Website Development Overview
December 10, 2024
Search bots, an automated process, interpret your website content to determine your organic search rankings, which in turn create the visibility of your website in search results.
Over the last decade I have seen a lot of failed websites. I have also successfully recovered failed websites, which means they now produce organic listings on the first page of search results. From my experience, these are the ten most common reasons that website fail.
Use this 10 points to improve your website content and you will improve your website marketing.
Website Maintenance: Backlinks
There’re dozens of public platforms. Some examples are social media and news article sites. The point I am making here is you have to development a way to have those platforms link into your website.
Social media is a great place to get links into your website. So is YouTube or Vimeo. But there are many other sites, or platforms, and the cultivation of links will take time. There are hundreds of website, relevant to your content, that can be linked to you. These inbound links establish credibility. When links to your site have a higher domain authority (DA) that enhances your business reputation.
SEO Methods Not Current
The methods of search is fluid and constantly being changed to improve searches for users. As an example, semantic search enhances traditional keyword matching by leveraging natural language processing (NLP) to understand user intent and contextual meaning. You and I do not see that tech but it’s integrated into the algorithms and that power the search bots.
Keyword search remains a pillar as the method to interpret content. It’s imperative that website owners do their due diligence on keywords and work them into website content and website architecture.
Perhaps the newest tech is AI (artificial Intelligence) ability to generate images and verbiage for websites. I have read reports on the pros and cons. As far as I can tell, human content grades higher than AI content.
The image below shows domains, and thier DA, linking into the website. What domains link to your website?
Web Content Management
Keep a date on your website pages to show the publishing date. On the majority of small business websites you see that date.
A unwritten rule of website conduct is old content is no longer acceptable in an effort to merely create content as part of a good marketing strategy. Everyone is doing that. If you want to stand out, you also need to cultivate unique perspectives and demonstrate your command of your craft.
Old website content undermines your ability to be accessible, relatable, and relevant to your customers. If a consumer reads an outdated blog or watches a video and gets information that is clearly irrelevant, they aren’t going to feel heard. At that point, don’t expect them to take the next step in a sales funnel or click on a CTA.
Outdated website content is a serious concern. Your competition is pumping out content and to keep up so must you. Posting content and leaving it there is oaky, but not publishing new content is where that old content becomes a liability since the search bots see noting new is being published.
Website Analytics: Best Practices Missing
I have covered this in other articles, you must have Google analytics in your website pages in order to have an opportunity to rank with organic search results.
Better yet, use the “tags” in those analytics, or any analytics software, to drill down and identify what Call To Action is being used or not use. With that understanding you can build a better sales funnel.
However, with analytics also arises website visitor privacy regulations. Make sure that you keep our privacy policy attuned so you are in compliance.
Content Management: Digital Marketing
Website is created to get a place on the internet versus build a business reputation.
This is essential.
“E-E-A-T is an acronym created by Google which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is not a ranking factor but rather a component of Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (SQEG)."
Google has specific guidelines for content. Building and sustaining your website based on criteria is very different than just throwing up a website to say you have one. The rub is that to have a website that displays in search results does require crafted contents which is basically graded, or scored, by the search bots.
Build Reputation: Business Profile
Four opportunities to receive free exposure are doing a business profile in each of those locations, along with the key base app.
TWO REQUIREMENTS
1. You need a street address, not a post office box, to achieve a listing in the local map.
2, As well, you must demonstrated that you are a verified business. This means more than a cool template for a website. I means photos of your business, links from other domains, and customer testimonials are a plus.
Website Design: Architecture
Lack of understanding how website architecture requires SEO methods. A SEO plan of development means making sure that all components of your website are speaking the same message to the search bots.
Every website will have these pieces that the following:
- Home page
- Navigation Menu
- File structure and naming conventions used in all pages
- Contextual linking onn pages
- Foundational pieces which can be articles, videos or othere media including case studies
- Sitemap file
- Robots file
Having a website is the key to business success. At the very minimal, a consumer can use the search engine using your business name to find you.
"84% of consumers believe retailers should be doing more to integrate their online and offline channels. To address this concern, retail marketers need to gain visibility — both online and offline.”
~ RetailNext.
With the correct website architecture in place, it’s easier for potential customers to examine you.
Publisher: Content Management
Lack of understanding that every website owner is a publisher who’s main focus is educating potential customers about the benefits of their products and services.
Your content can be images, videos, or verbiage but they all have on aspect in common, you have to publish them before they can influence people about your services.
Know where to publish can take a awhile. It’s a trial and error practice.
One time test practice that works is setting up an RSS feed. I will cover
that in another article. This is a link to my RSS. That file is best viewed using a RSS reader platform. A few of those platforms include the following:
Inoreader — Best for discovering content
Feedly — Best free RSS reader with a simple interface
Vivaldi — Best for following YouTube channels and podcasts
Feeder — Best fuss-free essential RSS reader
Newsblur — Best for filtering your feeds
There are many types of distribution, publishing, your content that include a blog, podcast, video platform (YouTube and Vimeo), social media channels, ebooks, PDF files, and there are other possibilities as well.
Human Touch
Lack of human touch in crafting website content.
The human touch can synthesize and create ideas and strategy. I see too many website where someone used a template, with not enough content, and not the correct content and then the website owner is frustrated with no results.
The very minimum that every website must fulfill is being an online showcase of services and products. This allows potential customers to examine you and better understand what you have and how you can solve their problem.
Research tells us that people want to have confidence before they make a purchase.
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