We live in an ever evolving digital world, and the technological progression we have witnessed throughout the last decade or so is quite phenomenal. Evidently, many have seen some of the drastic changes as negatives as 29% of small businesses still do not have a website! However for business owners, it is all most definitely a positive!
Your website is at the forefront of your online presence, your base camp for your customers, and your introduction to new audiences. It is the starting point where you begin before heading down any further advertisement and marketing road. A well optimised website is the not so secret ingredient to a successful business.
Here are 5 Ways To Achieve Maximum Website Optimisation:
1) Mobile Optimisation
According to searchenginewatch.com, 57% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, meaning this is one trend you cannot ignore!
Many brands view mobile optimisation as a second priority. Not only are there visual impairments without mobile optimisation, but there are other ways in which this damages your overall online presence. Unbeknown to many there is a big difference between the way keywords rank on mobile devices, to the way they do on a desktop. All businesses should be made aware of this, and that a mobile optimised site can boost search engine rankings significantly. More and more mobile users are seeking for content on the go as opposed to on their computers at home, which means optimisation is vital.
2) Accessibility
Now, in 2017, all websites must be accessible to anyone and everyone, whatever their hardware, software, language, culture, location, or physical, or mental ability. If your site does not comply with the web accessibility standards, then it is very much outdated and needs a good seeing to!
Alt Text
An example of this would be alt text. By including alt text within your site you are making it accessible to all, especially for people who cannot see. These people may use a screen reader in which the alt text will be read aloud for a visual image.
Podcasts
Podcast are very much the modern day marketing tool and many businesses embed them within their websites making them very informative and up to date content. However, any audio material should also come with a transcript alongside it to ensure web accessibility for those with hearing difficulties.
Visual Graphics
Does your website have bright blinding colours and flashing banners? This could be an indication of an outdated website and also be breaching the standards of web accessibility, as this kind of visual material could induce seizures.
3) Keywords
Keywords are proven to be the most efficient lead generators of the internet today. But, nothing good comes easy. You must take the time to really study your business and narrow your keywords down in order to steer the right traffic to your site. Don't be too broad. If too vast, it will take a very long time to achieve high rankings, if any rankings at all! Broad keywords will still result in traffic coming to your website, but most likely not the correct people and your business will probably not be what they're looking for, resulting in maximum time wasting.
A good tip is to focus your keywords around the different pages you have on your site. For example, for an apparel retailer, have the different types of garments you stock on separate pages. This results in different links which increases lead opportunity and traffic.
4) Images
I would like to think that your website is full of exciting images spread from page to page showing off your products or service you provide to the best of its ability, right? Well, this may or may not be the case. However, this won't matter either way unless you name your images! Business owners often don't realise the impact this can have on traffic pushed to their website. Wouldn't it seem silly not to make sure every bit of your content counts and is not wasted? Well, it happens, a lot. An example of this would be if a potential customer was to search “maternity evening dress” on Google Images and a maternity wear e-commerce site had given SEO naming tags to all of their product images, it is very likely their image would come up, the consumer would click on the image, taking them to the landing page. Therefore generating leads and traffic!
5) Content
Last but most certainly not least; content!
Relevant, informative and quality content is what's going to set you apart from the rest. It is what's going to have you standing taller than even your biggest competitors ensuring you reign supreme within your industry.
All of the components of your website such as the design and the visuals are what collectively win the wallets of your customers. Content is key, but don't rush and cram, research is always the answer before publishing any content in your business' name. It is essential that you are creating content for your website that is significant to your buyer persona.
Hopefully this article has helped inform you of a few tips on how to improve your website and achieve maximum optimisation! If you have any queries, please comment below or call us on 01332 343281 for an informal chat.
