27 ways to improve your website immediately · ten most commonly used passwords from last year: 1....

27 Ways to Improve Your Website Immediately

Cornell Design Groupcornelldesigngroup.com

patrick@cornelldesigngroup.com615.669.3284

Why?

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Your website validates or invalidates your business

Takeaway:8 out of 10 people decide whether or

not to do business with someone based their website.

Why?

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#1

Branding

Consider your message

Takeaway:Your website should clearly

communicate your message in 5 seconds or less.

Branding

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#2

Consider your user

Branding

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Images

Get real onesHire a photographer

Takeaway:iPhone photos you took don’t work.

Images

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#3

Or REALLY good stock

Takeaway:Shutterstock.com

unsplash.com

Images

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#4

1 2

3

Go higher resolution

Images

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#5

Crop and place well

Images

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#6

Stop using image sliders

Takeaway:1% of people look past the first slide.

Images

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#7

Copy

Use clear headings

Copy

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#8

Write 350 - 600 words

Takeaway:Too little, you hurt yourself for SEO,

too much, people lose interest.

Copy

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#9

Check grammar & spelling

Takeaway:Do u relly ned a takaway?

Copy

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#10

Make use of lists

Takeaway:Lists make skimming content easier.

Copy

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#11

General Content

Keep content current

Takeaway:Google rewards fresh content.

General Content

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#12

Create a call to action

General Content

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#13

(un)Link to social media

Takeaway:If you’re active on social media people will connect with you.

General Content

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#14

Code

Add analytics

Takeaway:Google Analytics

Code 1

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#15

Get your site indexedTakeaway:

Setup Google Webmaster tools

Code 2

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#16

Make it mobile friendly

Code 3

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(Responsive)

Takeaway:Google penalizes non mobile

friendly sites.

#17

Plan for social sharing

Takeaway: If you have WordPress, install the

Yoast plugin.

Code 4

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#18

Add a favicon

Takeaway: Use

http://www.favicon-generator.org/

Code 5

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#19

Testing

Check your contact form

Takeaway:Use Lucky Orange.

Testing 1

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#20

On multiple devices

Takeaway:responsinator.com

Testing 2

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#21

Site load time

Takeaway:

Use YouTube or Vimeo.

Testing 3

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#22

Security

Use a secure password

Takeaway:This is the #1 way sites are hacked.

Security 1

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#23

Ten most commonly used passwords from last year:1. 123456 (Unchanged)2. password (Unchanged)3. 12345 (Up 17)4. 12345678 (Down 1)5. QWERTY (Down 1)6. 123456789 (Unchanged)7. 1234 (Up 9)8. baseball (New)9. dragon (New)10. football (New)

Security 2

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Use a good hosting company

Takeaway: Your site being up or down is usually

a result of your hosting company.

Security 3

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#24

Keep your CMS current

Takeaway:Update CMS and plugins.

Security 4

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#25

Install an SSL certificate

Takeaway:It’s FREE and Google rewards you in

search results.

Security 5

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#26

#27…

Get a good partner

#27

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Questions?

Cornell Design Groupcornelldesigngroup.com

patrick@cornelldesigngroup.com615.669.3284