Web Savvy Marketers

MUST HAVES for Website Creation or Re-Design

When we begin the project of building or re-designing a website, the first thing many of our clients want to talk about is what the home page will look like and how they should present the products and services offered. While both are critical to the success of a website, it’s important to also consider the following aspects of a website that, unfortunately, are often overlooked.

ADA Compliance

An accessible website makes the experience of browsing easier for the potential customer. The best standards to follow are the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Standards for Accessible Design, which states that all electronic and information technology must be accessible to persons with physical or mental disabilities.

This is a great standard to use because it sets the base for an easy-to-use and navigate website, drawing more potential customers to access your business. Accessibility can mean a lot of things in website design, but in summary it means that your site is easy to browse and search, easy to read, and easy to access for people who may have visual or other limitations. This is not a complex standard to meet, and it has lasting effects on growing your business.

About and Industry Pages

About Us

About Us sections put a face to the name of your company and brand. People buy from people, especially when businesses are competing with brands from all parts of the world. Humanizing your company makes customers feel comfortable and supported, and this connection can begin with a well-crafted About Us section. Showcase your origin story and/or the work you do to engage with the community. This is the perfect spot to share that work with customers and prospects, as well as potential employees.

Industry Pages

While you know where and how your products can be used, others may not. Well-written industry pages are a great place to start. Industry pages show that you understand your customer’s industry and can demonstrate the specific products that you have for them. This can entice prospects, and it can show current customers the breadth of the understanding you have.

It also makes it easier for a customer to purchase more from you. If they visit your site looking for a specific part, they will see that part on the products page. The industry page will not only include that part but all parts they could be purchasing from you specific to their needs. Stop making it hard for them to buy more from you!

Correct Use of Testimonials

Testimonials should be placed strategically throughout your website. For example, the industry pages tell a story that shows how you help other companies in that industry, so what better way to show this than a customer testimonial to qualify your statements?

Creating a specific testimonial page isn’t as effective as a testimonial related to a specific part of the website helping accentuate those successes. Having a testimonial of your spectacular customer service on a page full of other stories won’t stand out as much. Put the testimonial with the topic to really help it shine.

Don’t Skimp on Content

There is no such thing as too much information on a website, but there can be too much information on a single page. The volume of information isn’t as important as the method of communication. The solution to avoiding the overwhelming wave of information is clear navigation.
Navigation should be consistent and easy-to-follow. Every page on the site should be accessible via the main navigation. Use multiple pages to get your message across if needed. As a rule, people like to do their own research. Start with the top level information and drill down into larger content. And, for the engineers out there, add specifications and as much detail as possible.

Quantity of content will also help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), allowing you to be found when someone does an online search. When creating content, make sure that the terms you are using to describe your product are what people are using when searching for it. If the wording is off, you won’t be getting the hits that you want. Having several pages of content is a great way to use every possible phrasing of your product and industry’s needs to ensure you make it to the top of the page on that search engine.

Call to Action

This may seem like the most obvious part of a website, but it is often overlooked. Create a call to action. You know what your intentions are with this website, whether it is engaging with your current customers, attracting new customers, or even branding your company to attract potential employees. Use that knowledge to your advantage and make sure you tell them what to do next!

It’s been proven that if you give someone information, they will accept it and walk away; however, if you give them information and then suggest they take action, they will do so. If you let the user decide what their next choice is, they may miss out on vital next steps. The call to action is the best way to guide a user through your website and keep them connected. The call to action can be anything from signing up for an e-newsletter to picking up the phone to give you call. The intention is to allow them to maintain that connection beyond the great website they just experienced.

SSL Certificate

SSL Certificates may not seem like a vital part of a website, but having one clearly advertised gives your user base peace of mind while browsing your site. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certification is a way of encrypting and protecting any personal data that may be entered on your site. It provides authentication and encryption and is commonly used on site that require users to submit any personal information.

An SSL Certificate protects your customers from having their data stolen as well as protecting your sites’ security. SSL protects everyone from scams, data breaches, and other cyber threats. Having and showcasing your SSL Certificate helps create and maintain a safe environment for all users.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policies are a vital way of communicating important information to your user base as well. They commonly are statements or even legal documents that disclose ways that the user’s information and data are being gathered, used, and managed. These statements are very important in protecting yourself and your company as well as being very clear with your user base with exactly what their data is being used for.

A Privacy Policy needs to be up-to-date, as there are laws being passed in states across the U.S. that would allow consumers to sue businesses anywhere in the U.S. for not having a compliant Privacy Policy. Keeping these policies up-to-date with the state laws is also very important. These policies raise the standard for data privacy and protect you and your website visitors from potential issues.

Summary

All aspects of a website are considered with care. A great looking website is wonderful, but one that looks great and is filled with quality content that connects with their users is even better. This is one marketing tool when done right will have lasting effects on your business. A website is a great place to communicate the personal side of business and really stand out from the rest. Not sure if your website has what it takes? Contact Us for a consultation. We’d be happy to take a look.

How is SEO like a college degree?

I know, I know, another blog about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Well it’s a hot topic with our clients and often an area of confusion. SEO is simply optimizing a site to ensure that it is found when doing a search on Google, Yahoo or other search engines. Now the term ensure may be too strong because although SEO is important, there’s no magic to guarantee placement. A site that ranks third on the first page on Google one day may be at the bottom of page two the next day due to changes in the way in which the search engine looks at the site.  And it may also vary form person to person–but that’s another story.

Although this can be a bit frustrating we do know that there are a few things we can do to make sure a site improves its ranking. First and most important is content–making sure that the keywords used in a search are in the content of a website is essential. The more comprehensive the content of the site, the more likely it will rank well on search engines.

The second way to improve search engine rank is to make sure that the keywords used in a search and in the content are included the meta and title tags . The most important terms should be included in these 2 tags. This is also important because the title and meta description may be what the search results will show and you’ll want to make sure that it correctly conveys your message.

Also important to SEO are incoming links. The more links you have from other sites to yours, the higher you may rank. The key here, however, is QUALITY links. You’ll often see ads to get you 15,000 links. Most of these won’t be applicable to your site and can even hurt your ranking. Quality links would be regional, industry directories, etc.

The bottom line is…SEO is a continuous process. Since search engines constantly update their way of looking at sites, SEO is not a one time fix and although there are no guarantees, it’s not something you can ignore.

How is SEO like a college degree? With a degree you’re not guaranteed to get the good job, but without it, you’re not likely to get it. Similarly, SEO doesn’t guarantee a first place search engine rank, but without it, you’re not likely to be found.

SEO is Important but Not Exclusive to Website Success

It is important to optimize your site for search engines. That means it should employ the three tried and true search engine optimization (SEO) techniques: good titles, meta tags and most importantly well-written content.

Three Tried & True SEO Techniques

Title Tag
Title tags are within the head section of the html code and it is what appears in the blue bar at the very top of the browser screen. Titles tags should succinctly describe (using 6 -12 words or about 60 characters) the content on that page and they should be unique for each page.

Meta Tags
Meta description tags are also included withing the head tags of the html code. The meta description is often used as the text that the search engine displays below your link. So it is important that this text is keyword rich and accurately describes its page. Meta descriptions should also be unique for each page on your website and should be written in a way that would make a potential customer want to visit your website.

Use the meta keyword tag to focus on what’s important on the page. Again, make it unique to each page and don’t stuff it with every imaginable combination of keywords. Pick a few keywords that focus on the content of that particular page and list them. Search engines may or may not use the tag to list your site, but they won’t penalize you as long as you don’t stuff it with excessive versions of keywords.

The Heading tag and Content
The H1 tag is an html tag that identifies an important heading. There are actually 6 levels of heading tags within html with h1 having the most importance. Your content (that means the content that people read on the page) should use appropriate keywords and should be well-written and structured for easy reading. Use the H1 tag for important keyword rich headings and write content that clearly and quickly identifies the focus of the content and supports the heading. Use video and graphics to support your concepts too and remember to use descriptive alt tags for images.

What if SEO doesn’t work as well as you expected?
These search engine optimization (SEO) techniques have been around for at least a decade or more and while I highly recommend optimizing your website for search engines, you should be aware that SEO in itself will not make your website successful and may not provide your site with the desired search engine rank.

If you’re confident that your site has been optimized well but you’re not happy with your current search engine rank, it may be time to analyze the competition. Which websites consistently rank higher than your site in the search engine results? What differentiates the top-ranking sites from your site?

Typically, I find 2 or 3 obvious factors that seem to contribute to the higher search engine rank.
1.Their site has better content – it’s more in-depth, it’s better written, it appears to be the better resource.
2.The site has been established longer and has been managed consistently and kept up to date.
3.It has current information and uses current techniques for presenting information.

There are of course many other factors that can come into play. But given that your site is free of technical errors and is coded to be crawled easily by search engine bots, probably the most important thing a website owner can do to optimize their website for search engines is to optimize their site for their customers.

The search engines’ goal is to list the best resources – it should be your goal too.

1.Continue to add depth to your content. You might add a blog or a user forum that will encourage customer participation while building the depth of content on your website.
2.Reach out to your audience – participate in social networks and give freely in the areas of your expertise.
3.Ensure that your site makes your customers feel secure with appropriate security measures and easy to find contact information.
4.Set a schedule to review your site regularly and edit dated information with updated content.

Your website may not be an overnight success, but with continued diligence in managing your website it will continue to improve as a source of referrals for your business and will become more and more valuable over time.

10-Point Search Engine Optimization Checklist

Can your potential customers find you when they do an Internet search? In other words, is your web site optimized for search engine indexing? Use this checklist to evaluate your web site for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

  1. Have you developed a key word list that contains words and phrases that describe your product or service?
  2. Does each page on your web site have a keyword-rich page title that accurately describes the content on that page?
  3. Does each page on your web site have a meta description tag that clearly describes the content on that page in one or two sentences?
  4. Do you use keywords within the content on your pages?
  5. Do you use keyword-rich alt tags for each image on every page?
  6. Do you use keywords in text links on your site?
  7. Do you update your site on a regular basis?
  8. Do you take advantage of industry- or regional-specific on-line directories to list your business, with a link to your web site?
  9. Do you use on-line PR services to submit articles related to your business that link to your web site?
  10. Do you have a blog, or participate in forums, blogs or on-line business networking services like Linked In, Facebook or Plaxo?

FAQ: What can I do to make my site appear on the first page of search engine results for this set of terms?

Search engine optimization is an art and a science and there are many things you can do in addition to what was done during the site build to continue to improve your search engine ranking. But keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process and it can take time to get ranked and stay on the first page of a Search Engine.

Since search engines are trying to provide the most relevant search results to their clients, the best thing you can to do to improve your chance of ranking well is to build a content-rich, well organized website that is kept current with updated information.

Recommendations for keeping content fresh:

  1. Use a blog or user forum to make it easy to post new information and to encourage user participation
  2. Remove pages with outdated content, or pages without content.
  3. Use video – (customers and search engines like it)

Often you’ll notice that the sites that are coming up at the top of the SE list are directory sites.  They have a distinct advantage over an individual or small business site because in addition to having fresh content that is updated regularly, they provide multiple resources for someone searching – thus the SE’s consider them the most relevant result to the search.

Things you should do:

  1. Research your keyword phrases to determine the best terms to use and regularly add keyword rich content to the website.
  2. Ensure that keywords are used in page titles, meta tags, content and content headings.
  3. Get listed on appropriate online directories (professional directories, yellow pages, chambers of commerce, etc.)
  4. Submit press releases to online PR services
  5. Set-up a Google Adwords or other PPC program
  6. Review your site statistics or a program like Google Analytics to analyze what is working – what pages people are landing on and where they go once they get there. Make adjustments based on analysis
  7. Maximize your virtual network with professional networking sites like Linked In or Plaxo
  8. Participate on professional forums and offer your expertise
  9. Include privacy policy and terms of use pages on your site

Things to avoid:

  1. Pop-up windows
  2. Dead links
  3. Identical content posted in duplicate locations
  4. Overuse of Flash

Resources:

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