1. Content
Content is one of the most important ‘ingredients’ of a good website. There is a reason so many copywriters also specialize in SEO and in blogs. It really is the foundation of a website. If you have (plenty of) good, clear and persuasive copy on your website, that will eventually lead to more conversions and better positions in search results. Besides the copy on the website, it is also important to publish new content on your website regularly. Fortunately, with a CMS like WordPress that is not very labor intensive. The advantage of publishing new content such as blog articles and portfolio items on your website with some regularity is that you can share it on social networks and generate more brand awareness and traffic that way. On top of that, Google ‘likes’ this too, because a website that stays current gains more authority and also rises in the search engine results. If you do not know how to get started writing blogs, we wrote an article about it earlier this year. Read the article here on how to get started writing blogs.
2. Design & usability
In our opinion, design is the second most important part of a website. The website has to be modern, has to suit your business and has to be very user friendly. If your website looks and works in a very old-fashioned way and does not work (well) on different devices, a lot of visitors will most likely skip your website and go to the competition. So make sure the web agency that develops your website (or you yourself, if you happen to do it) makes it responsive and a good match for your brand identity and image.
3. Marketing
Do not forget that a website is really a part of your company’s marketing. A website on its own gets you nowhere, because if nobody can find their way to that website, it is of no use to you in the end. That is why it is important to work on your marketing properly, outside your website as well. You can do that in various ways, for example:
- Social media: post here with some regularity and mention your website in those posts. People will most likely visit your Facebook page. You can also apply your content marketing here (by promoting blogs and the like), which in turn can bring new traffic, and therefore potential customers, to your website.
- In person: tell your (business) network about your social media channels and ask them to follow or like them. It costs nothing and it is done in seconds. Simple, right?
- Emails: mention your social media channels in your email signature (with social media icons, for instance). That way every contact who receives emails from you can take a look at your social media channels and start following or liking them.
Oh, and now that we are on the subject of marketing, be sure not to forget to follow us on social media!
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jkcmedia.nl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jkc-media/
- Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jkc-media/
4. Speed
A slow website. Can you ever remember becoming a customer somewhere through a website where you had to wait a long time for the site to load? Most likely not. Several studies have shown that you already start losing visitors after roughly 2 to 3 seconds. And the longer it takes after that, the more visitors drop off. A fast website is truly essential and is often underestimated. If there is interest, we can write an article soon about optimizing your (WordPress) website for speed. A slow website also has a negative effect on your positions in the search engines. And as far as we are concerned, that counts as one of the absolute don’ts of SEO (oh, and have you read our previous article ‘Absolute don’ts for SEO‘ yet? Give that one a read right away as well). There are also many more optimizations you can make to get a website just right. But broadly speaking, content, design & usability, marketing and speed really are among the most essential parts of a perfect website. If you have any suggestions or questions yourself, feel free to leave a comment!
