Basics

• Evergreen Topics

Evergreen topics are topics people will always be interested in.

• Buyer Persona
  • What would Jane Doe be searching for?
  • What keyword would attract her to your content?
  • What type of CTAs will Sara engage with?
  • How about imagery?
• Meta Data – Meta Title and Description

Check Points

1. Content should be: 80% Evergreen Keywords; 20% Trending Keywords
2. Create a Buyer Persona: Target Keywords & Content Towards That Buyer Persona
3. Metadata should be for Humans as well as for SEO
   1. Always use the target keyword in Title and Meta Description
   2. The title should be 40 – 50
   3. Meta Description should be 120-130
4. Basic Content/Copy guide
   1. Add the Keyword to Header and use a header for each page – 6 words or less
   2. Always use the main keyword in at least one heading and high-value related keywords in others.
   3. Copy – longer is better for most situations.
   4. main category and product pages, a minimum of 500 words
   5. blogs, the minimum is bumped to 1,200
   6. Add
      1. Bullet Points.
      2. Bold/Italics.
5. Images
   1. Each Image Should Have a Unique Title & Alt Text that Includes a Target Keyword
   2. Alt Text should be 120 Characters

A high-performing website is crucial for businesses looking to make a strong online presence, engage their audience, and achieve their goals. In this blog, we will explore the five key elements that contribute to the success of a high-performing website. By understanding and implementing these elements, you can create a website that not only captivates your visitors but also drives conversions and delivers exceptional user experiences.

1. Compelling Visual Design : A visually appealing website design is the first element that catches visitors’ attention and establishes a positive impression. It should reflect your brand identity, incorporate modern design trends, and align with your target audience’s preferences. Utilize high-quality images, balanced color schemes, readable fonts, and intuitive layouts to create an engaging visual experience that captures the essence of your brand.
2. Intuitive and User-Friendly Navigation : User-friendly navigation is critical for guiding visitors through your website and enabling them to find the information they seek effortlessly. Ensure that your navigation menus are well-structured, clearly labeled, and easy to locate. Implement intuitive navigation elements, such as breadcrumb trails, dropdown menus, and search functionality, to enhance user experience and help visitors explore your website seamlessly.
3. Clear and Compelling Content : High-performing websites deliver clear, concise, and compelling content that resonates with their target audience. Craft well-written copy that communicates your value proposition, showcases your products or services, and addresses visitors’ pain points. Use headlines, subheadings, and bullet points to break up content and make it scannable. Incorporate relevant visuals, such as images, videos, and infographics, to enhance engagement and comprehension.
4. Mobile Responsiveness : With the increasing use of mobile devices, it is essential to ensure your website is fully responsive and optimized for mobile viewing. Mobile responsiveness ensures that your website adapts to different screen sizes and maintains a seamless user experience across devices. Responsive design allows users to navigate your website effortlessly, read content without zooming, and interact with forms and buttons easily. This element is crucial for capturing and retaining mobile visitors.
5. Fast Loading Speed : In today’s fast-paced digital world, website visitors have little patience for slow-loading pages. Optimizing your website’s loading speed is crucial for providing a positive user experience and reducing bounce rates. Compress and optimize images, minify CSS and JavaScript files, utilize caching techniques, and choose a reliable hosting provider to ensure fast and efficient loading times. Regularly monitor and analyze your website’s performance to identify and address any speed bottlenecks.

In today’s digital age, where mobile devices have become ubiquitous, having a responsive web design is no longer an option but a necessity. Responsive web design ensures that your website adapts and delivers an optimal viewing experience across various devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. In this blog, we will explore the importance of responsive web design and how it enhances the user experience for your customers.

1. Mobile-First World : With the increasing number of people accessing the internet through mobile devices, it is essential to prioritize mobile users when designing websites. Responsive web design follows a mobile-first approach, focusing on delivering a seamless experience on smaller screens. By optimizing your website for mobile devices, you can capture a larger audience and stay ahead in today’s mobile-first world.
2. Improved User Experience: Responsive web design significantly improves the user experience. When users access a website on their mobile devices, they expect a smooth and effortless browsing experience without having to pinch, zoom, or scroll excessively. A responsive website automatically adjusts its layout, text, and images to fit the screen size, providing a user-friendly and visually appealing experience.
3. Consistency across Devices : With a responsive design, your website maintains consistency across different devices. Users should have a similar experience and access to the same content, regardless of the device they are using. This consistency helps in building brand identity and recognition while ensuring that users can easily navigate and interact with your website, regardless of the device they choose.
4. Better Search Engine Optimization (SEO) : Responsive web design plays a crucial role in improving your website’s search engine visibility. Search engines, like Google, prioritize mobile-friendly websites in their search results. A responsive design eliminates the need for separate mobile and desktop versions of your website, consolidating your web presence and improving your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
5. Faster Page Load Times : Mobile users have little patience for slow-loading websites. A responsive design optimizes your website’s performance, resulting in faster page load times. When your website loads quickly across devices, users are more likely to stay, explore, and engage with your content. Additionally, faster load times contribute to better SEO rankings and overall user satisfaction.
6. Cost-Effective Solution : Opting for a responsive web design can save you time and money in the long run. Rather than maintaining separate versions of your website for different devices, responsive design allows for a single website that adapts to various screen sizes. This eliminates the need for additional development and maintenance efforts, reducing costs and streamlining your web presence.
7. Future-Proof Your Website : As new devices and screen sizes emerge, responsive web design ensures that your website remains future-proof. By embracing a flexible and adaptable design approach, you can seamlessly accommodate new devices and technologies without the need for significant redesign or redevelopment.

When it comes to designing a website, one of the most critical factors for a successful user experience is intuitive and user-friendly navigation. A well-designed navigation system allows visitors to find information effortlessly, explore different sections of the website, and complete desired actions. In this blog, we will explore best practices for creating user-friendly website navigation that ensures a seamless browsing experience for your visitors.

1. Clear and Consistent Menu Structure : A clear and consistent menu structure is the backbone of an easy-to-navigate website. By organizing your content into logical categories and placing them in a well-structured menu, users can quickly grasp the hierarchy and flow of your website. Whether you choose a horizontal or vertical menu, ensure it remains consistent across all pages to avoid confusion and facilitate easy navigation.
2. Use Descriptive Labels : The labels used for navigation links play a vital role in guiding users. It is essential to use descriptive and straightforward wording that accurately represents the content of the linked pages. Instead of generic labels like “Products” or “Services,” consider more specific labels such as “Our Portfolio” or “Digital Marketing Solutions” to provide clarity and engage users from the start.
3. Visible and Accessible Navigation : For effective website navigation, it’s crucial to make navigation elements highly visible and easily accessible. The navigation menu should be placed prominently on the page, either at the top or in a sidebar, ensuring it remains in view as users scroll through the content. Additionally, using hover effects or subtle animations can draw attention to the menu and indicate interactivity.
4. Implement a Logical Information Architecture : Creating a logical information architecture allows users to navigate your website seamlessly. Group related pages together under relevant categories, and ensure that the menu structure reflects the relationships between different sections. By organizing your content thoughtfully, users can anticipate where they will find specific information and easily explore related pages.
5. Utilize Dropdown Menus Sparingly : Dropdown menus can be a useful tool for providing additional navigation options. However, they should be used sparingly and strategically. Overusing dropdown menus can overwhelm users, causing frustration and making it harder for them to find what they are looking for. Consider utilizing dropdown menus for nested categories or when there is a need to display a large number of options.
6. Incorporate Breadcrumb Trails : Breadcrumb trails are a navigational aid that shows users their current location within the website’s hierarchy. By displaying a trail of links representing the path users have taken, breadcrumb trails enable users to navigate backward easily, explore higher-level categories, and maintain context. This feature is particularly useful for websites with deep content structures or e-commerce platforms.
7. Mobile-Friendly Navigation : With the increasing use of mobile devices, optimizing navigation for mobile is paramount. Implement responsive design techniques to ensure your navigation menu adapts to different screen sizes and touch interactions. Consider using a collapsible hamburger menu or a mobile-optimized menu that provides a smooth browsing experience on smaller devices.
8. Test and Iterate : Implementing best practices for user-friendly website navigation is an ongoing process. Conduct regular usability tests to observe how users interact with your navigation system and gather feedback. Analyze user behavior using tools like heatmaps and user recordings to identify any pain points or areas that require improvement. Iterate based on the insights gained to continually enhance the user experience on your website.

We know the online journey is difficult, especially in 2020 with the pandemic situation; Company’s had to cut down their expenses and buckle up the seat belts for an economic bumpy ride. Maintaining a website is no joke or an easy task. But something that every website owner has to do. If you want to learn why the maintenance contract is essential you can read our blog articles why you need a maintenance contract, following are the essential services you should ask for.

01 – 24×7 Domain & Server Uptime Monitoring   

It is crucial to have the website running all the time for any business. Your customers won’t stare at the website for more than a few seconds; if it is not online, they will go for your competitor. Whether you are a small/medium business, it is essential to monitor your website all the time.

Your website may not work due to any of the following reason,

• The website can get hacked
• The domain may have an issue
• The server may have an issue
• The database may go down

IF solutions use a 3rd party enterprise solution to check the website availability for 24×7. If the site is down, we will instantly know. With that alert, the IF Solutions team can inform you(Client) of the necessary solutions.

02 – 24×7 Malware Scanning

Are you aware of the following stats? The following stats are why you need a Malware Scanner scanning your website.

Hackers are getting creative and trying different new methods to hack your website. Malware is one way. With the 24×7 monitoring, we will instantly know when the site has an issue.

03 – Website Indexing issues monitoring 

Search engines, mainly Google, need to list all the web pages in their database. Sometimes when listing the web pages, it comes up with different types of technical issues. IF Solutions has access to those issue reports with search console data. After analysing the information, IF Solutions will be able to identify whether there are errors or warnings. IF Solutions can inform the clients of the possible fixes of those pages with warnings or errors that could be relisted again on Google and other search engines.

04 – Website usability issues monitoring

“When we switch a domain to mobile-first indexing, it will see an increase in Googlebot’s crawling while we update our index to your site’s mobile version.”; Official Google Blog. Google has shifted to mobile-first indexing. In mobile-first indexing, google uses mobile devices to navigate and check the website. If Google sees an issue, Google alerts the website developer, and once the issue is fixed, Google will show the webpage again on Google. As most visitors are using a mobile device, it is vital to fix mobile usability issues. Otherwise, the website may end up losing its rank in Google.

05  – CMS and Plugin Update Monitoring

WordPress and Plugins release their bug fixes, security updates, performance improvements and layout changes constantly. Installing new updates will improve the site and break the site if the latest update is not compatible. IF Solutions will monitor the updates and inform the client of necessary actions.

06 – Manual Website Visit, Layout Check and Functionality Check

Even though preventive maintenance tasks are automated, these three tasks are done manually. Users are not bots(Automated Software to do a task), that is why we also check the website as humans. To understand how your customers feel when they visit the website. We will visit the website from different devices to check how the pages look, whether the buttons are functioning(functionality check). This will give us an understanding of the user experience of the website. If there is something alarming we will update you with an action plan.

Tell me something’, girl

Are you happy in this modern world?

Or do you need more?

Is there something’ else you’re searching’ for?

Let’s be honest with ourselves and take an evaluation,

1. When was the last time you checked your social media newsfeed? Is it Seconds, Minutes, Days or Weeks ago?
2. When was the last time you posted something on social media?
3. When you are sharing some content, did you check whether it was fake news, a fabrication or some fiction?
4. How many posts have you had shared before checking the facts? Story behind?

Recently there was a message shared on social media about organ donors waiting for a recipient; this happens all the time. However, it turns out to be a scam. If you were one among those who shared the post, I imagine that you had good intentions when sharing it; I do not doubt it. But did you ever feel the necessity to ask from your source whether it is accurate before sharing? I think we (You and I) are lost in this game of infinite postings, liking, sharing and scrolling. You will be the judge of your real situation. When Bradly Cooper and Lady Gaga sang the song sallow for the move ‘A star is born’, I felt that the song had a more profound meaning. I asked myself whether I am happy in this modern world!

As per the United Nations (UN), “Governance” means the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented or not implemented. The UN has described the good governance with eight characteristics. It is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. We can apply the same framework when we are using social media channels.

1. ‘Participation’, which requires all stakeholders, especially those who are most vulnerable, have direct or representative access to the information that is being shared on social media. This manifests as citizens and a strong civil society with the freedom to express and association.
2. ‘Consensus-Oriented’ means when making a decision, it must show a more in-depth understanding of different social aspects such as cultural, social and historical values. We often see people are posting critics about other religion rather than their religion.
3. ‘Accountability’, which means that whoever posted or shared whatever the content, that person must be held responsible for the action.
4. ‘Transparency’ means that all parties have access to information. All the evidence must be traceable and accessible to everyone. If the evidence cannot revel to the general public, whatever the post should not come to the general public.
5. ‘Responsiveness’ mean how fast we can act if we are to delete, update the content. If some stakeholder of the content wants to update, that must be able to do it in a reasonable timeframe. Not in months or years.
6. ‘Equity and Inclusiveness’ mean all the stakeholders must be equal; there should not be a division based on caste, religion or ethnicity.
7. ‘Effectiveness and Efficiency’, one of the most recognized characteristic of the framework; This means that if we are sharing some content, it should serve the purpose, that covers effectiveness. Content should be efficient, we cannot wast people’s time with rubbish. Whatever our action is, it should be sustainable as our future generation depends on our action.
8. ‘Rule of Law’, which means that the rules and regulations of the constitution, the terms and conditions we agreed, when signing up with social media protect all parties. Further, when we are share or post something, we need to make sure that the post is within the rules of law.

All the social media channels fall into a category called web 3.0, which means that the users generate contents, not the website-owners. When using social media, it is our responsibility to bring good governance. Next time when you post, share or like a post, check whether that post is within the eight characteristics.

PS: This was originally published on IESL Toastmasters 2019/2020 Newsletter by Niraj Appuhamy(CEO/MD IF Solutions)

WordPress

We can categorize websites into two based on its ability to update the content. First is static sites and the second one is dynamic sites. Static websites content cannot be updated unless you know how to edit a webpage using HTML or its coding language. This means unless you are a web developer you will have to contact your developer to update your website in case you want to update contact info or any other info in your website. Second type is the Dynamic websites, these websites allow users to update the website content without getting the support form the developer. Business owner or non-technical people can update the site. This editing has been enabled by the Content Management System or CMS. There are a lot of CMS available on the internet.

Once you contact your website developer and brief the requirement, your developers will suggest what is best for you. At IF Solutions we use WordPress for most dynamic websites. We have done another article for why WordPress. When you have a dynamic website powered by wordpress you can edit 99% of your content without depending on your developer.

Plugins

The dynamic website that is discussed in the first chapter, will have certain limitations such as ability to sell something on the website or ability to collect donations. As you can imagine, all the websites will not need this kind of functionality. Due to that a standard CMS has only the basic functionalities such as showing a webpage, showing a blog post etc. In order to get extended functions developers use plugins. Some plugins are free to use on the website for the lifetime. So plugins are premium and clients will have to purchase it to continue the annual payment to keep the plugin in healthy condition. For example Woocommerce is a free plugin that allows us to sell products on our site.

Libraries

WordPress is a sample CMS that developers use to give the editability access to a website. There are many CMS available.

WooCommerce

Are you looking to sell your products or services on your website? Then WooCommerce is the best & most popular solution. This WooCommerce platform is a free one & perfect for small and medium-sized businesses looking to sell their products or services online. When we talk about customer service, this software also comes with excellent customer service, 24/7 availability, and real-time updates for security issues. It helps your IT developers perfectly.