Archive for November 16, 2011

Five Top Tips for Optimising your Website

So, you’ve got yourself a website that you think looks good, and a product that you’re sure people will go nuts over. But few people are visiting your website, much less buying anything. It can be natural to feel despondent at this point; questioning your product, your business model, and perhaps even your sanity.

Before you do any of these things however, the first thing you should do is consider whether your website is optimised properly, for both people and the search engines. A few tweaks here and there can make all the difference.

Tip #1 Check your content

Content really is king when it comes to websites. What you should be aiming for is well-written content that is engaging, persuasive, and convinces web users to deal with you further. Web content must also be optimised for the search engines, to ensure that people can actually find your website. If you lack the resources and expertise to carry out your own search engine optimisation (SEO), you might want to consider using an SEO agency.

Tip #2 Consider usability

How well designed your website is can have a significant impact on how it is perceived by your potential customers, and by the search engines. Factors that affect how user-friendly your site is include navigation, design layout and link frequency, amongst many others. Generally speaking though, common sense can go a long way. Take a look at your site and try to view it impartially. How easy is it to read the text? Does it take a long time to load? Is getting from page to page confusing? The answers to questions like these should inform your website optimisation strategy.

Tip #3 Update regularly

Search engines, and people, like websites that update their content regularly. Launching a blog is one way of doing this, and can also offer a way to communicate with your customers.

Tip #4 Make use of PPC advertising

Investing in Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be an effective way of breaking your site’s dry spell. Efficient and responsive PPC management is required, though, to ensure you get the most out of your online ad campaign.

Tip #5 Use social media to get the word out

If you have something good to offer, creating profiles for your business on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+ can be a great way to create a buzz, and net your website some much-needed traffic.