As time goes by, everything in the world either changes or improves. From fashion, life style, travel, education, business, even technology; all will change or improve to keep up with trends. In the business world, in order to succeed, people who own businesses must keep up with the changes and improvements. Now with more developed technology, almost everything is online, such as online transportation, online hotel reservation, and even nowadays you can find some restaurants using digital tools for you to see and order menu. Yes, with these improvements in technology, people in the business world see opportunities to compete. Of course, almost all of them know that one of the important parts in achieving success in a business is the use of a website. A website does not only act as a valuable marketing asset, in fact, it can also perform as a valuable marketing tool. If you have a business and want to sell more, you can definitely use a website to help you with your goals. However, of course, not all websites can work well, only websites that provide good quality and serve the best user experience that can sell. So, if you are not sure about what criteria that a website should have, the following questions will guide you. Later, you can ask your web developers to carry out these criteria on your site. Check these out!
Is It Responsive?
When we are talking about responsiveness, the important point that we have to understand is that you should ensure that all of your users have the same experience when they access your website on a desktop or mobile device. If your website and mobile versions do not share this look, then it’s time for you to change it into a responsive website.
Having a responsive site will also give you more benefits, such as:
- Supporting social sharing
- Improving overall website speed
- Getting favourable scores from Google
- Decreasing bounce rate
Is It SEO-Friendly?
SEO is one of the most important elements that any online business should understand. However, if SEO still sounds unfamiliar to you, it is actually an effort that makes your website “readable” by search engines.
Another important step is to make sure that your website has basic on-page SEO, so that you can rank high on search engines. You can also hire SEO experts to help you with any SEO efforts. However, you can also maximise your website with several tips below:
- Keyword/concept-based research
In order to enhance the traditional keyword-search methodology, you can use the Ad Words Keyword Planner. With this tool, you can discover how a customer might use a keyword, which as a result, helps you pick a keyword that is suitable for your industry. For example, if the keyword is “SEO strategies,” website searches will likely type in “The Best SEO Strategy” not just “SEO strategy.”
- Optimise Images
Don’t forget to give the name, input the alt tag to your images, and throw in a couple of keywords. By optimising these things, your site can appear more frequently in website searches.
- 301 redirects
You absolutely don’t want to lose organic traffic that you’ve earned so hard, right? So, if you’re redesigning your website, make sure to redirect those old URLs to the new site. In this way, you can restore traffic from your previous website.
- Internal and External Linking
Use links to some of your other website pages. Then, scatter them throughout the site to improve user experience and provide site authority.
- Using the Right Domain Name
One of the ways to represent your company’s brand and identity on the internet is by typing your brand in your domain name. Therefore, your domain name should be simple, easy to remember and easy to associate. In fact, by using the right domain name, you can increase your visibility on the net. Basically, a .com domain name is a good choice, mainly because it is one of the most popular domain names on the internet today.
Furthermore, you can consider similar words or names, as an interesting tag line, a product or service name, or consider a “Hinglish” option when the domain name that you want is already taken. Also, in order to increase the chances of your potential customers finding you online, you can register multiple domain names, especially if your domain name has a common misspelling.
Is It Social?
Opportunity lies everywhere and that is why it is important to be ready in every angle. For example, make sure that your site has a share button, so, when your visitors want to share it, you have the button already. By providing the social sharing button, you won’t miss out on an opportunity to covert a lead, and engage with your audience.
Is It Attractive?
Great content is a content that can keep users interested in your website once they land there. Therefore, you only have a little chance to impress, instil trust, make them feel welcome and sell them on your services. So, as a solution, you can apply appealing design that supports your content to accomplish these goals. Below are some do’s and don’ts to remember when designing your website.
Do’s:
- Keep design styles and shapes simple.
- Create clear navigation and calls-to-action structures.
- Use legible typography
- Hire a professional for your website’s photography.
- Make sure visitors know what your website is about.
Don’ts:
- Overuse Flash and functionality
- Offer too many navigation options
- Overuse pop-ups
Is It Engaging?
Remember that only creating a website is not enough; you need to consistently update your content, because content is one of the most important parts in increasing your brand awareness. Through high quality creative content, you will increase the chance of Google recognising your credibility and therefore gain you high rank in search results. Many say that they are too busy to write every week, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t generate fresh content. In fact, you can hire a content writer or an inbound marketing agency to help you with the articles.
Furthermore, when your companies prioritise blogging, you will likely see your ROI 13 times better. This shows how content is important to demonstrate to visitors your knowledge in the industry. Also, publishing more relevant content can also increase website traffic, build authority, improve conversion rates, increase leads, and engage more with users.
Is It Smart?
Smart website is a website that can speak to visitors about their personalised experience. When a first-time visitor arrives on your website, you may not know what their interests are. Therefore, it is important to create smart content that can increase your user experience, as well as “ignite” their curiosity, such as:
- Catering to buyer personas
- Offering a first-time website visitor a unique experience
- Adapting the content through various stages of a user’s buying behaviour.
How wonderful a website is, don’t you agree? With a website, your business can grow and be more recognised. It can also handle more tasks than any salesperson would do in a day. However, if not used and built properly, you would not get the results you have always wanted. Now that you know the key elements in making your website your number one marketing tool, start doing the right way and implement these formula to plan strategies before creating a website or improving it. So, are you ready to have a website? Feel free to discuss anything about website development with our skilful web developers and web designers today!