WAYS TO MAXIMISE YOUR WEBSITE

10

INTERNET MYTH

Build it and they will come

Business  owners  are  stumped  when  they  are  NOT  inundated  with  new  business  or  have  their  phones  ringing  off  the  hook  once  they  launch  a  new  website.  

It  is  a  li>le  like  buying  a  fancy  seaside  mansion  and  forge@ng    to  tell  everyone  where  you  have  moved  to!  

It is vital for your website to:

•   Be  well  organised  

•   Meet  the  needs  of  your  users  

•   Deliver  the  Company  objecFve  &  goals  

•   Offer  accurate  &  interesFng  informaFon  

There  are  many  ways  to  tweak  a  website  for  more  visitors  and  higher  sales.  

# 1 – SIMPLE DESIGN

•   Users  want  content  that  is  easy  to  look  at.  

•   Don’t  overload  your  site  with  pop-­‐ups,  flash  or  sliders.  

•   Have  a  clean  &  consistent  navigaFon  bar.  

•   EffecFve  use  of  typography  &  colour  makes  for  a  striking  website.  

•   Use  visuals  strategically  as  users  pay  a>enFon  to  images          that  aid  and  support  textual  content.  

# 2 – OPTIMISE IMAGES

•   If  it  takes  over  5  seconds  to  load,  you  user  will  leave.  

•   No  one  likes  sites  that  take  a  long  Fme  to  load.  

•   Reduce  the  size  of  your  image  file  to  72  dpi.  

•   Crop  any  unnecessary  parts  of  the  picture.  

•   Use  appropriate  file  formats  to  decrease  the  file  size  of  an  image.  

•   Use  GIF,  JPG  or  PNG  formats.  

# 3 – ENSURE READABILITY

•   Ensure  users  are  able  to  read  your  content  and  absorb  it  easily.  

•   Get  to  the  point  as  quickly  as  possible  and  stay  away  from  industry  jargon.  

•   Use  easy-­‐to-­‐understand,  common  words  and  phrases.  

•   Keep  sentences  short.  

•   Use  headings  and  sub-­‐headings  to  get  the  key  points  of  your  content  across.  

•   Use  bullet  points  to  break  text  apart.  

•   Introduce  graphics  to  break  text  and  add  visual  interest.  

# 4 – CLEAN NAVIGATION

•   The  top  navigaFon  bar  is  your  prime  real  estate.  

•   It’s  the  first  thing  that  users  will  see.  

•   Include  all  your  best  informaFon  here  by  planning  out  how  you  want          your  visitors  to  get  from  A  to  Z  on  you  website.  

•   Your  visitor  should  be  able  to  locate  what  they  want  as  quickly  as  possible.  

•   Keep  the  wording  used  on  your  navigaFon  specific,  direct  and  to  the  point.  

# 5 – COLOUR CONTRAST

•   Most  important  aspect  of  any  design  is  colour.  

•   People  have  an  emoFonal  response  to  colours.  

•   It  creates  impact.  

•   It  helps  create  movement.  

•   It  directs  a  user  around  the  page.  

•   Select  complimentary  colours  that  help  showcase  the  values  and  services        you’re  trying  to  promote.  

# 6 – CONTENT CREATION

•   Great  content  is  what  keeps  your  customers  and  your  community  coming        back  for  more.    

•   You  need  to  know  your  audience.  

•   You  need  to  idenFfy  the  type  of  content  they’re  interested  in.  

•   Create  content  your  readers  will  want  to  talk  about  and  share.  

•   Use:  Blog  posts,  how-­‐to  video’s,  infographic,  personal  experience,  research,        topical  issues  or  just  entertainment.    

•   Make  it  easy  for  people  to  share  your  content  by  including  social  share  or      bookmarking  tools.  

# 7 – RESPONSIVE/MOBILE DESIGN

•   Many  business  websites  are  created  to  look  good  on  a  full-­‐sized  computer          monitor.  

•   With  more  people  accessing  the  web  over  mobile  devices,  it’s  important        to  ensure  your  website  is  tailored  to  work  across  mulFple  devices.  

•   Responsive  means  your  site  will  automaFcally  reconfigure  itself,  or  respond        to  suit  the  size  and  type  of  device  a  visitor  is  using.  

•   It’s  about  enhancing  the  user  experience  to  enable  people  to  easily  do  or          find  what  they  want  over  their  mobile.  

# 8 – CROSS BROWSER COMPATIBILITY

•   Not  everyone  coming  to  your  website  will  be  using  the  same  web  browser.  

•   It’s  important  to  ensure  that  your  website  is  usable  across  the  popular        browsers  and  mobile  devices.  

•   A  broken  website  looks  unprofessional  and  could  drive  potenFal  customers          away.  

# 9 – WEBSITE PROMOTION

•   You  need  qualified  traffic,  make  more  sales  and  increase  your  customer  base.  

•   OpFons  include:    

•   Business  Cards,  Vehicle  Wrap  

•   Signage,  Email  Signature  

•   Social  Networking  (online  and  offline)  

•   Sponsorships,  Blogging  

•   SEO,  ArFcle  Submission  

•   ParFcipaFon  in  forums  and  Q&A’s  

•   Business  LisFngs  and  so  much  more.  

# 10 – SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

•   SEO  is  a  markeFng  technique  to  make  a  website  more  visible  on  the  internet.  

•   Helps  improve  rankings  and  can  result  in  more  traffic.  

•   Find  good  keyword  phrases.  

•   Update  pages  with  strong  fresh  content.  

•   Write  valid  HTML.  

•   Make  links  part  of  your  copy.  

•   Always  check  for  common  errors  while  wriFng.  

•   Don’t  neglect  image  alt  a>ributes.  

You  need  to  constantly  review  and  improve  your  internet  presence.  

Strike  up  a  coordinated  long-­‐term  effort  between  your  business  and  markeFng  plan  to  ensure  that  you  receive  a  consistent  flow  of  visitors  to  your  website.  

… AND WE’RE DONE!

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•   As    blog  post  and  infographic  from:      www.spinnmedia.com.au/blog/10-­‐ways-­‐to-­‐maximise-­‐your-­‐website  

•   As  a  Slide  Share  download  from:        www.slideshare.net/spinnmedia  

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