The expectations of a website from some companies are unrealistic. You cannot count on a new website to start making you money overnight. Also, just having a website does not mean you will see a benefit. “Put in what you want to get out.”
Time and time again we find organizations using friends of the family to develop their online presence. This situation usually causes more harm than good. Would you recommend that one of your clients use their cousin who did book keeping for a year to do their accounting? No matter how much money you think you will save, it always costs you more in the long run.
When choosing a website development company make certain they have been in business for more than 5 years, have at least 20 websites that are still live and making profits, have a commercial office and most importantly call their references, all of them!
What should my website have?
- Content, content and more content! When developing a website that is “search engine friendly” your biggest friend is your content. The main purpose and goal of the top three search engines is to provide the most relevant results to the searcher. Without a significant amount of content there is no way for the search engines to determine that your site is worth displaying.
- Educational information is one key to a successful website. Educational resources not only give you a significant boost in the search engines, it also provides an additional benefit to your website users. You need to provide your users with a reason to bookmark your site or send it to a friend or family member.
- Provide and talk about the benefits of using your company instead of your competition. Experience, innovative ideas, attention to details and proven track records are all examples of why your company is the best of the best. Keep in mind that none of the website user’s care about you. They care about what you can do for them. Show them, tell them and they in return will make that ever important first contact.
Easy to navigate page structure is one of the fundamentals to a successful website. As with any business you need to continue to ask yourself “How easy is it to do business with me”. This also applies to your website. You need to be sure your users do not need to search for the information they want. The main pages for any site should be; Contact us, Services or Products and About Us. Keep these up front and center. For the remainder of your pages the ideal menu would be text based and each text link would include the keywords you are targeting on the destination page.
