Website Tune-up for 2007
(Article published in the January 2007 Issue of Bizillion Magazine.)
The end of the year is a perfect time to reflect…on your website. One nice thing about the end of the year is that you’ve accumulated a year’s worth of web stats to review and analyze.
Here are a few tips to help you polish up your website for 2007:
Content. Ok, so you may have had big plans to update parts of your website every week, but did you? If not, it’s time to review at least your home page content. Does your home page communicate your company’s or organization’s benefits? Does it provide information that will be useful to your web visitors? If not, it might be time to hire a writer or copy editor to put a little polish on your message making sure it focuses on your visitors and their needs. Also, consider RSS feeds to augment your website with relevant and timely content.
Next, look at visitor path web stats to see which pages are the most popular and what pages, if any, are never visited, those can be deactivated. Is there a way to make the most frequently visited pages easier to access? And, is the content on those pages current, if not, target them for rewriting or editing. The topics of popular pages might lend themselves to a blog, or supplemental media such as audio, or video.
And, finally, not sure what your web visitors need most from your website? Add a survey or mini poll to your home page.
Build a Community. The web is about more than content now, visitors want to give their feedback and be recognized. Help create a buzz for your organization’s pet topic or product by adding a place for a community to grow. Any articles, white papers and/or press releases written over the course of the year can be repurposed to start a blog or wiki.
Strengthen Your Search Engine Standing. Inbound links are still one of the best ways of moving your site up search engine result lists. Yes, it’s a popularity contest out there, not unlike high school. Will your site be asked to the prom? Google is constantly updating their search algorithms to make search results are as relevant as possible for visitors. One of the ways they can tell if your website is relevant is if a lot of other websites think it is relevant by linking to it (and not from some links page either, but in related content on their websites).
To increase your inbound links, look at who is currently linking to your site and find out what trade organizations they belong to. Then, email those organizations and ask for a link exchange.
Search Engine Phrases and Keywords. Look at your web stats for the year and identify the top 5-10 phrases and keywords used to find your site then type them into Google, Yahoo and MSN to see if your site comes up on the first page and how much it saturates the first page. If your site doesn’t show up, or just shows up once, then it’s time to update your website’s keywords, title tags, alt tags and content – especially on your home page.
Browser Versions and Platforms. Does your website work for the majority of your web visitors? Your web stats can show you what percentage of web visitors will be able to view the new Real Media Player video you’d like to add to your website and help you decide if you need to offer links to both Quicktime (MAC) and Real Media Player (PC) or not.
Extend Your Brand. Ok, this is just a bit of fun. If your site doesn’t have a Favicon, spend the 10 minutes and create one now. What are Favicons you ask? They are icons that display when you bookmark a site in your Favorites list (ever wonder why some sites have fun graphics next to their names?) and they display in the Address bar in browsers before your URL. The name Favicon comes from Favorites Icon.
Time for a Total Overhaul? If your site is 2-3 years old and has graphics instead of text-based navigation or if it is difficult to navigate, it maybe time for website redesign. Check out your competition to see If your site is in the ballpark, or just sitting on the sidelines.
If you follow just two or three of these tips, your sure to add more value for your website visitors next year. Happy New Year!
Jane Lindley is the president of Super WebGroup, Inc., a web design firm specializing in content management web applications, she can be contacted at 206.340.2519 or online at http://www.superwebgroup.com/.
The end of the year is a perfect time to reflect…on your website. One nice thing about the end of the year is that you’ve accumulated a year’s worth of web stats to review and analyze.
Here are a few tips to help you polish up your website for 2007:
Content. Ok, so you may have had big plans to update parts of your website every week, but did you? If not, it’s time to review at least your home page content. Does your home page communicate your company’s or organization’s benefits? Does it provide information that will be useful to your web visitors? If not, it might be time to hire a writer or copy editor to put a little polish on your message making sure it focuses on your visitors and their needs. Also, consider RSS feeds to augment your website with relevant and timely content.
Next, look at visitor path web stats to see which pages are the most popular and what pages, if any, are never visited, those can be deactivated. Is there a way to make the most frequently visited pages easier to access? And, is the content on those pages current, if not, target them for rewriting or editing. The topics of popular pages might lend themselves to a blog, or supplemental media such as audio, or video.
And, finally, not sure what your web visitors need most from your website? Add a survey or mini poll to your home page.
Build a Community. The web is about more than content now, visitors want to give their feedback and be recognized. Help create a buzz for your organization’s pet topic or product by adding a place for a community to grow. Any articles, white papers and/or press releases written over the course of the year can be repurposed to start a blog or wiki.
Strengthen Your Search Engine Standing. Inbound links are still one of the best ways of moving your site up search engine result lists. Yes, it’s a popularity contest out there, not unlike high school. Will your site be asked to the prom? Google is constantly updating their search algorithms to make search results are as relevant as possible for visitors. One of the ways they can tell if your website is relevant is if a lot of other websites think it is relevant by linking to it (and not from some links page either, but in related content on their websites).
To increase your inbound links, look at who is currently linking to your site and find out what trade organizations they belong to. Then, email those organizations and ask for a link exchange.
Search Engine Phrases and Keywords. Look at your web stats for the year and identify the top 5-10 phrases and keywords used to find your site then type them into Google, Yahoo and MSN to see if your site comes up on the first page and how much it saturates the first page. If your site doesn’t show up, or just shows up once, then it’s time to update your website’s keywords, title tags, alt tags and content – especially on your home page.
Browser Versions and Platforms. Does your website work for the majority of your web visitors? Your web stats can show you what percentage of web visitors will be able to view the new Real Media Player video you’d like to add to your website and help you decide if you need to offer links to both Quicktime (MAC) and Real Media Player (PC) or not.
Extend Your Brand. Ok, this is just a bit of fun. If your site doesn’t have a Favicon, spend the 10 minutes and create one now. What are Favicons you ask? They are icons that display when you bookmark a site in your Favorites list (ever wonder why some sites have fun graphics next to their names?) and they display in the Address bar in browsers before your URL. The name Favicon comes from Favorites Icon.
Time for a Total Overhaul? If your site is 2-3 years old and has graphics instead of text-based navigation or if it is difficult to navigate, it maybe time for website redesign. Check out your competition to see If your site is in the ballpark, or just sitting on the sidelines.
If you follow just two or three of these tips, your sure to add more value for your website visitors next year. Happy New Year!
Jane Lindley is the president of Super WebGroup, Inc., a web design firm specializing in content management web applications, she can be contacted at 206.340.2519 or online at http://www.superwebgroup.com/.
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