We all know that technology moves with the times and each year there are updates and changes, but it’s not just the technology that moves, the way that we work with it also changes!  We now have huge amount of content delivered to us on desktop, our phones and tablets.  We are consuming content 24/7 at a fast paced, we scroll through thousands of pieces of content a day! So how in all that noise can we not only make sure our website can get seen, but how can it drive sales and actually work for your business.

 

Here are my top ten ways to start to make your website really work for you in 2019…

1. Do a stocktake (where is your website currently?)

If you really want to know if your website is working for you, you need a basis to measure it!  A good starting point is to evaluate exactly where you are currently at!

• When did you last update your website?
• Are you regularly adding a blog?
• When was the last time you got an enquiry from your website?
• How many visitors are you getting daily/weekly/monthly
• Where are your visitors coming from? Do you even know?
• Do you get any engagement on your blog?

2. Take a look in the mirror (does your website reflect you?)

How do your current website visitors actually see you? Take a look at your website…

Does your website presence reflect where you are now? or has your business evolved and your website got left behind?

Can you tell from your website.. Who you are? What you do?

Can your visitors contact you easily and connect with you on social media too?

BE HONEST!

3. How does Google see you? (is your website ranking?)

Do a quick search in Google, search for your name and your company name.  Have a look at what comes up?  Click on images and see if any images come up to?  This gives you an idea of how Google is actually seeing your website.  You can also check all the ranked pages by typing site://yourdomainname in the search bar.  It will show you how many pages show up and the descriptions of each page.  This is also a useful tool to look at other sites and learn how they are ranking in Google too!

4. The need for speed (is your website loading?)

If your site won’t load, or takes an age to kick into action, your visitors will simply click away!  Google don’t rank slow sites either so check that yours is behaving, if it’s slow it may be your hosting or the amount of data on your site.  Images are a key area that can potentially slow a site down, where possible ensure they are are jpg files not .png files as they take up less space.

5. Make it long tail (keywords, phrases and SEO)

Do you understand what your potential customers are actually searching for?  It’s very often a solution to a problem and not necessarily the service you offer!  What do customer say to you?  Listen to their language and optimise your website with keywords and phrases that are relevant.  Long tail keywords and basically a sentence of keywords rather than just one!  These will attract less visitors but are more likely to ensure the ‘right’ kind of visitors to your site and therefore give the opportunity for more conversion.  If you have WordPress website you can instal the Yoast Plugin which will help you do optimise each website page and blog post.

6. Make them come back for more? (repeat visitors)

Are you giving people a reason to return to your website?  If you only have a few pages and it’s never updated then there is no reason for them to return.  Make it engaging, offer regular tips, blog posts and products updates then they will keep coming back for more!

7. Will they get lost? (website navigation)

Is your website easy to navigate?  Customer journey is a key area of your website and can make or break it’s success.  Your user needs to know exactly where to go?  You don’t need to deliver a tonne of content up front, it is much more impactful and effective if you can take a user deeper into your website. (Think Alice down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland)… Take them on a journey and give them an experience.

8. Do the maths (website analytics)

If you haven’t already set up Google Analytics so you can ‘actually’ see what is happening with your website traffic.  Google Analytics not only allows yo to view your daily, weekly and monthly views, but you can also view where it is all coming from, how much your social media is working for you and even what kind of device visitors are using!

9. Get to know them (list building and data capture)

Review and renew your call to action on your website.  Are you making it super easy for them to contact you?  Do you have  sign up in exchange for something of value for you to give to them?  This could be a download, video or cheatsheet?

10. Take it to market (online marketing)

If you have a website that you are proud of it’s time to share it with the world!  There are over 3 billion people currently online and a HUGE opportunity for you to get seen, make more money with your website and transform your business and your life through your website!

 

 

If you are wanting to transform your website in 2020! Please do drop me a line naomi@happyhearthq.com