.

For a service business, a practical place to start is one page that answers an important customer question. Review the searches associated with it. Then read the page and ask whether it actually answers what those people were looking for.

If the wording is unclear or the answer is incomplete, revise it. Give the change time, then review it again. Use the search information to make the page more useful, rather than repeating a phrase everywhere.

Where should ads and lead magnets send people?

If you're running an ad or launching a lead magnet, those need to not just go to your home page, right?

A landing page is a page built around a specific offer or action. A lead magnet is a resource offered to encourage someone to get in touch or share their contact information.

As a practical check, compare what the ad or offer promises with the page someone reaches. That page should explain the same offer and make the next step clear. Your home page may introduce the whole business, but that doesn't mean it gives a specific offer enough attention.

What should ongoing website maintenance include?

Most maintenance for websites sounds like, “I'll post you a blog once a month or once a week.” But that schedule alone doesn't tell you whether the work is going to move the needle.

I'd ask whoever handles your website: Which pages are we reviewing? What are we learning from Search Console? What are we changing because of that? And where will people land when we promote a specific offer?

Those questions give you something concrete to discuss beyond how often a post goes live.

I'm Eric Yim with Protocol Text, a marketing services business based in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is the ongoing website work I'm talking about: testing, reviewing, and making changes instead of treating launch day as the finish.