If you’re looking to launch your business online, there’s no shortage of options for you to make that a reality. Every other ad brags about launching your own website in an afternoon. Great! You sit down, you grab your credit card and begin claiming your domain. Website in an afternoon. Easy, right?
There’s much more to building your site than just claiming your domain and uploading some photos. With the right key words, structure and content your site can draw and convert the customers you’re looking for! Conversely, do it wrong and you could be missing out on finding (or worse, frustrating) valuable customers.
Starting with the structure, your customer should ideally be within 1-3 clicks away from being able to buy from any page. Keeping your website simple but descriptive can help concentrate traffic to where you want it to go. Your top and bottom navigation menus should also reflect this easily understood structure.
Your content should reflect and answer what your customers are searching for in Google and other search engines. Ensure that you’re using proper key wording to capture these searches on google and driving relevant traffic. Enriching content with links, embedded images and widgets with metadata will help ensure Google assesses your site positively. These best practices will help grow your audience and continue that growth as policies and technologies evolve online.
In addition to design aesthetics and your choice of photos to upload to your site, there is a depth of metadata that helps identify your site with search engines and drive relevant traffic to you. Understanding how to configure and update this metadata can make or break a site’s presence on Google (search engines don’t have eyes, yet). Your website should follow ADA Accessibility standards and regulations including color contrast degrees, image to text data and other features required for your site. Check to ensure that you have an active SSL certificate installed on your site and that it is working properly. Websites without SSL certificates are often blocked and/or dropped in search favorability.
Keep in mind the amount of data that your website uses every time a page is loaded. If your pages take longer to load, you may need to reduce your image sizes or site complexity. This can be done through compression, choosing a lower image resolution or consolidating pages.
Want help? We can help from full-service to consultation and planning for your next website project. Let’s connect.
-Andi