Ever since I started doing free website reviews, there have been some common elements where many of
websites miss mark. Usually this is because webmasters forget to recognise that websites are a multi-faceted thing - a bit like an onion – with layer on layer of interdependent elements. If you miss an element, then integrity of site is put at risk. The outcome of this can mean: §Not being found by search engines §Pages not being indexed because no other page links to them §Not ranking as highly as you should, §Confused site visitors who leave, §The site is just’Too hard’ §Potential customers do not develop trust with your site; so will not buy from you §Complete site rework required as a result of poor planning
Here are a couple of errors and suggested methods for improving them:
1.Not having a business model or plan in place. Many sites develop out of an idea; most have no business model in place. Often website owners are just letting their websites grow without thought as to how or even if there should be a way to generate income, and if income is to be generated how this can best be achieved. But business model need not be an income-generating model. You can also think of it as a ‘purpose and outcome’. If you are developing a site as a hobby, it still requires preplanning and thought.
2.Working within limitations of what your host provides Sometimes, especially when it is your first site, you may look at what your web host provides and build your site around services provided by your web host. If services on offer are limited, this may limit scope of what you are trying to achieve. Better to plan your website and gather online tools to let you achieve what you want to do to build a site that meets you goals.
3.Not being clear on page on what site is about All too often pages are very ambiguous about what page is actually about. The worst situation is when home page does not provide a clear statement of purpose. I do not mean a Mission Statement, or other formal statement, but at least a paragraph that clearly explains reason or content of page. This does not need to be several paragraphs, one paragraph or even a long sentence. It can just be a solid tagline. It can take some skill and time to do this properly, but results are worth it as your visitors will be quickly reassured that they are in right place and will be prepared to spend time delving deeper. An additional benefit is written with a good keyword density, this text provides an excellent chunk of data for search engines.
4.Poorly written pages Not only does visual aspect of your website influence how people perceive your business, so does text. Poorly written sentences, spelling mistakes or typos all contrive to say, “The business behind this site has not been careful with this, it won’t be careful with your business either”. Impressions are important and this extends right down to every single word on every page. Spend time on writing and rewriting text. If you feel you cannot get it right, get help.
