websiteI recently came across this presentation which recommends NOT to include a news section on a website:
http://www.slideshare.net/tlowette/do-company-websites-need-a-news-section
I imagine the advice is even more appropriate for startups which are almost guaranteed to be lacking the time and resources to keep a news section updated.
What are good alternatives to keep a startup website ‘fresh’ and up to date, instead of a traditional news section? I am focusing mostly on product-based startups (selling physical products).
For the overall site to show that it is being updated, it is important to have some time stamped items and my opinion is that a blog provides this.
When you say fresh, you imply change that may not necessarily involve new content. One of the best and easiest ways to keep the look fresh is to rotate images, especially if they are on the main landing page as a background. By simply changing the images over time, repeated users will see something different and may explore the site more.
Since you said the site focus on selling physical products, maybe you can add a revolving item that highlights a specific item and even though the overall items may not change, the one that gets highlighted will change and this keeps the look fresh.
Instead of “News section” try embedding a twitter feed. Create a twitter account and post any updates to there, which will also show up on your website instantly.
This is what twitter was really created for, use it!
For most startups, the first question for the website isn’t, “what can we say?” but “what might draw traffic or drive conversions?”
News, by its nature, tends to be verbose, which is potentially a negative for SEO purposes. And it can be distracting, which is potentially a negative for conversions.
Blog posts tend to be the preferred way to draw traffic, because it’s OK in a blog to be very concise (which can also mean very precisely targeted). It’s also very low maintenance. If you commit to writing a blog post every week, the website stays fresh, and it grows as an asset.
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