SiteStarters for Minuteman
Hot Off the Press Keeps Your Website Fresh
Now that you have launched your new website, we hope you have had some visitors come and take a look. After all, that's why you have it, right? What if those customers return?
You want them to see something new on almost every visit. We call that vitality keeping your site alive by continually providing fresh content to your customers. Our research shows that site visitors who don't see at least one thing new that is less than a week old, they believe that you are not paying attention to your site.
One way that we help you add vitality to your Minuteman website is through the Hot off the Press section. Each week our researchers add useful links to this area for your customers, or you have the freedom to localize your Hot off the press section.
While the provided links can be very useful, the best way to utilize this feature is by customizing it to your business and your location. This will keep customers up-to-date on the happenings in your area as well as give you a chance to spread relevant information and stories about you for your marketing purposes.
There are several ways for you to add to the Hot off the Press section, and each option has a specific purpose. Here are some examples:
- Headline only -- If you don't have a full story, but you'd like to add a quick headline to your site, this option is good for you.
- Link to another site -- Most of the Hot Off The Press articles we provide are links to other sites of interest. You may want to link to an article in your local newspaper about your company or one of your customers, or you may have discovered an article of interest that you deem beneficial to your customers in doing business with you.
- Link to another page -- Maybe you have added a new employee, product, or piece of equipment that you would like to feature. Simply write a headline and link to the page within your site that you created in another area. This saves you time by not having to set up the same page twice.
- Link to a downloaded file -- Write a monthly newsletter or other articles including items of interest to your customers. Convert it to a PDF file and add it to your Hot off the Press section using this option.
- Link to custom article -- If you have written a press release for your local press you can copy and paste that information directly to your Hot off the Press section here. Read the MarketingAdvisor, "Extra! Extra!" in your administrative area to learn simple rules on public relations.
Updating your Hot off the Press section is simple. Localize your news anytime by simply:
- Log onto the administration area of your website and select Update Your Site.
- Choose Hot off the Press from the given menu.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click add.
- In the space provided, type in a headline to appear as a link on your front page.
- Select the type of article you'd like to add.
- If you choose "None", only a headline will appear.
- Choosing "Link to Another Site" means you must type in the exact link of the website you want your customers to see.
- If you select "Link to Another Page", simply choose the page in the pull down menu that you'd like to feature.
- "Link to a Downloaded File" requires that you enter your Download Library and click on Add at the bottom of the list. Title your file in the space provided. Click on browse to locate the file on your hard drive. Now select Add and you have successfully added the file to your Download Library to be used anywhere in your site where downloads can be accessed.
- The "Link to Custom Article" option allows you to type directly to a custom page in your site. Simply cut and paste that word processing document into the field provided and the story is instantly on your site. You can also add a photograph from your photo library to this section.
- After you have made your desired adjustments, click Add at the bottom of the page.
- Finally, you must scroll to the bottom of the screen and select Save Changes. This will make your update appear on your website.
After adding your own articles, you may decide to remove some of the articles we have posted for you, that you feel are not beneficial to your customers (Remember, you will want to have at least one item on the front page that you have changed in the last week). To remove a provided file, all you have to do is select the article that you do not want to appear and change the page display to "Hide this Headline". Select Update and that headline will no longer appear on your website.
If you have further questions about adding to your Hot off the Press section, e-mail support@firespring.com or call at 877.447.8936.
