Over the past few months, we have been holding a whole host of free training and events. We welcomed our Business Development Manager, Luke Cardy, onto our most recent event named ‘8 Things Every Successful Website Needs’ with tips on key considerations you should be making.
The big question is why is it important to review your website now? Well, the simple answer is with more people than ever now working from home and internet usage massively increasing, your website is your digital shop window. Internet usage has more than doubled with an article in the Independent stating we are now spending ¼ of our day online. Now is the perfect time to be making sure you’re making the most of your website, ensuring it’s hitting the right audience and most of all, doing the job you need it to – converting!
Over the past few months, more businesses than ever have relied on digital to keep their businesses going. Now is the time to be testing your online platforms. Are they working? Are they performing the job you need them to do? However much you invest in paid advertising, marketing, social media and content to drive traffic to your website make sure it’s worth it when they get there.
But what are the 8 things you should be considering right now? Here are Luke’s top tips for a successful website.
#1 – SEO
Can people find your website? It’s vital to be continually analysing your website’s SEO (search engine optimisation) on a regular basis. Investing in paid advertising and social promotion will of course drive traffic to your website but what about the traffic you are missing out on when people are searching on Google for a particular query? A top tip is to carry out a technical SEO audit of your site to identify any missing meta descriptions, page titles, alt tags. Investing in keyword research to improve landing pages and on-site content can also really help to leverage your visibility. If you aren’t sure how to carry out an audit, did you know we offer a free SEO audit? Just get in touch and we’d be happy to carry that out for you.
#2 – Content
Is the content on your website written with your audiences in mind? Think about who your audience is and what they need. By offering solutions to problems, whether that be a product or a service, ensure your content is relevant and speak to your audience in a way that resonates with them. Good content is great for SEO so ensure you update your content frequently with new blogs, landing pages and case studies, this not only positions you as thought leaders in your industry but also shows you’re active and ready for business.
#3 – Tone of voice
Do you have an established tone of voice or a particular language when you speak to your audiences? This should be part of your brand guidelines and is just as important as the look of your brand. How you speak and how you communicate with your audience is key. Establish a consistent tone of voice that resonates with your audiences and ensure your messaging is authentic and true to your brand.
#4 – Easy to navigate
When a visitor lands on your website it is clear where they need to go? And is there a clear navigation structure? Be clear in your navigation in order to guide your audiences on a journey through your site. Making a seamless UX (user experience) journey and having clear navigation will be the key to increasing conversions and reducing frustrations. No one is more frustrated than not knowing where to find something. Most websites are not mobile responsive, and if yours isn’t then this should be a key consideration for you. With the increase in mobile usage comes the need to develop user experiences for mobile devices. If you’re not sure how users do use your website why not consider using a heat mapping tool like Mouseflow to review site performance?
#5 – Strong CTA’S
Consider what your goals for your website are. Is it lead generations? Selling a certain product? Collecting data? Then consider whether you have the relevant CTA’s (call to actions) to direct people to take that action. If the answer is a no then you may have some work to do. Having a next step is crucial for any successful website. Is there a sign to tell your user what to do next? If they aren’t sure, you run the risk of leaving your website a little confusing. CTA’s aren’t just about on-site navigation but also how you get people to your website. When you share a link on social media is the CTA relevant and will they land on the right information? Misleading a user will only end in a higher bounce rate.
#6 – Imagery
Good quality imagery is essential for any website. Having low resolution and pixelated images will reduce trust in your brand. If you don’t have high quality photography why not use good stock imagery. With lots of free sites out there such as Unsplash, there’s a whole world of great images out there. But remember, be consistent and keep all imagery on brand.
#7 – Social media
Are you using your social platforms to direct people to your site? Social media is a great tool for generating awareness and traffic, why not share the content you produce on to your social channels but remember our previous point on CTA’s, ensure the content is relevant and users land on pages they expect to.
#8 – Review
The final and most important tip is to review. Test and learn. Why not set time aside weekly, monthly and quarterly to review changes that have been made. Are they effective and have they worked? Or is there still changes that can be made to increase user experience? Review the goals you have set and analyse if you are meeting these, if not it may be time to test a few changes out. Free tools such as Google Analytics are great for seeing what users are doing on your site, how they are finding you and how long they are spending on your site. Utilise these to monitor and evaluate performance.
Remember your website should be continually evolving and should never be static.
These are the fundamental basics for a successful site, take care of the basics and your site will be optimised for conversion. But there’s no rest for the wicked, there is still more you can do and continual improvement is always needed. Why not also get reviews and feedback from your users for any issues you may not have considered. And remember, test and learn. For even more tips read our whitepaper HERE on why your website should work harder for you.
For a free SEO or web audit or maybe you’re needing some help on your next project get in touch, we’d love to see how we can help.