Recently I have had a number of queries about websites, ranging from updating content to improving website SEO. My enquirers have encountered quite a number of issues and as we discussed their options, I decide that a simple blog might help others. I have split the issues and questions raised into before and after getting a new website but they do overlap.
Before we start I have to declare that in my opinion, WordPress is the most user-friendly of the available website packages. We’re not the BBC – other models are available – but we don’t think they are as good. I work mainly with WordPress to maintain websites that others have created. I do work on other platforms for clients, but bluntly, this is only done reluctantly.
Before you start (or what to ask before you start trying to improve)
Ask what ‘technology’ the website is to be implemented in
A common theme as we discuss websites with companies is their desire to change the content on their website. The commonest issue of all is that the technology is not geared to the site being updateable by YOU the client. We strongly recommend using WordPress as a basis for websites as users with training can add to the website or even make radical changes (with even more training).
Google looks for websites that are updated regularly with interesting content, but some users cannot change or add to their website because of the technology or because of the charges imposed by the website builder. This is one definition of a waste of money for a website.
We have encountered websites where the user has paid a lot of money for a beautiful design that has been realised as a set of pages coded in HTML, making it extremely difficult (or impossible) for the average user to update or change. Another waste of money.
And finally, the biggest issue we come across is not having a blog or news section – or even not being able to have one.
Will the website have a blog (or news section)?
Google likes websites to be regularly updated. Having a blog on a website is the simplest and easiest way to add interesting content. In our training courses we encourage users to build into their daily workflow the capture of content that can be added to websites.
Websites do need to be updated and to have content added regularly so using inappropriate technology or not having access to make updates are to be avoided.
Can a website have easily added pages?
Users should have the freedom to add pages to their website at will. One reason is to create landing pages for marketing campaigns. These can then be tracked using software such as Google Analytics, to evaluate the success of the campaign and improve future campaigns. In our training courses we advise that website visitors should be sent to a landing page specifically designed to capture their details and that has clear calls-to-action, rather than sending visitors to the home page.
Avoid any website proposal that does not give you this freedom.
Will the website be backed up?
You’ve got the website right. You can manage it yourself and have put in lots of content, either through blogs or changes to pages.
Then the website crashes and you lose the lot.
Then the importance of having a credible backup strategy for your website becomes clear. remember backup can be performed by your website host or by you and it should be happening on regular basis.
Is the website mobile friendly?
Google recently announced that sites that are not mobile friendly will be have their rankings reduced. Mobile friendly sites work just as well on smartphones or tablets as they do on a PC. Google has made available a page for you to plug-in your web address to test if your website is mobile-friendly.
A hidden part of mobile friendly is physically just how big any graphics or photographs are on the website. Too big and loading times will stretch* (and visitors mobile data quotas will vanish if they are not running on Wi-Fi ), but you need to consider too, how they look when rendered on any given phone, tablet or screen. Here’s some advice on making graphics or photos suitable.
*Note: for slow Internet connections then the same issue will occur even on a PC.
Who holds the website domain registration?
Every website has to have its domain registered; this is the linkage between the name we have called it (e.g. www.ianhardacre.com) and where it is on the Internet.
The domain name has to be registered and we recommend using 123-reg here in the UK. The account that this is held under should be owned by the user. We have experiences of regaining control of the registration from a third party. This can take many days of our time simply because the original website was registered in the name of the website builder not the owner. A further complication is that new (or revised) websites hosted at another location but retaining the same domain name need to have the Internet ‘pointers’ moved to the new website and without ownership/access to this registration then everything is on hold.
(Note the same issues can occur over email so we regard this access/ownership to a mandatory delivery of any website build and make sure that our clients retain control but are guided by us through the process.)
Is the website’s technology being maintained?
Even WordPress (yes I did say that) has bugs and security issues so it is important that the base technology is moved forward (safely) with each new release. We are lucky that in the latest versions of WordPress a lot of these upgrades can be done automatically and be invisible not only to the user but the hosting company.
Using technology that is not being maintained, or is proprietary and potentially could be no longer maintained, can lead to situations where no-one can update the website or the website becomes vulnerable to hacking.
Technology that is no longer maintained has been at the root of a number of our discussions with users who have found themselves with non-performing websites that they want to improve.
Choosing a supplier for your website
I will try and stay strictly neutral in this section. Please do remember the differences between designing a website, building a website, maintaining a website and adding content to a website. Before embarking on a new website; simply ask how each of these steps would be addressed.
It is entirely up to you to ask to see existing websites, but to paraphrase other sectors, past performance is no indication of future performance.
We do have strong opinions about how much a good website should cost but that is between us and you should you decide to ask us to help.
After the website is finished (or how do I improve what I have)
Make sure
# You have access to the website
# That it is supported through updates to the technology
# And that it is backed up by you or your web site hosting company
# Find out who controls access to the domain registration and if not you then start NOW to take control.
# Make sure you can use Google Analytics (or know someone who does) to get a better understanding to what is happening on your site.
# Do search for your website using keywords including place names and if your website doesn’t appear then start digging into why. By the way don’t expect it to be on page 1!
Do type in a search for the website by the domain name on Google
Why?
We found a website that some poor unsuspecting business had paid for that still had the development setting such that Google did NOT index the website! However, Google was kind enough to say “not indexed” so this would definitely be an urgent call to the website developer.
Keywords
A lot has been written about keywords. Most users they worry that this is some sort of magic bullet or even dark art that can only be achieved by buying (expensive) knowledge.
We come across websites where photos are labelled “IMG2093” rather than a description of what the photograph is, that don’t refer to places sensibly in written sentences (or even include in photograph labels!)
Keywords are NOT going to solve your SEO problems by themselves, but simply including words that are used by your clients to describe your services will go a long way to helping Google serve up your website to searches. To help with working out which words would be helpful here is a link to the 50 keywords suggested for website designers. These are keywords/phrases that are ‘long tail keywords’ they may not be as popular as other keywords BUT do occur as potential clients type in queries to Google or Bing.
For example, my initial blogs about social media training always referenced ‘seminars’ until it was pointed out to me that most searches were for ‘training’. A quick re-write was then in order.