Is your website a killer?
I often get approached by potential clients who are concerned because their website can’t be found on Google (or indeed any other search engine). As a result, it is not getting enough visitors. Unfortunately the solution is not as simple as people think.
The first thing I always do in these situations is to take a look at the website concerned. Nine times out of ten we find that the site is badly designed. So the first thing I tell the potential client is that there is absolutely no point in spending money to get people to find the website if the first thing they do is to click away.
You should be thinking in terms of how much business the site will generate not how many visitors it gets. This means that the site should be designed such that visitors will stay on the site, read it and take action depending on what the site has been designed to do. For example, this could be to make an enquiry via phone or email or to buy something online if the site has an online shop.
So what does a well designed website look like?
It should be well organised – your potential customer should be able to understand the site immediately. If he is faced with a jumble of information on the first screen, he won’t go any further.
It should be easy to navigate – your visitors should be able to find their way around the site easily. A nicely structured menu should appear on each page.
Your business benefits should be clear - when your visitors arrive on your site, they have very little idea what its trying to offer or what benefits they can get from it. If the basic message doesn’t get through to them within about the first 10 seconds, you will lose them.
Content not image – the words on your site are crucial. The site must look attractive but flashy graphics will not make up for poor content. If you write your own content remember the following. Don’t use big words. Keep the sentences short. Above all, keep it well structured to guide your visitors through a sales process.
Professional looking – Last but not least your site should look professional. The layout should be well balanced. The colours should be complementary and should be appropriate to your business.
How not to do it?
If you want to see examples of how not to do it, take a look at www.webpagesthatasuck.com (yes it really exists!). Their strap line is “learn good web design by looking at bad we design”.
Search engines
Once the design has been improved, then we can consider search engines. Getting a site to appear on a search engine is not a simple matter. Factors such as the number of competing sites, the keywords that people are likely to use to find it and how the site has been structured all come into play.
Large companies often spend thousands of pounds to get their websites on the first page of Google. Fortunately, for a smaller company with a local client base, it doesn’t have to be like that. We design all our websites to be search engine friendly and many of them can be found on the first page of Google and other search engines.
That’s all there is to it?
Well actually no. This is just the start. I assume you want people to revisit your site? In that case you need to refresh and update the site from time to time.
But that will be the subject of another article. Watch this space…
The Author Mike Brogan
Through my company Day 10 Internet I help small and medium businesses to increase profits by using the internet. I provide Website/Blog Design & Development Services, eCommerce Development, Internet Marketing (Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Strategy), IT Consulting. Connect with me on Google+.
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