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Showing posts with label web design derby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web design derby. Show all posts
03 March 2011
Getting The Most From Your Website Content
Once you have answered your questions, addressed in my previous article you are ready to compose your content, namely: what kind of people do you want to attract to your website, what are the benefits of your product or service, why should your prospective customer buy from your and what actions do you want them to take once they have read your website?
Here are a few guiding principles you should consider while composing your content and before you submit the content to your website:
1. Make sure your content is easy to read. Most people will not read huge complicated paragraphs of text online as it is all too easy to click on to another website or another page so it is vital to keep your information simple, and to break it up into bite sized chunks.
Some guidelines for the length of your content:
Headings: 8 words approximately
Sentences: 15-20 words
Paragraphs: 40-70 words
Page: 250– 200 words
2. Break up the text wherever possible. Provide a summary of your information by clearly communicating the direction of your discussion. Use informative headings and subheadings with paragraphs of four to five lines that supports them. You only have a few seconds to grab your visitor’s attention and most will simply scan for the information they are seeking, s here is how you can keep their attention:
o Use bulleted or numbered lists, boldface or coloured font to emphasise the points you wish to make.
o Include links at the end of your paragraph or within the text to direct visitors to other pages of your site for more in-depth information.
3. Write from a point of ‘You’. The most powerful word in the English language is ‘you’. As hard as it may be to swallow, let me be the first to break it to you that the people reading your website are not interested in you or your business – they are interested in themselves, and how you can help them. So your content must be written from their perspective, not yours, and must answer the question they will be asking themselves – ‘what’s in it for me?’
Your content is almost ready, just a few tweaks to make and you can go live publishing your masterpiece. Next week I cover a few more topics to help you write successful content for your website, so keep a watch out!
Here are a few guiding principles you should consider while composing your content and before you submit the content to your website:
1. Make sure your content is easy to read. Most people will not read huge complicated paragraphs of text online as it is all too easy to click on to another website or another page so it is vital to keep your information simple, and to break it up into bite sized chunks.
Some guidelines for the length of your content:
Headings: 8 words approximately
Sentences: 15-20 words
Paragraphs: 40-70 words
Page: 250– 200 words
2. Break up the text wherever possible. Provide a summary of your information by clearly communicating the direction of your discussion. Use informative headings and subheadings with paragraphs of four to five lines that supports them. You only have a few seconds to grab your visitor’s attention and most will simply scan for the information they are seeking, s here is how you can keep their attention:
o Use bulleted or numbered lists, boldface or coloured font to emphasise the points you wish to make.
o Include links at the end of your paragraph or within the text to direct visitors to other pages of your site for more in-depth information.
3. Write from a point of ‘You’. The most powerful word in the English language is ‘you’. As hard as it may be to swallow, let me be the first to break it to you that the people reading your website are not interested in you or your business – they are interested in themselves, and how you can help them. So your content must be written from their perspective, not yours, and must answer the question they will be asking themselves – ‘what’s in it for me?’
Your content is almost ready, just a few tweaks to make and you can go live publishing your masterpiece. Next week I cover a few more topics to help you write successful content for your website, so keep a watch out!
10 February 2011
Getting The Most From Your Website Part 2
Now your website is up and running, maximise every opportunity to drive traffic to your website. Here are a few simple offline ways you can do this:
- Add your website address to your stationery – business cards, letterheads, complement slips and email signatures
- Include your website address in all your advertising and direct marketing
- Add your website address to invoices, receipts, bags and any other customer communication
- Add your website to your signage – vehicle decals, premises and uniforms
- Give people the website address verbally – over the phone or face-to-face
- Give your address to all potential customers you come into contact with
Keep your website up to date:
Check your website at a minimum every three months to review the content and ask yourself:
- What else can be added?
- What content or images needs removing?
- How can the existing content be improved?
By keeping your content fresh and up to date, will keep clients coming back to see what is new on your website. Because the search engines like to see new and relevant content present on your site, this will help your ranking position in the search engines. From a cost saving side, refreshing your content regularly will prevent a complete overhaul two or three years down the line.
Monitor your results:
Once your website is up and running, don’t fall into the trap many site owners make in neglecting to keep track of your results. Often just a few simple tweaks can make a huge difference on your overall results. By keeping track of your performance, you will spot and correct any potential problems or issues early. How can I do this?
- Set yourself up with a stat counter. Check your website statistics regularly.
- Ask every new enquiry how they found you
- Ask current customers for feedback on your website – what they like and what they don’t like
- Set your website up on Google Analytics
- Add your website address to your stationery – business cards, letterheads, complement slips and email signatures
- Include your website address in all your advertising and direct marketing
- Add your website address to invoices, receipts, bags and any other customer communication
- Add your website to your signage – vehicle decals, premises and uniforms
- Give people the website address verbally – over the phone or face-to-face
- Give your address to all potential customers you come into contact with
Keep your website up to date:
Check your website at a minimum every three months to review the content and ask yourself:
- What else can be added?
- What content or images needs removing?
- How can the existing content be improved?
By keeping your content fresh and up to date, will keep clients coming back to see what is new on your website. Because the search engines like to see new and relevant content present on your site, this will help your ranking position in the search engines. From a cost saving side, refreshing your content regularly will prevent a complete overhaul two or three years down the line.
Monitor your results:
Once your website is up and running, don’t fall into the trap many site owners make in neglecting to keep track of your results. Often just a few simple tweaks can make a huge difference on your overall results. By keeping track of your performance, you will spot and correct any potential problems or issues early. How can I do this?
- Set yourself up with a stat counter. Check your website statistics regularly.
- Ask every new enquiry how they found you
- Ask current customers for feedback on your website – what they like and what they don’t like
- Set your website up on Google Analytics
03 February 2011
Getting the Most from Your Website through Online Advertising
Once your web designer has completed the web design on your site, you are ready to go live. New websites can take as long as two to three months to be picked up, or indexed, by the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing). Your website position on the search engine rankings will, however, improve over time and how well websites positions rank, partly depends on your phrases or keywords you have chosen to optimise. However, there are several other ways you can promote your site online.
Add your website to Google Local. The map section you see at the top of any local search eg. ‘Plumbers Leicester’, and following their easy set of instructions.
Add your website to directories. Some online directories will charge you for a link to your website, however, there are many online directories that will list your business free of charge.
Pay Per Click advertising is offered by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. This is a flexible way of advertising, where you only pay for the visitors who actually see your website. Costs per click can vary anywhere between 4p to £5, depending on the popularity of the keyword. You choose a budget per day, a budget per click and choose the keywords you wish to be found by.
Create links to your website. Get in touch with suppliers and friends in business, and any other organisations you are affiliated with eg. FSB, trade organisations, regulatory bodies, and ask if you can place a link to your website on their websites. It may help to offer a reciprocal link to their website on yours too.
Search engine optimisation (SEO). A SEO programme will ensure your website enjoys natural high rankings and consistent positions in all the major search engines and directories.
There are other ways of updating your content too, like writing articles and submitting them to various online magazines with links back to your website. Create social media accounts and a YouTube account so you can post updates about your business and content (used from your articles) to these accounts. The search engines will see this as a form of keeping fresh content flowing and will help your website, and sub pages through the rankings. I will be covering more on these last mediums in following articles as they justify more time in explanation.
Add your website to Google Local. The map section you see at the top of any local search eg. ‘Plumbers Leicester’, and following their easy set of instructions.
Add your website to directories. Some online directories will charge you for a link to your website, however, there are many online directories that will list your business free of charge.
Pay Per Click advertising is offered by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. This is a flexible way of advertising, where you only pay for the visitors who actually see your website. Costs per click can vary anywhere between 4p to £5, depending on the popularity of the keyword. You choose a budget per day, a budget per click and choose the keywords you wish to be found by.
Create links to your website. Get in touch with suppliers and friends in business, and any other organisations you are affiliated with eg. FSB, trade organisations, regulatory bodies, and ask if you can place a link to your website on their websites. It may help to offer a reciprocal link to their website on yours too.
Search engine optimisation (SEO). A SEO programme will ensure your website enjoys natural high rankings and consistent positions in all the major search engines and directories.
There are other ways of updating your content too, like writing articles and submitting them to various online magazines with links back to your website. Create social media accounts and a YouTube account so you can post updates about your business and content (used from your articles) to these accounts. The search engines will see this as a form of keeping fresh content flowing and will help your website, and sub pages through the rankings. I will be covering more on these last mediums in following articles as they justify more time in explanation.
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