Whether you’re on a tight budget and want to get the most out of your web presence, or you run an enterprise-level business, a solid website opens up many possibilities.
Good websites Look at the visitor first, the offer They provide a great user experience and they can become powerful marketing machines.
Reading: How to create a succesful website with ads
You invest in digital marketing to attract visitors to your website – now you need to deliver the experience they expect when they arrive.
Here’s how.
1. Clearly define your goals
While we should always start any web or marketing project with goals, we need to consider both ourselves and the user of our website.
The website only needs traffic generate , leads and sales when we make sure we have what our target audience wants and we can deliver it to them in a satisfactory way.
Defining goals for both your business and your users should be easy.
If the goals don’t match, you probably have an issue where you’re trying to make a profit but are unable to deliver the product and experience your audience is looking for.
It’s painful to invest time and money in a website only to find that everyone is leaving where no one understands why they should buy from you. This is a big indication that you have focused too much on your end goals and not theirs.
2. Right Budget
Prepare to invest in your web presence. I know a lot of brands that overspend on their websites and then do cheap marketing. Conversely, there are those who want to go big on marketing and don’t build anything into their website.
Find the right CMS, technology and website type for you.
In stock ? Know the limitations so you don’t have to throw it away and start over before seeing ROI.
Custom design and/or code? Make sure it’s not overkill and doesn’t push your breakeven point too far into the future.
Don’t be over- or under-priced. Be clear about what your initial investment is and what the additional investment is to make the right decisions to support your business.
3. Earn your audience’s trust
Be clear and transparent in what you offer and what you want to expect from your audience.
Know what motivates them and what you are strong in.
Take advantage of this.
All too often, websites lack the emotional or believable connections needed to gain trust and leads or sales.
A prime example , which I see a lot, it’s e-commerce sites (and even service company sites) that lack a comprehensive About Us page.
Users want to know who they’re doing business with, not who they’re doing business with that you are just another commodity page in this area.
If you can’t put names, images, culture, philosophy or any kind of story on your website, you won’t be able to tell what you’re about.
See also: Create a Notification
Customers are interested in your intentions.
Even cost-conscious buyers who are simply looking for the lowest price need to feel like you’re a legitimate business before entering credit card information.
4 . Find ways to stand out
Distinction is key.
You can still use a website template and look different.
By using images and Adapting styles to fit your brand allows you to stand out.
That comes with gaining trust.
When you tell your story and factors like price, quality , customer service, what you do for profit, how to give back, etc. create the connection needed to stand out from the other template-based and quick-build sites selling the same products or services.
5. Focus on usability and user experience
Make it easy for your audience to get to the content they want.
If you’re running a viral video website, you’re driving users to video sites.
If you offer products or services, make sure users get to the page they want in the fewest possible clicks.
In addition to an intuitive main menu navigation optimized for mobile and desktop experiences is , think about the placement of your search box and other cues to get to popular content.
Don’t assume a user is willing to click multiple times to get to the latest cat video or Get to the best sellers everyone wants.
6. Remember SEO Basics
This seems like a basic thing, but don’t forget SEO.
As a minimum, you should know how search engines crawl and index your content , and ensuring the basics on-page factors are optimized.
There are many ways to make this easier, including through plugins and semantic coding.
SEO has technicalities and goes beyond on-page, but if you can at least ensure that your content can (and will) be indexed and that you customize all on-page elements to literally represent what your content is and what it is about, then you’ve won half the battle.
7. Optimize Your Landing Pages
Landing pages are great campaign tools.
These include PPC ads, email promotions, inbound marketing, and more.
Having a system that allows for quick landing page creation and customization is critical to success when you’re marketing.
Make sure your website or content management system that provides control and that your website allows you to set the indexing status, change the navigation and separate these pages from the normal navigation paths when you use them for dedicated campaigns outside of the navigable, normal website content.
8. Use your analytics
Another that might seem like a given, but go beyond simply installing Google Analytics on your website.
You need information on demographics, target conversions and more you can find.’ You can’t unless you take a few quick steps to set it up.
See also: How to Create a WordPress News Aggregator Website (Beginners Guide to Your Own Content Aggregator)
Don’t assume that you can set it up and then forget it and go back months and see how it’s going.
You don’t need to log into Google Analytics every day.
At least after you customize it, set up some reports and notifications to come to you automatically, so you’re always on Pulse of time are what works and what doesn’t and can adapt spontaneously instead of reacting too late.
9. Learn from Heat Mapping
Heat mapping and on-page analytics tools are great sources of additional information about user experience.
Many of the aspects that make up the are UX-related.
Tools like Lucky Orange (I’m a customer and a fan – not a paid endorser) give you insight into how far users are scrolling, where their mouse is going, how much they are complete before bailing, where they are getting stuck on your site and much more that Google Analytics cannot show you.
By monitoring this level of detail, you can fix UX hitches and further optimize the UX of the site to see success.
10. Make sure your website is working at all times
Uptime is often all we think about when it comes to making sure our websites are working.
However, you may notice problems like JavaScript not firing, buttons not working, a browser-specific bug, or problems with the mobile experience without the right logs.
If you’re just observing sales data and uptime, you may be missing a segment of your Target audience reaches a roadblock.
Many users don’t reach out to you or contact you if they can’t buy or get to the content they want – they just leave.
You have recently clicked a button in the WordPress admin to update a plugin? Make sure you know if this broke anything.
Make sure your code is functional and cross-browser tested.
11. Keep listening and learning
Don’t assume anything.
We’re good and optimize and learn along the way with marketing. SEO is an ongoing process that involves fine-tuning.
Don’t let your website become a static place with a different management philosophy.
Listen to your audience and users are learning.
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Do this across social media, customer service channels, analytics, heat mapping, and whatever data and touchpoint you have.
Be proactive in seeking feedback and opportunities for improvement A website is an asset that grows and evolves with your business.
Conclusion
While most aspects that lead to a successful website are related to user experience and your brand, it is important to technology, insights and understand and use feedback to optimize and refine your site over time.
Remember that optimization isn’t just limited to SEO.
More Resources:
See also: How to Create a Group in Gmail
- 50 Questions You Need To Ask To Assess the quality of your website
- SEO-friendly hosting: 5 things to look for in a hosting company
- WordPress SEO Guide: Everything you need to know
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