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Sourced from JeffBullas.com

Studies show that 88% of online shoppers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. This means that your ecommerce website’s design can directly impact your bottom line.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, having a robust ecommerce website is essential for any business looking to thrive online. With global ecommerce sales expected to hit $7 trillion by the end of 2024, the competition is fierce, and your website is often the first impression customers have of your brand. Choosing the right ecommerce website builder and platform isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about creating a seamless shopping experience that can drive sales and build customer loyalty.

In this article, we’ll explore not only how to pick the best ecommerce website builder but also how to optimize your site for performance and user experience. We’ll highlight some of the top ecommerce websites out there, share key data insights, and offer practical tips to ensure your online store stands out in a crowded marketplace.

What is an ecommerce website?

An ecommerce website is a platform that allows businesses to sell products or services online. Unlike a simple informational website, an ecommerce site is designed to handle everything from displaying products to processing payments. Its main purpose is to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience, letting them browse, select, and purchase items from the comfort of their own home or mobile device.

Ecommerce platforms vs. ecommerce websites

An ecommerce platform is a software or service that provides the tools to build and manage an online store. Examples include Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. On the other hand, an ecommerce website is the actual online storefront you create using one of these platforms or from scratch. While platforms provide the foundation, the website is where customers interact, shop, and engage with the brand.

Key components of an ecommerce website

Unlike blogs or corporate websites, ecommerce sites are transactional, focusing on driving sales and delivering a smooth shopping experience. As a result, they have specific features designed to facilitate online shopping.

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX)

Their UI is usually clean and simple, with lots of white space, clear images, and a layout that guides your eyes straight to what matters—the products. There’s no unnecessary clutter, just a consistent, easy-to-navigate design that feels reliable and trustworthy.

The real magic, though, is in the UX. These sites focus on minimizing any friction between you and your purchase. From fast loading times and easy navigation to a streamlined checkout process, everything is designed to make buying stuff feel seamless. They’re also optimized for mobile, so the experience is just as smooth on your phone. The result? You’re more likely to find what you want, trust the site, and actually purchase without any hassle.

Product catalogue

The product catalogue is the heart of any ecommerce website. It’s where customers explore what you have to offer. Each product should have detailed information, including a clear name, a compelling description, high-quality images, and transparent pricing. This helps customers make informed purchasing decisions.

Proper categorization and filtering options also make it easier for customers to find exactly what they’re looking for, whether it’s a specific product type, brand, or price range.

Search Engine Journal

Lastly, you should have a robust search function. It allows users to quickly find products by typing in keywords, saving them time and enhancing their shopping experience.

Search Engine Journal

Shopping cart

The shopping cart is where customers keep their chosen products before finalizing their purchase. Your customers should be able to easily add items to their cart and remove them if they change their minds.

Shopify

The checkout process should also be smooth and straightforward. A complicated or lengthy checkout can cause customers to abandon their carts.

Payment gateway

A secure and reliable payment gateway is the final step in the shopping journey, and if it’s not up to par, it can be a deal breaker. You want your customers to feel completely confident when they enter their payment details. So, you want your website to integrate with trusted payment processors. If they sense anything sketchy, they’re likely to abandon their cart and take their business elsewhere.

Weglot

You should also be able to support various payment options. This can include credit cards, PayPal, and other digital wallets. This allows your customers to choose the method they’re most comfortable with.

Search Engine Journal

Shipping and delivery

Efficient shipping and delivery options keep customers happy and coming back for more. When customers can choose from multiple shipping options, it gives them the flexibility to select the method that best suits their needs, whether they’re looking for the fastest delivery or the most cost-effective choice. Clear pricing for these options is equally important, so there are no surprises at checkout—nobody likes hidden fees.

Wix

But it doesn’t stop there. Providing tracking information and regular delivery updates is just as important. When shoppers can easily see where their order is and know exactly when it will arrive, it gives them peace of mind and keeps them engaged with the process.

Wonderment

Why your business needs an ecommerce website

Whether you’re running a small boutique or a large corporation, an ecommerce site opens up a world of opportunities.

  1. 24/7 availability: Unlike a physical store, an ecommerce website never closes. Your customers can browse and shop at any time, even in the middle of the night. This means more potential sales without the need for extended hours or additional staff.
  2. Broader reach: With an ecommerce website, you’re not limited to a local customer base. You can reach people across the country—or even the world.
  3. Lower operating costs: Running an ecommerce site can be more cost-effective than maintaining a physical storefront. You can save on rent, utilities, and other overhead costs. Plus, automation tools can help manage operations like inventory and customer service, reducing the need for a large team.
  4. Data-driven decisions: You can track what products are selling, which marketing strategies are working, and where improvements can be made. This helps you make informed decisions to boost sales and customer satisfaction.
  5. Personalized shopping experience: An ecommerce website allows you to offer personalized recommendations, promotions, and content based on customer preferences and browsing history. This increases the likelihood of repeat business.
  6. Scalability: As your business grows, your ecommerce website can grow with you. Whether you’re adding new products, expanding into new markets, or increasing your marketing efforts, an ecommerce site provides the flexibility to scale up.

Choosing the best ecommerce website builder

When it comes to building your online store, choosing the right ecommerce website builder is crucial. The right platform can make all the difference in how your business operates and grows.

What to look for in an ecommerce website builder

Here are some essential features to consider when making your choice:

  • Customization: Your e-commerce site should match your brand’s style. Choose a builder that lets you easily customize everything from the layout to the colours, so you can create a unique shopping experience that stands out.
  • Scalability: As your business grows, your website should grow, too. Pick a builder that can handle more products, traffic, and features without slowing down.
  • Ease of use: You don’t need to be a tech expert to build your site. Look for a builder with a user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop tools, and clear instructions so you can manage everything easily.
  • Integration with payment gateways: Make sure your builder works seamlessly with popular payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, or Square for secure and easy payments.
  • SEO and marketing tools: To attract customers, your site needs to be easy to find online. Choose a builder that includes SEO tools, email marketing, and social media integration to help drive traffic and boost sales.
  • Support and resources: Even with an easy-to-use platform, you might need help. Pick a builder that offers strong customer support and useful resources like tutorials and forums to guide you through any challenges.

Top ecommerce website builders

When it comes to the best ecommerce website builders, several top contenders stand out for their features, ease of use, and overall performance. Here are simple reviews of ecommerce website builders that stood out for us the past year:

  1. Dukaan
    Dukaan stands out for its intuitive drag-and-drop builder and highly customizable themes, making it accessible for users without technical expertise. It offers a complete eCommerce solution with numerous plugins for marketing and conversion, all at an affordable price.
  2. Wix
    Wix is perfect for beginners, offering a user-friendly drag-and-drop builder and a wide variety of customizable templates. It’s best suited for small stores with limited products, though it may require third-party tools for more extensive inventory management.
  3. Ecwid

    Ideal for those on a budget, Ecwid allows you to start selling for free and integrates seamlessly with existing websites. It’s particularly useful for small stores or those adding eCommerce functionality to a non-eCommerce site.
  4. BigCommerce
    BigCommerce is a robust platform that powers major eCommerce brands. It offers extensive customization options and cross-channel commerce, though it comes with higher costs and revenue-based pricing tiers.
  5. WooCommerce
    WooCommerce is a top choice for WordPress users, providing extensive customization and integration options. It’s an open-source plugin, perfect for those with some technical skills looking for flexibility and control.
  6. Shopify
    Shopify is known for its extensive ecosystem of themes and tools, making it easy to scale your store. It’s ideal for large inventories but may require additional costs for third-party plugins and tools.
  7. Squarespace
    Squarespace offers beautiful, well-designed templates and a powerful drag-and-drop builder. It’s best for users who appreciate an all-in-one solution without the need for third-party apps, though it may be pricier for advanced features.

Free vs. paid options

Starting out, you might wonder whether to go for a free ecommerce website template or invest in a paid option. This depends on your business needs and budget. :

Free ecommerce website templates

Pros:

  • Cost-effective: No upfront costs, making it ideal for those just starting out.
  • Low risk: Allows you to experiment and test your online store without financial commitment.

Cons:

  • Limited customization: Often comes with restrictions on design and functionality.
  • Basic features: May lack advanced tools necessary for scaling your business.
  • Upgrade necessity: As your business grows, you may need to switch to a paid option for more features.

Paid ecommerce website templates

Pros:

  • Advanced features: Offers more tools and customization options to build a robust online store.
  • Better design: Access to premium themes that provide a professional look.
  • Enhanced support: Typically includes better customer service and technical support.
  • Scalability: More storage and flexibility to grow your business.

Cons:

  • Upfront cost: Requires an investment, which might be a drawback for those on a tight budget.
  • Commitment: You’re financially committed, even if you’re unsure about long-term needs.

If you’re just starting and want to minimize costs, a free template might be enough. But if you’re planning for long-term growth, a paid plan could save you time and headaches down the line.

Building your ecommerce website

Building an ecommerce website might seem like a daunting task, but breaking it down into manageable steps makes the process much more approachable. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:

Select a platform

Choose an ecommerce platform that fits your business needs. The platform you choose will impact how you build, manage, and grow your store, so it’s important to pick the right one from the start.

Choose a domain name

Your domain name is your website’s address on the internet. It should be easy to remember, relevant to your brand, and ideally include keywords related to your business. Make sure it’s unique and reflects what your store is all about.

Set up hosting

Once you’ve secured a domain name, the next step is to choose a hosting provider. Hosting is where your website lives on the internet. Look for a reliable hosting service that offers good speed, security, and customer support. Some ecommerce platforms include hosting as part of their package, which can simplify this step.

Design your site

Start building your website by choosing a template or theme that aligns with your brand. Customize the layout, colours, fonts, and images to create a cohesive look that appeals to your target audience.

Add products

Upload your products to the site, including high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and accurate pricing. Organize them into categories to make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for. If you’re still on the lookout for products to sell, here’s our in-depth guide on some of the best ecommerce products.

Set up payment and shipping

Integrate a payment gateway to process transactions securely. Also, configure your shipping options so customers can choose the best delivery method for their needs.

Test your site

Before going live, test your website thoroughly. Check for broken links, ensure the checkout process works smoothly, and make sure your site looks good on all devices.

Launch your site

Once you’re confident everything is in place, it’s time to launch! Announce your new website on social media, through email marketing, or with a special promotion to attract your first customers.

Using free ecommerce website templates

Free ecommerce website templates can be a great starting point, especially if you’re on a budget. However, to make your site truly unique, you’ll want to customize these templates to fit your brand.

Start by swapping out the default images and text with your own. Adjust the colour scheme to match your brand colours, and tweak the fonts to reflect your brand’s personality.

Don’t forget to customize the layout to highlight your best-selling products or special promotions. Most templates offer drag-and-drop functionality, so you can easily rearrange elements to suit your needs.

E-commerce website examples

Looking at successful ecommerce websites can provide inspiration and insight into what works well.

WJD Exclusives

WJD Exclusives

WJD Exclusives, a New York-based fine jewellry merchant, has built its brand on exceptional customer service. Founded in 2002, the company started with a simple website and a few product listings, but their commitment to customer satisfaction set them apart. By handling all aspects of their business in-house—from product listings and inventory management to customer repairs—they’ve been able to offer personalized, rapid services that keep customers coming back. Co-founder Vahan Avagyan attributes their success to this customer-first approach.

Two key tools have driven WJD Exclusives’ growth: WooCommerce and Afterpay. WooCommerce’s flexibility allows them to customize their website to meet customer needs, while Afterpay’s buy now, pay later option has significantly boosted sales and reduced returns. Avagyan estimates that over 30% of their traffic comes from the Afterpay Marketplace. For WJD Exclusives, prioritizing customer service is the foundation of their business, helping them turn first-time buyers into loyal customers who spread the word.

The Memo

The Memo

The Memo, founded in 2019, set out to make shopping for baby supplies easier and more supportive for parents. Co-founders Kate Casey and Phoebe Simmonds aimed to clear up the confusion in the baby retail space by creating a seamless and informative shopping experience. To achieve this, they needed an eCommerce solution that was easy to use and could unify their online and in-store touchpoints. With Shopify Plus and Shopify POS, The Memo has built a loyal customer base and seen remarkable growth, including a 45% YoY revenue increase and a 60% return customer rate.

The challenge for The Memo was ensuring that the in-store experience matched their high-quality online offering, especially since 70% of their in-store customers also shop online. Shopify’s native integration allowed The Memo to provide a consistent, simplified shopping journey across both platforms. This approach has helped The Memo create a unified experience that meets the needs of busy parents, whether they’re shopping online or in-store.

Using Shopify’s tools, The Memo has automated various processes, personalized customer interactions, and optimized their website for a seamless user experience. The result? Loyal customers who keep coming back and rapid business growth. With Shopify handling the technical side, The Memo can focus on what really matters—supporting parents on their journey.

Data insights: The state of ecommerce websites

Let’s dive into the latest data insights on e-commerce websites, covering key growth stats, emerging trends, and performance metrics that are shaping the online retail landscape.

Ecommerce growth statistics

Ecommerce is booming, and the numbers don’t lie. Over the past few years, ecommerce has seen tremendous growth globally and regionally. According to recent data, global ecommerce will surpass $6.3 trillion this year, marking a significant milestone in online retail. This growth isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Projections suggest that by 2026, global ecommerce sales could surpass $7 trillion, driven by increased internet access, mobile shopping, and changing consumer habits.

eMarketer

Regionally, Asia-Pacific continues to dominate the ecommerce landscape, accounting for the largest share of revenue. However, North America and Europe are also seeing robust growth, fuelled by rising consumer confidence in online shopping and improved digital infrastructure.

As we look ahead, the next 5-10 years are expected to bring even more changes to the ecommerce space. Trends like the rise of social commerce, the expansion of AI and machine learning in personalizing shopping experiences, and the growing importance of sustainable and ethical shopping practices are set to shape the future of online retail.

Ecommerce website performance metrics

Understanding how your ecommerce website performs is crucial to its success. Key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, bounce rates, and average order value (AOV) provide insights into how well your site is meeting customer needs.

  • Average conversion rates: Conversion rates can vary depending on the industry, but a typical ecommerce site sees an average conversion rate of 2-3%. However, top-performing sites often achieve rates above 5%.
  • Bounce rates: The average bounce rate for ecommerce websites hovers around 45-50%. A high bounce rate may indicate that visitors aren’t finding what they’re looking for or are having trouble navigating the site.
  • Other KPIs: Additional metrics like cart abandonment rates, customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on ad spend (ROAS) are also critical to monitor. These indicators help you understand customer behaviour, measure marketing effectiveness, and identify areas for improvement.

Best-performing ecommerce platforms

When it comes to ecommerce platforms, some are leading the pack in terms of market share and performance. According to a 2023 report, WooCommerce is a frontrunner, with a market share of 39%. It’s especially popular among small to medium-sized businesses that value flexibility and control. Its offshoot, Woothemes, is second in place with a market share of 14.95%.

Statista

Squarespace, on the other hand, is third with a market share of 14.67%. In fourth place is Shopify, with a market share of 10.32%. Both of these platforms have user-friendly interfaces, extensive app ecosystems, and scalability, making them a popular choice for businesses of all sizes.

Customer behaviour in the ecommerce space is constantly evolving, influenced by technology, social trends, and economic factors. One of the most notable trends is the shift toward mobile shopping. Mobile devices now account for over 77% of global ecommerce traffic, highlighting the importance of mobile optimization for any online store.

  • Mobile vs. desktop usage: While more people browse on their phones, they often switch to desktops for bigger or more complicated purchases, leading to higher conversion rates and order values on desktops.
  • Average order values and purchasing behaviour: Personalized shopping experiences, like subscription models, loyalty programs, and targeted promotions, are key to boosting average order values and encouraging repeat purchases.
  • Sustainability and ethical shopping: Consumers are increasingly focused on sustainability. Brands that highlight eco-friendly products and ethical practices are gaining stronger customer loyalty and better conversion rates.

Optimizing your ecommerce website

Ecommerce website optimization attracts more visitors and ultimately drives sales. Here’s a breakdown of essential optimization strategies to help your online store perform at its best.

Ecommerce website optimization tips

The following are essential optimization strategies for a successful ecommerce website.

On-Page SEO

Optimizing your product pages, images, and content is crucial for improving your site’s visibility in search engines. Make sure to include relevant keywords in product titles, descriptions, and metadata. You can also optimize images by using alt tags.

Page speed optimization

Fast-loading pages are essential for keeping visitors engaged. A slow website can lead to higher bounce rates and lower conversions. To speed up your site, consider compressing images, enabling browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN). Regularly monitor your page speed and make adjustments as needed.

Mobile optimization

With more than half of ecommerce traffic coming from mobile devices, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly is non-negotiable. A responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes is a must. Simplify navigation for mobile users, ensure buttons and links are easily clickable, and make checkout processes as seamless as possible. Mobile optimization not only improves user experience but also positively impacts your search engine rankings.

Search Engine Journal

Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

Increasing your website’s conversion rate is all about making it easier for visitors to become customers. Here are some techniques to boost sales and customer retention:

  • Simplify the checkout process: A complicated or lengthy checkout can lead to cart abandonment. Streamline the process by reducing the number of steps, offering guest checkout options, and providing multiple payment methods.
  • Use clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs): Encourage visitors to take action with prominent, well-worded CTAs. Whether it’s “Buy Now” or “Sign Up for Exclusive Offers,” make sure your CTAs stand out.
  • Use social proof: Displaying customer reviews, testimonials, and ratings can build trust and encourage purchases. Highlight best-sellers and feature customer photos or user-generated content to enhance credibility.
Eyetamins.co

Marketing and promotion

Once your site is optimized, the next step is to drive traffic and engage customers through effective ecommerce marketing strategies.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Like other websites, ecommerce sites can benefit from SEO. This goes beyond on-page SEO.

Local and off-page SEO boosts your visibility. Start by identifying keywords your target audience is using, especially those related to your location if you have a physical presence.

For local SEO, optimize your site for location-based searches to attract nearby customers. This includes managing your Google My Business profile and ensuring your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) is consistent across different directories.

Don’t forget off-page SEO. Build high-quality backlinks and work on improving your site’s domain authority to enhance your overall search engine ranking.

Content marketing

Adding a regular blog with valuable posts, optimizing product descriptions, and creating engaging social media content can drive traffic and boost your SEO efforts. Content marketing helps establish your brand as an authority and keeps customers coming back.

Email marketing

Building and maintaining an email list allows you to engage with customers directly. Create engaging email campaigns with personalized offers, product recommendations, and updates on new arrivals or promotions. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to retain customers and encourage repeat purchases.

Social media marketing

Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to promote your products and engage with your audience. Paid advertising on social media can help you reach a more extensive, targeted audience quickly. Create eye-catching posts and run campaigns that align with your overall marketing goals.

Ecommerce analytics and measurement

To understand how well your ecommerce website is performing, you need to track and analyze key metrics. Monitor metrics like:

  • Website Traffic: The number of visitors coming to your website.
  • Conversion Rates: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, like making a purchase.
  • Average Order Value (AOV): The average amount of money spent each time a customer makes a purchase.
  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The average cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses.

These KPIs provide insights into how your site is performing and where improvements can be made.

Tools like Google Analytics are essential for tracking user behaviour, understanding traffic sources, and measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. Use these insights to refine your strategies and make data-driven decisions.

Security and compliance

Protecting your customers’ data and ensuring your site complies with legal standards is crucial for building trust and maintaining a reputable online store.

Implement strong security measures to protect customer data, such as SSL certificates, encryption, and regular security audits. Make sure your site is safe from breaches and that customers feel confident when shopping with you.

Ensure your payment processes are secure and compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This not only protects sensitive information but also helps you avoid costly fines and damage to your reputation.

Lastly, stay informed about the legal requirements for ecommerce in your region. This includes privacy laws, tax regulations, and consumer protection guidelines. Complying with these laws helps avoid legal issues and builds customer trust.

Best practices for running your ecommerce website

Running a successful ecommerce website isn’t just about the initial setup—it requires ongoing effort to keep everything running smoothly and efficiently. Here are some best practices to ensure your online store stays in top shape.

Ongoing maintenance and updates

Regular maintenance is crucial to keeping your ecommerce website secure, updated, and functioning at its best.

  • Security updates: Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, so it’s vital to keep your site’s software, plugins, and themes up to date. Regularly update your platform to patch vulnerabilities and protect customer data. Implement automated backups to ensure that your data is safe and can be restored quickly in case of an emergency.
  • Content updates: Keep your site fresh by regularly updating content, including product descriptions, images, and blog posts. This not only improves SEO but also keeps your customers engaged and informed about new products or changes.
  • Performance checks: Regularly monitor your site’s speed, functionality, and user experience. Slow load times or broken links can frustrate customers and lead to lost sales. Schedule regular checks to identify and fix any issues before they impact your business.

Analytics and performance tracking

As mentioned, Google Analytics is an essential tool for monitoring site performance. It provides valuable insights into user behaviour, traffic sources, and conversion rates. By analysing this data, you can identify what’s working and where there’s room for improvement.

Set up goals and track key metrics such as page views, bounce rates, and average session duration to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and overall site performance.

Customer service and support

Excellent customer service is the backbone of a successful ecommerce business. According to a Microsoft study, 96% of people said that customer service plays a big role in their brand loyalty and whether they’ll make repeat purchases. What’s more, 54% of respondents now see customer service as even more important than they did just a year ago.

Provide clear and accessible contact information, including phone numbers, email addresses, and live chat options. Being available and responsive to their needs shows that you care about their experience.

Effective customer support is also critical for resolving issues and retaining customers. Additionally, a well-defined returns and refunds policy can boost customer confidence and encourage purchases. Regularly gather customer feedback to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments as needed.

Tidio

Final thoughts

Building and running a successful ecommerce website takes careful planning and continuous effort. Choosing the right ecommerce website builder is the foundation of your online store’s success. It’s essential to pick one that aligns with your business needs. From there, optimizing your website for performance, mobile use, and conversion rates will ensure that you’re providing the best possible experience for your customers.

Now that you’ve got a solid understanding of what it takes to create and manage an ecommerce website, it’s time to take the next step. Start by exploring the recommended ecommerce platforms we’ve discussed. If you need additional help, consider reaching out to their experts for guidance. The sooner you begin, the sooner you can start selling and growing your business online.

FAQs

What are ecommerce websites?

Ecommerce websites are online platforms that allow businesses to sell products or services over the internet. These sites provide everything a customer needs to browse, select, and purchase items from the comfort of their home or mobile device. Ecommerce websites typically include features like product catalogs, shopping carts, secure payment gateways, and customer service options to facilitate the entire shopping process.

What is the best ecommerce website builder to use?

The best ecommerce website for you depends on your specific needs and business goals. Some of our top picks include Dukaan, Wix, WooCommerce, and Shopify.

How do I start my own ecommerce website?

Starting your own ecommerce website involves several key steps:

  1. Pick an ecommerce platform that suits your business needs.
  2. Choose a domain name that reflects your brand.
  3. Select a hosting provider if your ecommerce platform doesn’t include hosting.
  4. Design your website by choosing and customizing a template or theme.
  5. Add your products, including images, descriptions, and pricing.
  6. Set up payment and shipping options to ensure smooth transactions.
  7. Test your website thoroughly before launching to catch any issues.
  8. Launch your site and start promoting it through marketing channels like social media, email, and SEO.

How much does an ecommerce website cost?

The cost of an ecommerce website can vary widely depending on several factors. Platform fees are a significant consideration. For instance, Shopify starts around $99 per month, while WooCommerce is free but requires hosting, which can range from $10 to $100 per month or more.

Design and development costs can vary, from using free templates to hiring a designer, which could add a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the complexity. Paid plugins or apps may also increase costs over time. Remember to factor in ongoing expenses like domain renewal, marketing, and transaction fees. A basic ecommerce website might start at a few hundred dollars, while more advanced sites with custom features could cost several thousand dollars or more.

Sourced from JeffBullas.com

By Chloe Castleberry

A lot goes into designing a website, especially if you’re a small business. You have to think about layout, of course, but also user experience and how customers can easily and conveniently make online purchases. It can be stressful to choose which design platform may work best for your needs, but if you’re on the hunt for the right website building and hosting company, then you should highly consider Squarespace.

Squarespace is one of the premier website designing sites, mainly for its affordability and variety, but more recently, the platform has launched a guided design system guaranteed to make the design experience more seamless. The best part: Anyone starting a website, regardless of if they have used Squarespace before, can utilize it. With Squarespace Blueprint, you can choose from professionally-curated layout and styling options to build a unique online presence from the ground up. With 1.4+ billion design combinations, you get everything you need in one spot. Read below to learn more about all that Squarespace Blueprint has to offer.

What is Squarespace Blueprint?

Squarespace Blueprint is an interactive, five-step design guide that uses your selections to build the foundation of a personalized website. You can choose from Squarespace’s strongest layout, font, and colour options to start and then keep customizing in the platform until your website is exactly how you want it. By answering a few simple questions, Blueprint will create a website specifically tailored to your business/brand needs, and you can continue to tweak from there to get it just right!

What are the features?

Features include (but are not limited to) expert guidance, which is exactly how it sounds. Throughout each step, Squarespace will provide clear design direction in addition to handpicked layout and styling options (sourced from both online trends and consumer data), live preview and progress bar, and an interactive design experience that allows you to make real-time design decisions for your custom website.

What are the benefits?

You’re in control of your business, so why should your business’ website be any different? Squarespace Blueprint allows you to keep that same autonomy while receiving clear and concise design guidance when you need it. Plus, if there’s ever a design element you don’t like or want to change, Squarespace allows you to easily add or edit content whenever you like.

Give it a try, and if you have questions or need help along the way, Squarespace Blueprint is there to help.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Blogging Tips & Events for Content Creators Everywhere | Blogher may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

By Chloe Castleberry

Sourced from BLOGHER

By

Take your website design from good to great

A website is often the first impression potential customers will have of a business in this day age. In today’s digital era, that first impression is more important than ever as customers increasingly search online for products and services on a daily basis.

A well-designed website will not only grab attention, but may also hold that attention long enough to convert a visitor into a customer.

Should you be in need of some help in revamping or creating the perfect website design (opens in new tab) for your business, below are ten tips to help you be on your way to designing a website that’s both visually appealing and effective.

1. Keep your homepage minimalistic

Your home page should be an introduction to your business, setting the tone and conveying your message quickly and effectively. Prioritize the information you want visitors to see immediately without overcrowding the page with unnecessary content.

Keep it concise and clean, having only necessary items such as navigation bars, logos, search bars, and other essential elements. Keep long stories for lower-level pages and make sure that the links are clear and easily accessible from the homepage.

Having a minimalistic design will offer a better user experience; creating an attractive interface with no distractions from key product or service features that you would want to show off.

2. Design with visual appeal in mind

When it comes to website design, one of the most important elements is visual appeal. Designing with visual appeal in mind means making sure the overall aesthetic of your website looks pleasing to the eye.

This includes choosing a colour scheme (opens in new tab) that works well together and avoiding too much clutter on your pages. You should also focus on creating a consistent look and feel throughout the website by ensuring typefaces, photos, and other visuals look cohesive.

Quality images are key when creating a visually appealing website, so try sourcing stock photography or creating custom videos or graphics for an added wow factor.

3. Create easy to read website content

A great website design is essential for drawing in potential customers and establishing a strong online presence. One of the biggest parts of this is making sure that your website content is easy to read.

Creating content with the right tone, length, and formatting can make all the difference when it comes to keeping readers engaged. You should try writing shorter paragraphs and sentences, while also including simple words that many reader can digest quickly.

Utilize headings and lists to draw attention as well as strategically break up large chunks of text. Additionally, use high-quality images and visuals related to your topics instead of blocks of text whenever possible. Last but not least, make sure you double-check your content for any typos or grammar issues before you post it.

Woman creating her own website on computer

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Kaspars Grinvalds)

4. Ensure your site is easy to navigate

Websites should be appealing and easy to navigate, allowing the website user to get to exactly where they want quickly and intuitively. Ensure your site is easy to navigate by making sure all pages are clearly labelled and organized logically.

Ensure the main navigation is consistent throughout each page, so visitors can easily find their way around the entire site. Also, make use of simple grid layouts for page organization as this makes a huge difference when it comes to how visitors view each page.

Make sure your menu(s) stay visible at all times while scrolling down, so visitors can easily return to any previous sections they want.

5. Stay mobile friendly

Mobile devices are becoming the primary way people access the internet. As a result, having a website that is not optimized for mobile use can be detrimental to your business. Users who have difficulty navigating your website on their mobile devices are likely to leave your website and move on to a competitor’s website.

In addition to user experience, mobile-friendliness is also a factor that search engines like Google take into consideration when ranking websites. Google’s algorithm now favours mobile-friendly websites in search results, which means that having a mobile-friendly website can help improve your website’s visibility and drive more traffic to your website.

To achieve this, ensure that your website is using a responsive design. Responsive design is an approach to web design that allows a website to adapt to the size of the device it’s being viewed on. This means that your website will look great on any device, from a desktop computer to a smartphone. By using a responsive design, you can ensure that your website is always optimized for mobile use. Another way to make sure your site is mobile-friendly is by simplifying your design. When designing for mobile devices, simplicity is key. Mobile screens are small, and users are often on the go, so they need information quickly and easily.

To create a mobile-friendly website, focus on simplifying your design. Use clear, concise language, and keep your design clean and uncluttered. Avoid using too many images or videos that can slow down your website and cause frustration for users. Also using a mobile-friendly font is another important factor when designing for mobile devices. Fonts that are too small or difficult to read can be a major frustration for users. Choose a font that is easy to read on a small screen and avoid using too many different fonts. Most website builder (opens in new tab) services allow you to edit your site in mobile view too, which is useful because you’ll see exactly what your site will look like on mobile when it’s live.

A designer group chooses the color scheme of the application.

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Wasan Tita)

6. Avoid hectic colour schemes

When designing a website, the colour scheme is one of the most important elements to consider. The colours used can largely affect the overall look and feel of the site, as well as impact user experience. To create a website (opens in new tab) that is visually appealing and easy to navigate, it is crucial to avoid hectic colour schemes.

To avoid hectic colour schemes when choosing colours for your website, it is important to start with a neutral base. This means using shades of grey or white as the background for your site. A neutral base will create a clean and simple canvas that allows other colours to stand out and make an impact. It also helps to reduce visual clutter, making it easier for users to focus on important elements of the site.

Another key tip to avoid hectic colour schemes is to limit the number of colours used in your design. Too many colours can overwhelm users. Instead, choose a palette of two or three colours that complement each other and convey the desired mood or message. Using shades and tints of these colours can add depth and variety without adding too much visual noise.

7. Don’t ignore SEO

SEO (opens in new tab) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This means that when people search for keywords related to your business, your website is more likely to appear at the top of the results. This is important because the majority of online experiences begin with a search engine, and if your website doesn’t show up in those search results, you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic and customers.

To ensure that your site is optimized, conduct keyword research. Before you start designing your website, it’s important to know what keywords your target audience is searching for. By conducting keyword research, you can identify the phrases and terms that people are using to find businesses like yours.

This information can then be used to inform your website content and ensure that it’s optimized for those keywords. Another important factor is optimizing your website structure. The structure of your website is important for both user experience and SEO. Make sure that your website is easy to navigate, with a clear hierarchy of pages and a logical flow from one page to the next.

This will make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website, which can improve your rankings. Also, use descriptive URLs. When creating URLs for your website pages, make sure that they are descriptive and include relevant keywords. This not only helps with SEO but also makes it easier for users to understand what the page is about before they click on it.

 8. Make sure typography is consistent

Typography is an essential component of your website’s design. It can make or break the overall user experience of your website. If your website has inconsistent typography, it can make the website look unprofessional and unpolished. In contrast, consistent typography can enhance the readability, legibility, and overall user experience of your website.

The first step in creating consistent typography is to choose the right font. You need to select a font that aligns with your brand, audience, and message. A good rule of thumb is to choose no more than three fonts; one for the header, one for the body, and one for accent text. Another way to make your website design spot-on is by creating a hierarchy in consistent typography. It refers to the organization and arrangement of text elements based on their importance.

By creating a hierarchy, you can guide your website visitor’s attention toward the most important information. You can create a hierarchy by using different font sizes, weights, and styles. Another way to make your website design spot-on is by having consistency in font size and spacing.

This is critical in creating a polished and professional website design. You should establish a set of guidelines for font sizes and spacing and follow them consistently throughout your website. This can help ensure that your website looks cohesive and easy to read.

Alignment is another critical aspect of consistent typography. You should align your text elements to create a clean and organized look. For example, you can align text to the left, right, centre, or justify. Whatever alignment you choose, make sure that it is consistent throughout your website.

9. Use white space strategically

Also known as negative space, white space refers to the areas of a design that are left empty or blank, without any visual or textual content. While it may seem counterintuitive to intentionally leave blank spaces on a website, the strategic use of white space can actually improve the overall user experience and enhance the visual appeal of your website.

White space can be used to create a clear visual hierarchy on your website, highlighting important elements such as headings, buttons, and images. By leaving more white space around these elements, you can draw the user’s attention to them and make them stand out more effectively.

However, it is very important to ensure that the amount of white space used throughout your website is consistent, both within pages and across the entire site. This will create a more cohesive and polished look and feel.

10. Don’t forget high-quality images and videos

High-quality images and videos are important for adding a new look and feel to your site, and as important as it is for these added elements to be top quality, it’s also important for your images and videos to be relevant to your brand, products, and services. For example, if you run a fashion website, your images should showcase the latest fashion trends, while a food blog should feature mouth-watering images of delicious dishes.

Another crucial aspect of using images on your website is to ensure that they are high-resolution. Low-quality or pixelated images can be a major turn-off for visitors and may give the impression that your website is unprofessional. Make sure to use images that are at least 72 DPI (dots per inch) and preferably 300 DPI for print-quality images.

Ensure that your images load quickly and don’t slow down your website’s performance by optimizing them for web use. This includes compressing the images without sacrificing their quality, using appropriate file formats such as JPEG or PNG, and adding alt tags to improve accessibility and SEO.

In addition to images, incorporating videos into your website can also enhance user experience and engage your visitors. Videos can be used to showcase product demonstrations, tutorials, or even behind-the-scenes footage. However, it’s important to keep videos short and sweet, as lengthy or irrelevant videos can be a major turn-off for visitors.

Just like images, it’s crucial to ensure that your videos are high quality. Poor quality or shaky videos can be unprofessional and may drive visitors away from your website. Make sure to use high-quality equipment and editing software to create visually appealing videos.

  • Your website will need a top quality web hosting (opens in new tab) service to ensure your site is secure online

Feature Image credit: Shutterstock / Rawpixel

By

Sourced from techradar.pro

By Edwin Toonen

We’ve said this time and time again: a fast website is necessary for SEO. In a sea of similarly good (or not-so-good) results, Google will favour fast pages that can deliver a good user experience to searchers. If your goal is to attain higher rankings and drive organic traffic from Google, you need to speed up your WordPress website. In this post, we’ll discuss tips to help you improve your website performance to get that spot in the search results!

Fast websites perform better on Google

Fast websites tend to outperform slow ones on Google because of one good reason – good user experience, and this aligns with Google’s mission. Google wants to deliver the best results and the best experience for their users. Hence, they want to show users web pages that will answer their search queries and provide a good experience. That’s also why page experience is now a ranking factor in Google.

This makes perfect sense when you put it in context. We’ve all had moments where we click on a link only to hit the back button because it takes so long for the page to load. And when we leave a page (or bounce off a page) like that, we’re way less likely to visit the website again because we know there are better, faster pages to browse. So website performance not only affects user experience but also greatly shapes how visitors judge the quality of your business.

That’s why speeding up your WordPress website is beneficial in many ways. A fast site makes your users happy, they’ll engage and buy more on your site. Ultimately, that’ll make you happy. Apart from that, It also makes search engines happy because it’s easier for them to crawl and index your site, thus reducing the resources and electricity they need to spend on those processes.

Don’t I need to focus on Core Web Vitals for SEO?

Yes, we hear you! It’s true that Core Web Vitals is an important part of the page experience ranking factor, and passing Core Web Vitals is essential for higher rankings. Metrics in Core Web Vitals directly measure your page speed, so improving your Core Web Vital scores may result in higher rankings, provided that you have good content already.

While metrics in Core Web Vitals measure the performance of a page, they don’t tell the whole story about your website performance. And Core Web Vitals only measure performance on a page level. So on a site level, you may have pages that pass Core Web Vitals and slower ones in the mix.

By making various improvements to your website performance, you can ensure that your visitors will get the most out of your website regardless of the page they land on. Besides, adopting website optimization best practices also directly benefits your Core Web Vitals and helps to reduce the time spent optimizing pages for speed.

This post is about general guidelines and best practices that will help you speed up your WordPress website. But if you specifically care about getting better CWV scores, check out 5 tips to improve your Core Web Vitals. You will also find a few similar pieces of advice in this post.

How to speed up your WordPress website

Now, WordPress is a simple platform at a first glance, but it’s quite complex under the hood. There are lots of different moving parts, with lots of databases to pull data from when you need to show a page to a user. And when you add lots of pages, media content and install lots of plugins and widgets, your site performance might start to drop.

Fortunately, WordPress is very versatile so there are many things you can do to optimize your performance. Let’s go over some of the tips to help you speed up your site.

1. Choose a great hosting provider and a good hosting plan

Let’s start from the top, having a good hosting provider is crucial for ensuring your website performance. That’s because all your files and databases are stored on their server, which will be called upon when a user requests a page.

We have a dedicated guide on choosing the right host for your WordPress site. Check it out if you want a more comprehensive read. But we’ll mention some important points in this section.

A good host will have fast and stable servers. Stable means they have good “uptime”, which essentially means their server is always up and running, ensuring that your website is always accessible. On the other hand, a “fast” server refers to the specification of the computers/machine on which your website lives.

Good hosting providers also offer scalability to handle traffic spikes. A good host will have the resources to accommodate the increased load and ensure that your website remains up and running.

Next to that, customer support quality is another important factor to consider when choosing a host. A good host should provide technical support, which can be invaluable when you encounter any issues with your website. A knowledgeable support team can also help you resolve problems quickly, so you can get back to business as usual.

Another thing to consider is the server location relative to your users. If the server is fast, but it’s located far away from your users, then they might still experience slow-loading pages.

If you’re looking for the best fit when it comes to hostings, we’ve vetted some top-notch hosting companies to help you out.

2. Update your PHP to a newer version

Updating your PHP to a new version is a simple thing to do that often gets overlooked. PHP, or Hypertext Preprocessor, is a popular open-source server-side scripting language widely used for creating dynamic and interactive websites. By using PHP, web developers can build robust, feature-rich websites that can dynamically change based on user interactions, database information, and more

Updating your PHP to the newest version will greatly increase your website performance. You will get:

  • Improved performance, resulting in faster processing time and reduced resource usage.
  • Better memory management, which can reduce the amount of memory needed to run your WordPress site, resulting in faster page load times.
  • Faster request processing, as new versions of PHP are able to process requests more quickly, leading to faster page load times.
  • Some newer versions of PHP also have improved caching capabilities, allowing for faster page load times and reduced server resource usage.

You can check out endoflife.date to see which PHP version is in development and which version isn’t supported anymore.

Since it’s a server-side scripting language, many hosting providers offer PHP support as part of their hosting packages. If you’re looking to update your PHP, check with your host to see if they can help you with that.

It is important to note that updating PHP can cause compatibility issues with your WordPress plugins and themes. A compatibility issue can cause the website to break, so it is important to make a backup before updating and to test the website after updating to make sure everything works as expected.

3. Update your WordPress version is an easy fix

Advice as old as time! But it does work so we can’t go without mentioning it. You can gain a nice speed boost just by updating your WordPress website to a newer version. You get the latest performance improvements and lots of other optimizations. What’s not to like about that!

WordPress 6.1, for instance, got a bunch of performance improvements under the hood, such as better database performance and better handling of media delivery. On the front end, this results in faster load time for both new and returning visitors.

Additionally, updating to a new WordPress version allows you to run a newer version of PHP, which also gives you all the more performance improvements.

To be cautious, one piece of advice we have is to test an update on a staging environment before you update your live website. See if the update causes issues, check if there are any plugin conflicts, and make sure everything works as intended. You can check the WordPress.org forum or Twitter to see if the update causes issues for others.

4. Implement a caching solution

Caching is an important part of the performance equation. It’s a simple solution that can speed up your WordPress website and make your pages load faster, especially for returning visitors.

Caching refers to the process of storing frequently accessed data in a temporary storage area. Rather than being fetched from the server each time the data is requested, it can be quickly retrieved from the cache when needed.

This helps to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transferred between the server and your visitor’s browser, resulting in faster page load times and improved overall website performance. So every time a visitor access a recently-viewed page, the page will be served from the cache instead of having to request all the elements like HTML and images from various databases.

You can rely on caching plugins to do the work for you. For the most part, they’re quite easy to use. Be careful when installing multiple caching or optimization plugins though. They can get in each other’s way, and slow down your site!

Some of our recommendations for caching plugins:

  • WP Rocket – Very powerful, and one of the best options to make your site faster. Designed to be simple. No free option.
  • W3 Total Cache – Extremely powerful, and extremely flexible. Designed to be comprehensive. Hundreds of checkboxes and options.
  • NitroPack – Full page caching with some really clever, cutting-edge performance optimization techniques. Tons of impressive bells and whistles, though the pricing model scales with pageviews.
  • WP-Optimize – A good middle ground, with basic full-page caching, and some sophisticated database + media optimization tools.
  • WP Super Cache – A basic solution that offers full page caching, but lacks other/advanced optimization techniques.

These plugin suggestions are derived from our top WordPress plugin recommendations post. There are a lot of good resources to help you build a better WordPress website on that page, so do check it out!

5. Use a lightweight theme

The theme you use greatly impacts how fast your pages load for users. Although WordPress offers a huge selection of themes to play around with, not all themes are created equally.

Some themes are better coded than others. Themes with inefficient or poorly optimized code can slow down page load times and cause you headaches along the way.

Some themes are much leaner than others. You might be drawn to themes with lots of bells and whistles, but be careful. Themes with many images, scripts, and other assets can increase the size of a page and make it slower to load. Sometimes, all you need is simplicity!

For the most part, our advice is to pick a fast and lean theme that’s well-reviewed by the community. They’re your best bet in a sea of choices. Always check the ratings and reviews to see if you’re making the right choice. Even though you can change theme later on, it’s better to just stick with one for a while. That’ll save you troubles that may arise from switching themes.

Apart from themes, many people like to use a page builder to design websites. It’s a great tool for beginners and experienced WordPress users alike. We have the same advice as with theme, that is to choose a popular and well-reviewed one. Some page builders are much lighter and more optimized for speed than others. Elementor, for instance, has done a bunch of work recently to speed up their builder.

6. Deactivate and remove unused plugins

WordPress is a wonderful platform thanks to its plugins and widgets, making it possible to extend a website in many ways. But it can be tempting to install a plugin for every little functionality that you want.

Although plugins can make your life easier, using too many of them is bad for your performance. Since there are more functionalities to load, they make your page load slower.

Really take a look at your plugin collection and assess which ones you need and which you don’t. And instead of using a plugin for every small functionality, use more versatile ones that can do multiple things you need.

For the ones that you don’t need, don’t forget to deactivate and delete them from your site. That’ll remove the additional codes they add to your website. This is an easy fix that may be ignored by some. Besides, unused plugins can cause conflicts with other plugins, themes, and core WordPress functionality. By removing them, you reduce the risk of compatibility issues, which can improve the stability and performance of your site.

7. Optimize your images: a quick fix to speed up your pages

We’ve said this many times, heavy images are detrimental to your page speed. Although eye-catching, high-definition images are a joy to look at, they make your pages much heavier. This means there are more things to process and load, resulting in a slower load time. For instance, having a large, unoptimized hero image above the fold will definitely lead to a low LCP score in Core Web Vitals.

You don’t actually need those high-resolution images. They only need to be sharp enough for everyone to easily make out what’s in them. There’s also a point of diminishing return where higher resolution doesn’t translate to better picture quality. The key is to find a sweet spot between resolution and quality.

Before uploading images to your website, make sure to compress them to reduce the file size. This is especially important if you’re displaying many images on your website or if you’re running an ecommerce website with lots of product images.

We recommend Compress JPEG & PNG images or Optimole to compress, optimize and manage your images. Squoosh.app is another great tool that we use to compress the social image of our posts, which is shown when our posts are shared on social media.

Want to go in-depth into image optimization? Check out our comprehensive image SEO guide!

8. Optimize your media delivery

The way you serve media content to end users can greatly impact your page speed, too. It’s crucial that you optimize and make tweaks to how your website delivers media content.

Lazy-loading is a popular technique that a lot of websites implement. It tells your user’s browser to load images only when they are needed, rather than loading them all at once when a page loads. Luckily WordPress does this natively so you can use that feature right out of the box. In addition, WordPress 6.1 also received a nice media delivery improvement, which is great for websites with lots of images. But even with all these features available, it’s still best to only add images when they are necessary.

As for videos, they can be useful in driving search traffic to your website. But we strongly advise you not to host videos directly on your server. They are heavy and can take up a lot of your server storage. Self-hosted videos will also make pages load slower, which is not what you want for SEO.

A better choice is to host videos on a video hosting platform like Youtube or Wistia and embed a link on your page. Next to that, make sure to use a process to show a preview image, and only load the video on interaction.

We also have a solution for optimizing videos for SEO – our Yoast Video SEO plugin! It adds the necessary structured data to videos on your website so Google can show them in rich snippets. The plugin will also supercharge your videos so they load more efficiently. If videos are an important part of your website and your SEO strategy, you need to use Yoast Video SEO!

9. Use a content delivery network

Content delivery networks (CDNs) won’t let you down when it comes to speeding up your WordPress website. It is incredibly important if you serve overseas users or those who live far away from your original web server.

A CDN is an interconnected network of servers working together to deliver content to your end users. They make copies of your static content like images or HTML files and distribute them on all the servers within the network. So instead of serving images or HTML files directly from your original servers, those files will be sent from the server closets to your users.

On the left: traffic to your site lands on a single server. On the right, a CDN sends visitors to the server nearest to their location. Image: Wikipedia

As we explain in our guide to CDNs, the same ‘do your own research’ principles apply here, too. You’ll need to find the best mix of performance, features, and price.

We’re huge fans of Cloudflare at Yoast (which we use to power all sorts of our own ecosystems), but it may not be the perfect fit for you.

When you’re choosing a CDN for WordPress, it’s worth making sure that they have a good plugin integration, so that page and resource caches are automatically updated or purged as you write or update your content (like the Cloudflare WordPress plugin).

10. Use fewer external scripts and optimize your JavasScript

A note before we go further: this section is a bit more advanced compared to the other advice in this post. It’s best not to tamper with any JavaScript if you’re new to website building, or if you don’t have any development experience. Instead, play it safe and ask an experienced developer to help you out with JavaScript tweaks and optimizations.

With that said, JavaScript is a wonderful language and allows us to do a lot of things on websites. It makes websites more dynamic and enjoyable for end users to use.

When you see animations on a website, like when you click a button and something pops up, that’s most likely thanks to JavaScript. For website owners, it allows them to add analytics tools like Google Analytics or Hotjar and do cool things like A/B testing or personalization.

But using too much JavaScript and external scripts makes a page load much slower. Loading external scripts can slow down the performance of your website, as the browser has to make additional requests to retrieve the scripts. We often see this on web pages with many external ads, which can be frustrating at times. By minimizing the number of external scripts, you can reduce the amount of data that needs to be loaded and improve page load times.

Too much JavaScript can also affect your crawl budget. That’s because Google needs to render these files while indexing, which takes up resources. The more resources Google needs to spend on processing those files, the less they have to come back and crawl other pages on your site.

There are many ways to reduce the amount of JavaScript you use, which greatly depends on your website and the type of scripts. Start by finding out what’s loading. Then you can decide to not load it, or change how it loads to make it load more efficiently by implementing defer or async loading.

Avoid loading stuff from external domains, like Google Fonts or resources from CDNs, and load local copies instead. Also, ask yourself if you can get the same result by using a different method than using a script. For example, you can use CSS instead of a script for animation.

11. Reduce files size

We mentioned that you can compress your images to reduce their file size. You can do the same with your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, too.

Although the number of bytes and kilobytes you shaved off these files doesn’t sound like much, they can add up. One way to reduce file size is to reduce the redundant spacing or lines in your code. You can also combine multiple files into a single file, compress it and still serve that file without breaking your site.

Tampering with codes never sounds like a great idea, especially if you’re not a developer. But thankfully we have plugins to help us out. You can check out:

  • Autoptimize, which has some really clever JavaScript, CSS, and HTML optimization.
  • WP Minify, which also allows you to combine and compress JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files.

12. Reduce HTTP requests to your server

Every time a user clicks on a link to visit your website, their browser has to make multiple HTTP requests to your web server asking for various files and data. The server has to process these requests and send back all the necessary files so the browser can render them and show the page to the user.

Reducing the amount of HTTP requests here basically means reducing the number of files the server has to retrieve and send to your user’s browser. That will help with decreasing the amount of data transferred and decreasing the load on your server, as well as making it easier for the browser to render and construct a page.

If you’ve already implemented all the tips we mentioned above, then you’re already removing quite a bit of unnecessary HTTP requests. That involves using fewer plugins and scripts, including fewer media files, implementing a caching solution, and using a CDN to serve static content.

Wrapping up

Congratulations on making this far into the post! We hope this post will be useful in helping you speed up your WordPress website. We know there’s a lot of information here, so do take some time to process and digest it.

By implementing the techniques and best practices we suggest, you’ll be on your way to building a fast and snappy website! Don’t forget to document the changes you make and evaluate the impact on your website’s search presence, organic traffic, as well as overall website performance.

When every millisecond can make the difference between a visitor buying or leaving, there’s always more room for performance optimization. We regularly review the setup and configuration of our hosting, CDN, plugins, and theme – and so should you.

Got a great recommendation for speeding up WordPress or other site speed tools? Let us know in the comments!

More resources to help you speed up your WordPress website

These articles and documentation can provide more information on website speed optimization. Have a read!

Last but not least, an incredible source of information: Jono’s slide deck on site speed from a talk at SMXL Milan.

By Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

Sourced from yoast

Sourced from Boss Magazine

Setting up any website has costs to take into account, and this is particularly true if you’re aiming to enter the eCommerce marketplace.

So what can you expect to spend to turn your shopping site from a concept to a tangible, transactional service that’s ready to welcome its first customers?

Considering platform costs

Almost no eCommerce site on the market today runs on its own platform developed in-house. This is because there are tons of robust, affordable and well-established solutions out there already to act as the foundation.

Of course each platform has its perks and pitfalls, as well as targeting different types of business users. For example, there are all-in-one solutions like Shopify which offer several tiers of license suited to everyone from individual sellers to large businesses, with prices starting at $10 to $20 per month and rising to $2,000 or more for enterprise grade setups.

Then there are open source platforms like Magento, which don’t come with licensing costs, but do require that you take charge of every other element involved in building a site around them.

Calculating Magento pricing is therefore a bit more complicated, but does provide more flexibility than the proprietary alternatives.

Handling hosting costs

There are two main aspects of web hosting which cost you cash; the storage of the data that makes up your site, and the domain name which represents it and by which customers can find it in their browser of choice.

Again, the platform you pick can influence this, with the all-encompassing services often coming with a hosting package built in with the other aspects of a bundle. However, you can choose a third party host instead, and it’s usually best to combine hosting and domain name costs together.

What you’ll pay for hosting is not just down to the provider, but the size of your site and the amount of traffic it receives. A basic deal for a small site can come with hosting costs of under $100 annually, while a sprawling site with hundreds of product pages and millions of monthly visitors might require a hosting spend of $10,000 or more each year.

Breaking down site building costs

If you have a shoestring budget and you want to launch an eCommerce site, using a basic site builder and relying on standard templates is sensible, as this could be free at best, or cost you a couple of hundred bucks at worst.

If you want to let a professional handle this, then your choice is between a freelance web designer, or a dedicated agency.

Freelancers will be more affordable, but might have longer lead times to contend with. Agencies will eat into more of your budget, but will have the peoplepower to get a project off the ground quicker.

Outsourcing the design and construction of your site could cost less than $1,000, but it’s better to be more realistic and expect a spend of $3,000+ if you are serious about making this business venture work.

Exploring marketing & more

There are lots of ways to market a shopping site, from SEO tweaks that help it to become organically discoverable on search engines, to social media campaigns which focus on platforms that are right for your brand and audience.

Costs here are just as variable as elsewhere, depending on whether you choose to do the hard work yourself, or pay someone else to tackle it in your place.

All of this means that you need to have a realistic budget to start off with, and cost out every aspect of your eCommerce site before you spend any money, to avoid nasty surprises.

Sourced from Boss Magazine

By Emilia Shovelin for Thisismoney.co.uk

  • There are few small businesses that wouldn’t benefit from having a website
  • But setting one up can be daunting for those without tech know-how
  • We explain how to get a web address and find somewhere to build your website
  • We also look at what features can be included and how much it all costs  

Whether you’re opening a cafe, starting a charity or setting up as a freelance photographer, there are few types of business that wouldn’t benefit from having a website.

An attractive and user-friendly site can tell potential customers the story behind your business, act as an advert for your products or services and help them find you in the real world.

But for small enterprises and sole traders without any tech experience, it can be difficult to know how to get started.

The good news is building a website has never been easier – and you don’t need any web design experience or a complicated marketing strategy.

Getting online: Building a basic business website doesn't need to be expensive or complicated - though there are endless options for those who do want something more bespoke

Getting online: Building a basic business website doesn’t need to be expensive or complicated – though there are endless options for those who do want something more bespoke

We spoke to Ben Law, vice president and head of UK and Ireland at leading domain registrar and web hosting provider GoDaddy, to get the lowdown on everything from getting the perfect web address, to figuring out how hosting works and making sure people find your new site.

How much does it cost to build a website?

This will depend on a number of factors from what functions you want the website to have, to whether you want to pay someone to professionally build, design or write copy for you.

Setting up the very basics of a website can be an extremely affordable.

Website building blocks and their upfront cost

 
Essential website features Cost 
Domain name £0 – £30
Website hosting £0 – £950
 Optional website features Cost
Content and branding £0 – £5,000
Website security £0 – £250+
SEO and marketing £0 – £100+

Registering a domain – essentially buying the address of your website – can be done for as little as £10 a year.

However, you’ll need to find one that isn’t already taken, which is easier said than done.

If you want a specific web address and someone already has it, you can ask them sell it to you – but this can be an expensive game.

Once you have a domain you will need a hosting platform, which can cost less than £5 per month.

A hosting platform offers the technical facilities required for you to create a website and make it accessible on the internet.

Law says: ‘You can expect to pay from around £100 per year for a simple website, with website prices going up to £10,000 and beyond for a very large, complex website.’

The extra costs from your website tend to come from content and marketing support, website security and bespoke branding and design. These can range from pennies to thousands of pounds.

How long does it take to build a website?

Once you have your domain and hosting provider, getting your new business website live can happen quite quickly, depending on how complex you need it to be.

Law says: ‘The average amount of time it takes to build a website depends on the size and complexity of the site, and to get a website up and running it could take anywhere between a few hours and a few months.’

If you opt for a simple website, you could go live within a couple of hours.

But if you’re starting an e-commerce website – where you sell products online – you should expect the process to get a little longer.

How do you get a domain name?

Before you start picking out colour schemes or fonts, you need to get your hands on a domain name.

What if my domain name isn’t available?

Let’s say you wanted to buy the domain ‘thenewbusiness.com‘, but it is currently being used by someone else.

While it’s understandably frustrating, you still have a couple of options:

Find an alternative domain 

You might have to tweak your domain, potentially subtracting unnecessary words like ‘the’; adding an identifying word like ‘shop’; or abbreviating your company name, ‘tnb.com‘.

Use a different domain extension 

If you can’t buy the domain you want with a specific extension – for example, .com – it may be available with an alternative extension.

There are a huge range of domain name extensions available, so you could opt for .co.uk or .net for example.

Law added: ‘In a situation like this, it’s important to make sure the domain you want to buy doesn’t infringe on someone else’s intellectual property.’

In simple terms, a domain name is your website’s equivalent of a physical address, which helps potential users or customers find your site easily.

Your domain name is typically the name of your business, but can sometimes vary depending on the availability, as each domain must be completely unique.

While a domain name and a URL share some similarities, a URL acts as a complete web address that can direct visitors to a specific page on a site, whereas the domain name is just a part of it.

Your domain name is typically followed by your specified extension, usually ‘.com’ or ‘.co.uk‘. For example, the domain name for MailOnline is ‘dailymail.co.uk‘.

But where do you get your hands on a domain name?

‘The first thing you need to do is to find a reputable company to register your domain with,’ Law says. ‘These companies are known as domain registrars and they provide domain registration services to the public.

‘Once you’ve found a domain registrar that’s right for you, you can start the process of registering your domain.’

Domain registrars usually offer a search function, which makes it easy to see if the domain name you want to buy is available. They can often suggest alternatives, if the name you want is being used by someone else.

Domain names usually cost between about £10-£20 per year.

If you’re trying to buy a domain name that is already owned by someone else, then you may have to pay much more.

Some domains containing popular words or phrases are classified as ‘premium’, costing hundreds to thousands of pounds to buy outright.

However, once you’ve bought it, you will usually only pay the standard annual renewal fee, which varies based on who you buy your domain from.

Free: Website builders such as GoDaddy sometimes offer a domain names and URLs when you choose their web hosting software for your site

Free: Website builders such as GoDaddy sometimes offer a domain names and URLs when you choose their web hosting software for your site

Sometimes it’s possible to get a domain name for free.

For example if you use a website builder service, such as GoDaddy, WordPress or Wix, they offer bundle deals which include a domain, hosting and design templates.

Law says: ‘Many domain name registrars offer free domain names when you buy one of their other products.’

‘You can get a domain name for free with GoDaddy with our website builder, and many of our web hosting packages.’

If you want to get set up quickly and with minimal hassle, buying your domain name from your hosting provider could save you time and hassle down the line.

How do I choose the right hosting platform?

Once you acquire your domain name, the next step is the hosting platform.

But what exactly is website hosting? Law says: ‘Think of a website like a house. All houses have two related parts: an address and a piece of land where the house sits. Websites work similarly.

‘Every website on the internet, no matter how big or small, absolutely must have a domain name and web hosting.

‘Web hosting is like the land where you build your house. This is the space on the internet where you place your website’s files.

‘Typically, web hosting runs on a server owned by a web hosting company. Your website is just a small section of that server.

‘Because web hosting is such a commonly used term, we usually shorten it to ‘hosting’ – not to be confused with having people over for nibbles and cocktails.’

Put to the test: You can use free trials to help you choose a web hosting platform. It should be simple for you to manage, but also give your customers a good user experience

Put to the test: You can use free trials to help you choose a web hosting platform. It should be simple for you to manage, but also give your customers a good user experience

The software and hosting you choose must be able to support your growing needs.

Switching from one to another is costly because it involves additional migration complexity, expenses and inevitable impacts on your customer experience.

There are a wide selection of web hosting services including GoDaddy, WordPress, Squarespace and Wix.

They will host your website and also provide you with the tools to create and manage it via their content management system (CMS) – basically the ‘back end’ of the website.

If you want to sell products on your site, you may want to use a specialist ecommerce site builder such as Shopify, BigCommerce or WooCommerce – but other hosting sites also offer this option as an add-on.

When researching which host to use, questions to ask include:

  • What’s the average cost?
  • What add-ons will you need to purchase to build the store you want?
  • Is there a demo you can try, to test out how easy the websites are to manage?
  • Are the user reviews good?
  • Will the website run smoothly and load quickly?

Law added: ‘As noted by KissMetrics, almost 50 percent of web users expect to wait no more than two seconds for a website to load, and if it takes three seconds, they will completely abandon the site.

‘Almost 80 per cent of online shoppers who feel the website has poor performance say they won’t visit the site again to make a purchase, and approximately 44 per cent would share their bad shopping experience with friends.’

Do your research, and when in doubt, give the free trials a go. Some sites such as SquareSpace offer 30 days to test building your dream website, before needing to commit to the software.

Working well: You'll need to have responsive design so your website functions seamlessly across computers, phones and tablets

Working well: You’ll need to have responsive design so your website functions seamlessly across computers, phones and tablets

What does my website need to have?

When you start to build your website, hosting providers can bombard you with optional extras, from business email accounts, to extra virtual security options.

Deciding if you want to pay for the extras is completely up to you, so it depends on what your customers will use the website for.

Law says: ‘Decide what features you need. What will your website need to do? Will it be a simple one-page website offering only basic details about your business, or will you be looking to accept orders online?

‘Drawing up a list of features you need your website to have will help ensure you end up with a website that’s right for you.

Crucial basic features for any website include:

  • Responsive design – so your site works correctly for visitors on any device
  • An SSL certificate – to protect your users’ data, an SSL certificate is crucial if you plan to sell products or allow customers to contact you via the website
  • Fast, reliable web hosting – to ensure customers can browse without issues and and buy the goods or services you are selling

Law adds: ‘Remember, these are only the most basic features of a good small business website. You’re likely to have your own crucial features based on your business’s needs.

‘For example, if you plan to sell products online you’ll need to ensure your site has ecommerce functionality.’

Getting a website up and running is one thing, but what if you need to make a change to your website?

Do you want the ability to make changes yourself, or would you prefer to have someone to do it for you?

The option that you pick will have an impact on the amount you end up paying for your small business website, so it can be crucial.

If you decide to have someone make changes to your website for you, you may find yourself paying a fee to a web designer to make even small changes, such as an adjustment to your opening hours.

Or you may find yourself paying a monthly retainer to a web designer to cover any changes, something which could significantly increase the cost of your website over its lifespan.

That said, it could be worth paying if your website is crucial to the running of your business, is technically complex or the design will need to be changed regularly.

How should I design my website?

Some content management systems come with free basic templates that can be tailored to your business, to help you launch your dream website quickly and effortlessly

Some content management systems come with free basic templates that can be tailored to your business, to help you launch your dream website quickly and effortlessly

Having a website that looks good is just as important as having a website that has all the features you need.

To get the perfect design for your website, you don’t necessarily need to fork out thousands of pounds on a website designer – though they can offer bespoke designs and insight into how customers use websites, if you choose to hire one.

Lots of CMS platforms come with thousands of simple-to-use templates that can be tailored to include your logos, colour schemes and branding.

Law added: ‘A business website’s look isn’t just cosmetic, a confusing and cluttered website will put off potential customers.

‘Take a look at the websites of businesses that are similar to yours and take a note of things you like.

‘By looking at other websites, you’ll get a better idea of how your website should look, feel and work. You can use this research to help you sketch out some basic ideas.

‘Of course, you won’t want to copy a rival website exactly, but it will provide inspiration.’

By Emilia Shovelin for Thisismoney.co.uk

Sourced from Mail Online

By Bernard May

Contribute to society, improve people’s lives, provide the next groundbreaking solution — these may be our true end goals, but we need our businesses to grow and flourish in order to make these happen.

Enter the seemingly never-ending effort to tone up our websites so they fuel excitement and inspire as many people as possible to connect, purchase or fill out our enticing site form for some free goods.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard thousands of ideas that “experts” promise will turn the tide when it comes to converting website leads: more content, less content, delete old blogs, refresh old blogs, add videos, add social proof and the list goes on and on.

I 100% understand the frustration. And as the CEO of a marketing agency, I will also be the first to tell you there is no single strategy that works for every website. But every website does need a strategy.

To uncover what custom strategy will work for your site, in particular, we need to find out why your current site isn’t driving leads. So, let’s dive into five of the most common reasons conversions often fall flat and what you can do about it.

You don’t have any goals.

Every page on your website needs a goal. Whatever the goal is — clicking a product link, watching a video testimonial or just filling out a form — create your page with this in mind.

I have seen hundreds of websites that either had no clear “next step” actions for customers, or worse, too many (confusing) actions from which to choose. Both are more than likely going to eliminate the possibility that your next visitor will convert into a lead.

For example, if you know that a higher number of customers become a valid lead (or buy your product) after watching your product video, then focus on that goal for the page in question. Whatever it is, establish a goal for your page and build everything to support that goal — everything else is fluff.

I know, we all get excited and want to get everything we can think of on the page, but start with your goals and work backward.

Visitors have no idea what you do.

Does your website say what you do, loud and proud, in the most basic terms? All too often, I see businesses that are so laser-focused on sounding different that the core of what they do falls by the wayside.

For example: “We drive business intelligence solutions for best-in-class e-commerce impact!” Um, what? Are you in marketing, finance, software or something else? As a business, if what you actually do or provide is confusing, chances are leads are not going to scour your site to find out.

From the second a customer lands on your website, they need to know what you do or at least be enticed to scroll down and learn more. So, if you are a service provider, say it. You offer a product? Show it — loud and clear.

Your site speed is just too slow.

As the saying goes in the culinary world, “We eat with our eyes first,” and the same is true for your website. So, if your website is slow to load or slow to interact with, this can (and most likely will) tank the perception of your brand and what it has to offer.

When it comes to almost anything online, we all crave instant gratification. That being said, take the time to ensure anything that’s slowing down your site (i.e., images, videos or even website plugins) is optimized accordingly.

Any milliseconds you can shave off of loading and interaction times increase the likelihood that your next visitor will turn into a viable lead. If you want to see what your load speeds are and how you can optimize, try using Google’s Lighthouse plugin for Chrome.

Prospects don’t trust you.

Trust is something that needs to be earned, and in the online space, you need to earn it fast. But how? In a word: proof.

Making bold claims and using spicy taglines are only going to get customers to the front door. It’s your job to kick it in for them. Can you feature any awards, certifications or endorsements? What about media spots, written reviews or video testimonials? In short, can you crank up the dial and give them some solid social proof?

Don’t get me wrong, case studies and data are great, but even adding a single quote from one of your clients is going to move the trust needle several times over.

Social proof from those outside the walls of your business is the greatest trust-building content you can provide to your site visitors, so don’t be afraid to lay it on thick.

You never asked.

Question: What do you want visitors to do on your website — download your how-to guide? Add your product to their cart? Okay, now a follow-up question: Are you asking them to take that action?

One of the first rules in sales is… ask for the sale!

Not sure what to ask? Well, what was the goal you created for this page? This should be directly tied into your “ask.” If your goal is to get the visitor to fill out your form in exchange for your free strategy guide, ask for this on your page.

“Ready to see how to leverage your business intelligence for 5X better ROI? Complete this form for instant access.” Never assume anything, and be willing to ask for what you want.

As with everything “lead gen,” it comes down to putting yourself in the shoes of your customers. Focus on giving them what they want rather than what you think they need. Be ready to test, evaluate and adapt to these wants on a regular basis.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Bernard May

Bernard May is the CEO of National Positions, a 5-time Inc. 500 company, award-winning marketing agency and Google Premier Partner. Read Bernard May’s full executive profile here. 

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Sourced from Forbes

By Omega Fumba

Thinking about building a website? Keep these points in mind for sure-fire success.

Are you planning on creating a website? Here are a few things to consider before you get started.

If you’re thinking of growing your business, a website is a great tool to help you achieve that growth. Having a website allows you to showcase the products or services that your business offers. In addition, it can help your business build credibility and gain more customers.

For your website to become a success, a good amount of planning should take place beforehand. Even if you’ve hired someone to assist you, don’t sit back and relax! It’s important to take note of what your website should include.

1. Branding

Brand identity book next to a keyboard.

Your website is a representation of your company. So, it is important to thoroughly consider its branding. Why? It’ll help attract visitors and contribute to your overall return on investment.

Thinking about branding throughout the entire development process is a surefire way to build a brilliant site.

The branding of a website includes the following:

  • Logo
  • Tone/Core Message
  • Colour Schemes
  • Design
  • Fonts

A logo plays a huge role in the identity of your business. Your company logo gives your work an identity that visitors can recognize. You can hire a graphic designer to create one for you.

If that isn’t an option for you, there are websites you can use to get help creating a logo.

Your website should carry out the core message of your business. Visitors should be able to quickly understand what you’re all about when they land on your page. It should have a consistent tone that connects to that core message.

The colour schemes, design, and fonts that you use in your website should complement the message and tone of your brand.

2. Usability

two people using a laptop.

Customers are more likely to get drawn to your website if it’s easy to use. You can increase your website usability by including the following:

  • Navigation Menu
  • Headings and Labels
  • Search Bar
  • A Mobile-Friendly Website

Having a navigation menu gives your visitors an idea of what content is included in your website. Providing seamless navigation also allows your visitors to find the information they’re looking for more easily.

If your website is easy to use, visitors are more likely to spend more time browsing it. Including headings and labels allows your visitors to better understand your website’s content.

Depending on the context of your site, including a search bar can improve its usability. Visitors can simply search and find what they’re looking for instead of digging through your site not knowing if they’ll find it.

You must also make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. Lots of people use their phones to browse the internet and having a mobile-friendly design will increase your credibility.

3. A Consistent Blog

Hands typing on laptop keyboard.

An active blog on your website helps you keep your audience engaged. Your blog should provide helpful content to visitors. Producing regular content can increase traffic to your website and encourage users to spend more time on it.

In addition, having a consistent blog makes your website a trustworthy source of information. When people have questions, you’ll be the go-to!

4. Website Security

Padlock on laptop keyboard.

Security threats are a website’s worst enemy. Websites get hacked every day and it’s very important to ensure that your website is secure.

Hackers can use your website to infect visitors with malware. You don’t want to gamble on the risk of having your website’s infrastructure invaded. Luckily, you can protect your website through web application firewall services and server-side security tools.

5. A Solid SEO Strategy

SEO capital letters with a graphic pattern

Your website needs a good SEO strategy. For your website to be a success, it needs to be as visible as possible, and that’s exactly what SEO does for you. When potential visitors use search engines, they will most likely use keywords and terms that are linked to the content on your site.

Your job is to make sure that your website is optimized enough to appear on the results page. Even hitting the bottom of page one on Google can net you thousands of views a month.

6. Choose a Domain Name

List on how to find a domain name.

Finding a personal domain name that you can be proud of is not easy. If you’re looking to create a website for your business, it only makes sense to use the same name for your website. However, if you are still searching for the perfect name, you might need to brainstorm a few ideas. A domain name is an opportunity for your website to gain brand recognition.

It is important to have a memorable domain name that resonates with your target demographic. Your website’s domain name can be used for your branding across all social media platforms, that way, it’s easier for people to find you.

7. Cost

Coins spilling out of a jar.

Once you have considered all the above-mentioned factors, it’s time to think about the cost of creating your website. You have to ask yourself whether you are going to hire people to help you create your website or if you’re willing to work on your own. Creating a website could require you to hire people such as a web designer and a content writer for your blog.

However, you’re not doomed if you aren’t in a position to spend money on hiring people. There are several low-cost to zero-cost tools that you can use to help you create your website. For instance, you can use websites to help you create a logo for your business.

You Can Easily Build Your Website

Some websites do not need to be created from scratch. People often pay large amounts of money for a basic website. You don’t have to worry about the cost of hiring a web developer to help you build your site from the ground up. If you want to create a simple, quick website, you can build it using HTML templates. That way, you can cut costs while you witness your website come to life.

HTML templates act as a guide to help you build your website. The best part about using HTML templates is that you don’t need to have any HTML skills.

By Omega Fumba

Omega enjoys using her writing skills to interpret the digital space. She describes herself as an art enthusiast who loves to explore. More From Omega Fumba

Sourced from MUO

By Sean Harper,

Every business needs a website, and search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of helping people find it online. Not only is SEO a low-cost and evergreen way to attract new customers and build brand awareness, but implementing a few basic strategies at the outset can have a major impact on your bottom line.

Here are some easy SEO practices that can help take your business’s site up a notch.

Build technical SEO strategies.

Technical SEO helps search engines read your website. If you improve the technical aspects of your site, you can usually improve both your rankings and your user experience. These basic technical SEO strategies are a great place to start:

Boost your site speed: Think about your own browsing habits — when something takes forever to load, you aren’t as likely to stick around. Search engines see this as an indication that your site isn’t answering users’ questions and move you down in the rankings.

Use internal links: By using internal links, you help search engines understand what content on your site is important and how it all relates to other pages. For example, a dog groomer’s website might link a blog post about trimming nails to a page listing its services.

Avoid confusion: Search engines don’t like duplicate content or 404 errors popping up throughout a site. For that matter, neither do people. So if you move content, be sure to use a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one to let search engines know where it went.

Secure your site: Getting an SSL certificate is easy to do and gives your domain the higher priority “https” prefix rather than just “http.” Websites with an SSL certificate almost always rank higher than those without one.

The takeaway: Take the time to build a website that is easily navigable, loads quickly and doesn’t have broken links or pages. When everything works, you’ll make most search engines happier.

Write content with SEO in mind.

Whatever type of content you create — blog posts, videos or something else entirely — you need it to fulfill two fundamental requirements:

• Provide information that is important to your target audience.

• Show up in search engines so your target audience can find it.

A good way to start is to develop content that answers the questions your customers most frequently ask about your industry. By answering common questions, you ensure that your content is relevant.

But users can’t appreciate good content without finding it first, so the next part of the equation is keyword research. Keyword tools like SEMRush, Wordstream or Wordtracker let you find keywords that have good search volume, are easy to rank for and relevant to your business.

The reality is that you may have to get pretty granular to capture the audience share you want. Let’s look at Kin as an example. “Insurance” is an incredibly broad and competitive keyword that doesn’t tell us much about what the user is looking for. Do they want business insurance? Life insurance? Are they ready to buy or just doing research? It’s hard to say, so we aim for keywords that are relevant to what we do: homeowners insurance. This, and related keywords, may have less search volume but they’re more targeted.

Once you know your keywords, get them in your content. Every page of content should be optimized for a primary and secondary keyword. Experts recommend using your primary keyword once or twice for every 100 words of content. Secondary keywords don’t get used as much but should be peppered throughout the content.

The takeaway: Keeping SEO in mind ensures that you write content that your target audience is looking for. The more you deliver on what readers want, the more likely you are to rank higher in search results.

Build backlinks from trusted sources.

Earning links to your site from other websites shows your content is relevant and trustworthy. In fact, someone found your information so useful that they wanted to link back to your page as the source. Search engines read backlinks as a strong indication that your content is valuable.

In recent years, search engines have prioritized websites in search results that have a degree of credibility for the topic. That’s why you often hear SEO experts now talk about a website’s E-A-T, or its Expertise, Authority and Trust. Search engines like Google reward quality backlinks that come from well-known and authoritative websites.

Some backlinks may show up on your site without you doing anything, but the majority of businesses that take SEO seriously work to get other quality sites to link to them. This usually involves reaching out to webmasters and content developers of websites that you want a link from. Yes, you are asking for a link, but doing so in a way that provides the business case that explains why your content is relevant to their audience.

The takeaway: The better your content is, the more likely you are to get organic backlinks. You may also want to employ a link-building strategy that helps you get the sites that you really want to link to your site.

Learn how to interpret analytics.

The best websites do a good job of turning web traffic into customers. Do the people who come to your site take action? Are they signing up for your newsletter or buying from your store? Is there a page that’s getting a lot of views that could end up improving sales?

Any entrepreneur can use data to answer these questions. Free tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics show you how much traffic you’re getting and where that traffic is going. Once you have baseline data, you can set realistic goals, whether that’s increasing traffic or keeping people on your site longer.

The takeaway: Data drives SEO campaigns. For entrepreneurs who are just getting started, there are plenty of free tools that can help you learn more about how users are engaging with your site.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Sean Harper

CEO and co-founder at Kin Insurance.

Sourced from Forbes