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Over the past few days, I've encountered several people looking for a small, budget-friendly website, with their primary focus being that it must look 'cool.' This has prompted me to write this article, as many seem to misunderstand the realities of the Internet.
A typical starter website, if left unattended, will see minimal traffic. Data we collect shows that most small static websites experience a bounce rate of 90%—meaning most visitors leave almost immediately. The result? If you get even one serious visitor per month, you're lucky.
So, what's the solution? What strategies can help? Here are a few key considerations:
A common misconception is that Google automatically discovers all websites. In reality, Google primarily expands its index by following links. If no links point to your website, Google may not even know it exists.
a) Register with Google Search Console: This ensures your website is in Googles database and gives you an insight into how your site is working and if Google has any indexing issues.
b) List Your Business on Google Maps: Adding your website to your Google Business profile increases visibility.
Google has strict criteria to maintain high-quality search results. If your site fails to meet these standards, it may not appear in search results or will rank very low.
- Secure Connection (SSL Certificate): Your site should use HTTPS instead of HTTP.
- Mobile Friendliness: A significant ranking factor, as most web traffic comes from mobile devices.
- Page readbility: Google will only spend a limited time indexing your site. Pages which are slow to load or with complex scripts prior to presentation hinder the process of indexing.
- Sitemap Submission: Helps Google index your pages efficiently.
- Avoid Duplicate Content: Google may penalize sites with duplicate pages.
a) Ensure your website has an SSL certificate.
b) Work with a developer to make your site mobile-responsive.
c) Think about the downside of inserting clever features on your site, we would recommend limiting this to the home page only.
d) Generate and regularly update a sitemap.
e) Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues (e.g., Google sees `http://mysite.com`, `https://www.mysite.com`, and `https://www.mysite.com/index.php` as separate pages).
Once Google recognizes your site and you've optimized its structure, it's time to focus on content strategy.
A common mistake is designing a single-page site with all information condensed. While this might work well on mobile, it's not ideal for SEO. Google prefers well-structured, multi-page sites where each page focuses on a specific topic.
For example, a finance broker with a one-page site covering loans and investments will likely rank lower than a competitor with a structured site featuring dedicated pages for each service.
a) Structure your site with clear URLs (e.g., `www.mysite.com/services/loans/mortgages.php`).
b) Ensure each page contains at least 200 words of valuable content.
c) Wrap main content in `<article>` tags to highlight its importance for indexing.
d) While Google may not prioritize meta tags, when writing your content keep in mind the words that you think a user might use to search for your service and strategically use these keywords in your content. This will enhance your ranking.
e) Content Management System is a must. With a structured web site, you will naturally end up with lots of content which will need to be reviewed and updated over time. In addition, a CMS system allows you to add features such as Blog or News pages which will keep your site fresh and relevant and prompt users to return.
A visually appealing website is great, but if no one finds it, it serves little purpose. By ensuring Google recognizes, approves of, and ranks your site, you can significantly improve your online visibility and drive more traffic. Implement these strategies, and watch your website's performance improve!