1. CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION

The process of making sure a website design converts your website visitors into real clients is known as Conversion Rate Optimisation (also known in short as CRO). This process is by far and above the most necessary and overlooked in marketing strategies across the world. That is why I have put this as our Rule No 1, because whilst it is fantastic to get huge traffic TO your website, actually what you need to be focused on is producing clients THROUGH your website!  Here are just 3 of the main things to think about in Conversion Rate Optimisation:

1. Am I clear about my services?  This is a priority. Be very clear about what you are offering, in a presentable way.
2. Can someone easily contact me without any hindrance? Make sure your contact forms are working correctly and easy to use.  Also make sure your website speed is as fast as possible.
3. Do I have multiple options of contact? (Eg, Online Chat, Contact Form & Phone Number) Different people prefer to communicate in different ways so make sure you cater for these.

2. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

Search Engine Optimisation is often called SEO. The term means ‘Optimising’ your website in a ‘Search Engine’.  Optimising could be simplified again to the word ‘improving’ – So if we break that down, we can say ‘Let’s improve our website so that we get found high up in a Search Engine’ Or, to make it even more simple: ‘Getting my site to Page 1 of Google!’ When designing a website it is important to focus on both CRO and SEO. These 2 elements are the golden rules. We’ve established that CRO is the process in which a client is converted to a customer through a website design. Now, as we look at SEO, we need to think about ways to gain the Web Traffic to your website. Web Traffic is a term which is used to discuss the AMOUNT of visitors to a web page. What we are trying to do is therefore is to put a green light on and pass traffic to your website. The more traffic should equal more customers.

In SEO there are 2 factors that need to be accounted for – let’s look into these two:

1. On-site SEO and
2. Off-Site SEO

ON-SITE SEO

On-site SEO is the term that refers to the work that is  carried out ‘on’ a website – this can be work carried out that effects the content, the design & the architectural structure of the site.

Here are a list of some on-site SEO factors you need to think about:

• Page Loading Speed – the speed that your website loads will directly effect your conversions. Each of your pages needs to be speed optimised so they load as fast as possible. The faster the site, the easier it will be for users to get around, and the more likely they are to stay on your website.
• Content – the written content on your website needs to be RELEVANT, ENGAGING & ACCURATE. Make sure you write clearly about your specialist subject and make sure the content is engaging. Loading new content regularly will help you draw the attention of your regular clients as well as new ones.
• TAG Optimisation – Your website consists of a variety of TAG’s – the most popular are Title Tags and Meta Descriptions. The title tag is the TITLE, eg – the definition of what a web page is about. The Meta description is the part of text that describes the title in a little more detail – this description is read by the search engines and is shown in the organic listings.
• User Experience – When designing a website, you need to think of the user first and not the search engine! What this means is – making sure you keep in mind the type of experience your users are having. If they have a good experience – they are more likely to return!
• Mobile responsiveness – Google prefers websites which have been designed to work well on mobile phones. It is also a fact that more people each year are opening web pages from their phones with the current percentage being around 60%.

On-site Conclusion – Make sure your ‘on-site’ web pages are optimised with beautifully responsive design and well written content. 

OFF-SITE SEO

Off-site SEO is the term that refers to the SEO work carried out ‘off’ of a website to help with the page rank of that site. (Or ‘away’ may be a better word) You could describe it in practical terms like ‘Carry out important work away from your website to help it get found easily’

Here are 3 of the main Off-Site SEO practices to think about:

• Link Building – Link building is still a core work in off-site SEO. Beware not to stuff loads and loads of  links in a ‘black hat’ way – in the past people could pay someone to stuff back links all over the place and essentially ‘spam’ those links to increase web traffic…Thankfully,  this old practice has been penalised by the search engine algorithms, what you need to focus on now is ‘white hat’ Link building. This simply means – Quality over Quantity. Do not spam. Aim for people to love your content and naturally link your website because it is great.
• Social Media Marketing – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ – Social Media cannot and should not be over-looked in any off-site SEO strategy. Each Social Media portal helps you reach a wider audience. Every post you make can help you reach a new client. And the algorithms know this and read this – especially the interaction you are having with your audience. So make great use of Social Media!
• Video promotion – Youtube & Vimeo are two of the biggest players when it comes to video. Make use of these and Tag your website to gain more traffic and interact with a wider audience.

Off-site SEO Conclusion – As part of your overall SEO strategy make sure that you utilise the work away from your site – that is quality link-building, social media marketing and video marketing.