Most small businesses have a Web site and some marketing materials that most likely were written a few months ago but maybe longer. Keeping your content fresh, whether it is on your Web site pages, blog or printed materials is important to establishing your credibility and a consistent brand.

Remember that your brand is everything you do and say, not just the visual image your business projects. If your marketing tools are inconsistent with what you tell people, that reflects poorly on your brand. Ensuring your content is up-to-date and your message is consistently delivered to your prospects is an important exercise that should be done at least once a quarter. The more often you review your content, the less work it will become. Doing this review once a year most likely means a lot more content needs to change.

Let the Review Begin

We’ve just determined if:

• Our target market has changed;
• Our products and service offerings were aligned with the needs of our target market;
• We know what makes us different;
• Our core marketing message helps your prospects decide why they should do business with you.

Armed with this information, it’s time to review your materials for consistency and accuracy with what you are actually providing your clients. Start with your Web site and make changes there. When you are happy with the content, then you can update your print materials (if you have any) accordingly.

As you review your content, keep the following questions in mind:

• Do I clearly identify on the home page who I work with, what I do for them and how I help them so I get my ideal client’s attention quickly?
• Are the description of my service offerings still something people can buy or have I changed the pricing and packaging and forgot to update the details on the Web site?
• Have I added a great new service or product offering to my lineup but forgot to add it to my Web site?
• Is my profile accurate or do I need to update it? What does my profile look like with respect to the one I have on LinkedIn?
• Do I make it easy for people to connect with me via my social networks?
• Do all the links on my site still work?
• Is this the year I should commit to adding a blog to my site and create a plan for providing my target market great content?

It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day activities of running your business and working on your business usually gets put aside. But your Web site content, marketing materials and consistent brand is too important to put aside and forget. I know I had to revise my Web site content to align what I was actually providing to my clients with what was described on the Web site.

What questions did I miss that we should be asking when reviewing our marketing materials for quality content?

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Marketing Content Review is an original post from Debra Murphy, Small Business Marketing Coach: Masterful Marketing - Marketing in the New Media World. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Debra on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.