Marketing Tech is a Buffalo web design shop that has been designing, building and maintaining consumer and B2B websites for more than 10 years. We are a marketing services firm with great expertise in direct mail and print, and recent investments in staff and technology have positioned us as the go-to team when it comes to producing websites that are easily found and engage your visitors, resulting in a greater conversion rate.
Today, we share some of our top tips for designing websites that impact behavior and not just awareness. Please call us today to discuss how we can help your web investment make a real difference on your bottom line.
1) Proofread everything!
Typos and incoherent sentences are a sure-fire way to get people questioning your attention to detail. Make sure to spend appropriate time checking consistency, spelling, and grammar on your website.
2) Make it clear how to contact you.
Most businesses rely on in-store visits or phone calls to help build relationships that lead to sales.
Be sure your address, phone number, and other contact information are in a visible place on every page. The best place to put this information is in the top right-hand corner of your website because people tend to read web content in an F pattern. A footer is also a great place if some of that content is less important for your business strategy.
3) Create an XML sitemap and submit your site’s index to local search engines.
Examples include Yahoo! Local, Google Local, Bing Local, Yelp, and more. This is a great way to validate your site. Be sure to also check the formatting of site results in search engine results pages.
4) Build easy links and get reviews
Submit your website information to local business and industry directories, such as your chamber of commerce. Find out what websites are linking to your competition and secure inbound links from the same sources. Have customers submit reviews of your company online to places like Google and Yelp!
5) Generate immediate traffic.
Take advantage of geo-targeted Pay-Per-Click opportunities such as Google AdWords. Unlike search engine optimization that takes time to grow organically, paid search ads can start driving traffic to your site TODAY!
6) Use defensive design.
Create custom 404 error pages and redirect pages. Custom 404 pages can be helpful to your users by giving them a search option to find what they’re looking for and redirects can help them before they even land in the wrong place.
7) Create a favicon.
A favicon brands the tab or window in which your website is open in the user’s browser. Display your logo throughout your site and keep your branding consistent.
8) Use metadata descriptions and page titles.
Spend some time making sure you’re targeting your most important keywords in your page titles because they’re an important factor in SEO. While Meta descriptions don’t have a direct impact on your SEO they impact click-through rates, which do influence your SEO rankings.
9) Set up analytics and Webmaster Tools for measuring ongoing success.
Use tools (such as Google Analytics) to monitor and respond to feedback, check for problems, identify popular pages, and much more. Update your site’s content regularly to promote return visits!
10) Check all URL’s/links.
Don’t just assume all your links work. Click on them. Ensure there are no test links or content from the staging site on the live site. Ensure all old URLs are redirected to relevant new URLs.
11) Check functionality and the user interface experience.
View your site in different browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer) and on different device screens with different resolutions. Test all forms and plugins.
12) Perform security tests and backups.
Configure backup schedules and test recovery from backups. You should protect any sensitive pages, and use robots.txt where necessary. Set up e-mail monitoring of backups and alerts.
13) Optimize your site.
Using performance tests like GTmetrix can determine load times and image optimization, as well as total page size/download time. Check and implement caching where necessary.
14) Market your site through social media.
Social marketing can and should be done through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and more, and through blogs and RSS feeds. Make sure all necessary links are included on your site in easy-to-find places.
15) Market your site through e-mail marketing.
Email marketing is one of the easiest, fastest, and cheapest ways to reach your target audience. Let your current and potential customers know about your web presence and drive them to your site. Keep in touch and communicate often to stay on their radar.
