Design your website for your visitors

Your site needs to look professional and give your visitor confidence that you know what you’re doing.

Good design allows your web visitors to find what they want quickly

That’s why good website design is essential – not just how pretty it is but getting the right information to the visitor that they want immediately. Design is about functionality, logical navigation and useability. Make it easy for your visitors to see what they want from you. And it does need to look good and reflect your target market values.

Make sure your visitors know where they are

Consistency of content across your website is vital.

When your web visitors land on any page (and with great SEO, the first page is often a product or service page, blog article or other page), they need to know within seconds where they are and what that page is about.

For example, if you have product pages, they should all look like your product pages. You’d be surprised how many websites do not follow this rule – and pay the price with visitors going elsewhere.

Be specific with your call to action

If you want your web visitors to call, make it easy for them

What is it you want your web visitors to do? Buy your product, request a quote, call you, sign up for enews, request a brochure – these are just some of the calls to action that businesses need to include on their websites.

Sometimes it is strategic to give visitors options: ask for a brochure, request a quote, email or call. It can be beneficial to have your main call to action on your header so that no matter what page the visitor is on, they can easily find what you want them to do.

In the case of purchasing services or products online, the buy button needs to be on the product pages and be easily found.

Include secondary calls to action

This may be as simple as including ‘Request a quote’ or adding a Facebook ‘Like’ icon. In the case of ecommerce, a wish list button will enable visitors to come back and purchase items they like.

Make it easy to contact or buy

If the goal is for visitors to email you, give them the option on every page

Whether you have an ecommerce website and you want your visitors to buy product or you want your web visitors to take the next step and contact you, make it easy for them to do so.

Simple checkout systems with one page completion before buying is ideal. The checkout page has a high abandonment rate (this is known). Simplicity is the key as is security. Make sure your checkout is secure and give purchase options such as a credit card gateway and PayPal as the minimum.

Add a value proposition

What’s in it for the web visitor? This is a question that your website needs to address.

Get a free download of ‘something that your visitors want’. Test reducing the prices of your products. Add a free bonus gift with a purchase.

All these things can add value and help to convince your visitors that you are the business they want to use.

Give visitors something free such as a free download

Help, help, sell is a good proposition to keep in mind for your website. Don’t be afraid to give some things away.

It’s a moveable feast

Your website is never finished so be prepared to keep working at improving your website. Use Google Analytics to find out which pages are working. Find out how to write good quality, key word content to improve your search engine optimization. Add an interactive element. Change the homepage content.

Revise, refine and rewrite if you have to. Be patient and listen to your visitors/customers.

Last Tip:

Add Facebook's Like and other social icons on your website

Don’t forget social media that allows your web visitors to stay in contact with you even when they don’t come to your website. With millions of people using Facebook every day and checking in on their Facebook page, make sure they like your website so you can stay in touch with them and convert to your customers.

Follow these steps to successfully converting web visitors to web customers.

Bold Type can help design and develop a truly excellent website that will deliver more visitors and more conversions to customers.

We can also help build your search engine optimisation, write web copy and ensure your website is seen by your targeted audience.

Contact Bold Type today for a free quote.

Call Sue Stevens today on 0410 037 635.

Keep improving your website to maintain your success converting visitors to customers

What is search engine ranking?

Google is the biggest search engine so it's important to aim for a high Google page ranking

Search engine ranking is the value that the big search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing, ascribe to a website.

Search engines constantly index websites on the Internet so that when someone types in a search term, the search engine can find the most appropriate websites and put them on page one of the search list or SERP (search engine results page).

What do search engines look for when ranking your website?

There are two primary elements to indexing pages:

1. content on your website
2. who is linking to your site.

Indexing content on your website

Search engine ‘bots‘ are constantly trawling the Internet (and your website) looking for relevant information for any search term. The bots look at topics on your website and read the back-end code for title tags, description tags and other clues as to what each webpage on your website is about.

It might be considered a cliche, but content is king when it comes to search engine ranking

This means how you write your content and how you write your metatags to match that content is vital. Each webpage should have its own topic and focus with some keywords that give ‘bots’ the clue to what the page is about.

Be specific and write for a human audience. If you write only to improve SEO (search engine optimization), chances are you will overshoot the optimum keyword density.

Adding content regularly is also important – at least one webpage a week. Having a blog or news section on your website enables you to write one story or webpage about a particular topic relevant to your business, products or services.

Make sure each article has a clear topic and stay focused on that topic. There are no easy shortcuts to improving your ranking. Good content that is clear, concise and stays on topic is a sure winner.

Read more about how to write content for your website.

Who is linking to your website?

Inbound links are a clear indicator to the search engine ‘bots’ of the authority of your website in a particular field. It is not just the number of inbound links, it’s the significance of the website that is linking to you.

Build the number of websites linking to your website to improve your search engine ranking

Another issue is the anchor text used on the other website. Do not link your URL, your website name. Rather, use some relevant keywords that are the anchor for the link.

‘Web Development Sydney’ is excellent anchor text if this is what you do and where your office is. Create the link to a particular webpage on your website that is about web development rather than to your homepage.

Note: internal links on your webpages to other webpages on your website should also link from relevant anchor text. This shows search engines that the page you are linking to is about the keyword or phrase you used as your anchor text.

At Bold Type, we help business people to understand how to optimize their websites, how to write appropriate content, build inbound links and network with social media.

Our aim is to empower people so that they can improve their Google ranking, get more targetted web visitors and build their businesses.

Check your inbound web links free @ W3C, the web standards organisation.

How is your website ranking?

Here’s a simple test. Search for the keywords that best describes your business. Type in the geographic location if this is relevant. Is your website showing on page one of Google? You can get there and Bold Type can help you.

Contact Bold Type today for a free evaluation of your website.

Before you start writing for the web

Searching keywords using the Google Keyword Tool

Go to Google Keyword Tool and search different keywords that relate to the information on the webpage you are writing. For this article, I searched:

• keyword content
• SEO relevant
• SEO web content

From this I found that SEO Tips ranks highly as does web content. Keep in mind that it is best to try to be as specific as possible so I finally settled on:

1. SEO Tips for Web Content Writers

This heading should rank more highly on Google and attract more readers – that’s the plan, anyhow.

Keyword Focused Content

Make sure to add variations to the keywords for this webpage in headings and body text

Each webpage should have its own list of keywords that you are targeting: don’t get distracted; keep to the point and keyword focused for that webpage.

Keywords in Headings

Make use of headings: H1 and H2 are the main ones to focus on even though many websites drill down to H5 or H6. Use keywords that you have identified as relevant in each of your headings. The title tag (see below) should have the primary keywords and H1 and H2s variations of the keywords.

Title Tag

The title tag is the main heading of the webpage that often goes unrecognised by web visitors but is vital for SEO ranking.

Use your best keywords for the Title Tag of your webpage

Use your best keywords here. Some websites also allow you to add a descriptive tag text. WordPress, for example, has an SEO All In One plugin for this which is brilliant.

What you write in the descriptive tag appears on the Google search

The Descriptive Text Tag is what appears on the search under the main heading so it’s important to include keywords from the webpage here in a natural flow (no more than 160 characters).

Bold Keywords

Make keywords bold using the B in WYSIWYG in the body of the text. Bold or ‘strong’ text in the body of the webpage content is a good idea. Best to use bold text at the top of the page to maximise SEO benefits.

Body Text with SEO Keywords

Use variations of your keywords in the body of your text but make sure that it reads naturally. Don’t overdo this. For example, SEO Tips can be used as tips for SEO, tips for search engine optimisation (English spelling) or search engine optimization (US spelling).

Variations of the keywords creates a more natural flow and is still beneficial as Google now recognises the relationships between different words.

Linking Keyword Text

When linking text on your webpage, try to link meaningful keywords. For example, it’s best to link Read More SEO Tips and link to another page on your website rather than ‘Click Here’ which means nothing to search engine robots.

For external links, again use the term such as Google Keywords Tool as a link rather than words such as ‘Click Here’.

Image ALT text

Adding ALT text on your images is very important for SEO

When using images on your webpage, make sure that you add ALT text which is the text that is ‘readable’ by blind people. Google wants us to develop websites that are inclusive of all people. ALT text is not only the right thing to do, Google sees it as the right thing to do.

Read more about this in the web glossary under ALT text and W3C guidelines.

Relevant, meaningful content

Write content that your prospective web visitors want to read.

'How to' webpages, news and blog articles are a great way to engage web savvy readers

It might be a ‘how to’ webpage or article that is relevant to your area. ‘How to use Google Keyword Tool’ would be an example of a web article that has relevance to my web visitors.

Newsworthy stories or webpages are excellent for going viral and getting links back to your webpage. With a Facebook Like icon on your webpage, you’ll have a better chance of achieving viral-ity!

Research information and write about it. If you are a sportswear supplier, information on the superior fabrics you use and how they will perform for your customers is valuable information that some people rely on before making a decision.

By giving factual information, you are also showing that you know your product.

Giving information in this way subscribes to what a good website does: help, help, sell. You need the help, help online to get to the sell.

Adding humour into your web writing

Have a bit of fun. Use some humour. It doesn’t work for all businesses but a little humour goes a long way to keeping the reader’s attention.

Edit and Proofread Your Writing

Before posting your writing to your website, make sure you edit and proofread your text

Before you post your web content page or article, edit your writing to make sure it has a natural flow and reads well. Too many keywords that you keep repeating is boring and will turn people off. Proofread your work or get someone else to proofread it for you. Editing and proofreading can make a world of difference.

Looking after the finer details gives you more credibility. There is nothing worse than spelling errors that disrupt a reader’s attention.

A pet hate – use the apostrophe properly

Even some of the biggest companies in the world use the apostrophe on FAQs so that it is FAQ’s – this apostrophe is wrong! Apostrophe is only used when something belongs to something else. Susie’s red dress but never for a noun such as FAQs which is simply the plural of FAQ. Read more about this unforgivable grammatical error on my Bold Type Blog.

Get into social media

Add Facebook and other social media codes to your webpages to make it easy for people to share your content with others.

Ranking well on Google can dish up the world for your business

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – that is getting your website showing on page one of Google for keywords that are specific to your industry – is not easy even when you really work at it and have all your webpages set up to improve SEO.

If you don’t have your website functioning to improve SEO, then your website just won’t make the grade.

So what are the mistakes in a website that stop a website performing at its SEO best?

Incorrect page tags

The biggest mistake is that the webpages do not have their own SEO title and description tags. Tags are the words that appear at the top of a webpage and they are what helps Google to rank the page. Having the name of your business on every page as the title tag is not going to work. Each page needs to have it’s own title tag (and descriptive tag) for the particular content on that page.

Worse still, some websites have no tags at all. No tags, no ranking.

No internal webpage links

Links are important for every website. Internal links from your own webpages to other webpages are excellent as Google follows the links and ranks your individual pages accordingly. PageRank (the Google value of a particular web page) is passed on through links.

It’s a big error not to link webpages on a website to each other. One of the biggest mistakes website owners make is not linking their web pages effectively between one another. In addition, the actual text you link is important. ‘Click here’ is a no no!

Better to link to ‘Contact [name of business]’ or ‘Contact us about [name of product or service]’ Failure to link correctly between your own webpages will result in a significant loss in SEO value.

No human sitemap

A human sitemap is one that lists all the webpages on the website and is readable by humans. It’s an easy thing to add to a website especially if you are building a new website for your business (or rebuilding an old one).

So easy to do and not having one will cost you in terms of SEO ranking.

Duplicated content

Duplicate content can occur a number of different ways. Firstly, you might have copied text from one page to another. It might be that two or more products have the same text for the product information. This might be wording provided by the manufacturer.

Best to make sure that every has something different: heading, introductory text, text for images and so forth.

Google does not like duplicated text because if Google robots can’t differentiate one page from another, the end result is that your pages will not rank well.

Using Flash on your website

Still today in 2011 I hear people saying that they love Flash and want to include it in their website. Wrong!

Yes, it’s true that Google robots are starting to read and index Flash content, however it’s also true that Flash websites do not rank well for important keyword phrases. Why use Flash if it is not going to assist your search engine ranking? Worse, it will inhibit your ranking.

The good news!

Google ranks pages, not websites.

For SEO, you need to focus on each and every page on your website. Each webpage needs to be developed with content that will improve it’s SEO. If you do this, you’ll find your website will be ranked highly and you’ll get the business over your competitors.

And lastly, size is important to Google. Big is good. The more pages you have with good content about your business and industry – pages that are tagged properly and have good keyword spread– the better for your website and ultimately, for your business.

Contact us for a free SEO analysis of your website.

Read more about making your website SEO friendly.

Five top tips for getting more web users to find your business on Google

1. Build and post web content regularly

Build content on your website and webpages that provides information to your target market. A site that continues to post more relevant information each month will continue to rank highly.

2. Make sure your content is well written and specific

Post well-written, specific content on each of your webpages. This will ensure that all your webpages have good content that help search engines to index your pages. It is likely that at least half of your NEW web visitors will come from search engines so ranking highly will help drive new business.

3. Link sub-level pages to higher-level web pages

Have links on your sub-level webpages back to the top level pages on your website. This means web users who find you because your sub-level pages have ranked highly will be able to navigate back to higher level pages. Good navigation will keep web visitors on your website longer. This is seen as very favourable by Google and other search engines.

4. Make sure the file name is correct when you create your content

Make sure you have an appropriate file name when you produce the page and avoid changing file names (URL for a webpage). If you change a file name for a webpage and links are coming in to the previously named page, web users will the 404 error page rather than the page on your website. Remember that many social networking sites, web directories and search engines will contain links to the original file name (not just homepage). You want web visitors to find your page easily.

5. Metatag your webpages correctly

Metatag your webpages to match the content and text you have on each page. Metatagging needs to reflect that webpage content. If you do this properly, the more likely web users are to find your website over your competitors.

Want to improve your website’s ranking on Google? Bold Type has a track record of increasing clients’ Google ranking so contact us about improving your ranking on Google today.

Websites that are in continuous motion stay alive – the same is true of sharks

A website is a bit like a shark, it has to keep moving to stay alive!

Businesses that are serious about their website working for them to increase business realize that they need their website to be dynamic rather than static.

By dynamic, we mean that you have to keep working on your website, posting new information and news about your product or service.

Getting a website built and letting it ‘sit’ hoping to get potential customers doesn’t cut it. Such websites will surely die. Smart business operators keep their websites alive by posting the right type of information that registers with search engines and helps potential customers find their websites and not the competition.

An example of a website in continuous motion

Captivations, a custom sports uniform and accessory business in Australia, is a company that wants their website to work for them 24/7 and to deliver results.

Since Bold Type built their website in 2010, Captivations has more than quadrupled the visits to their website which has reflected in a dramatic increase in business.

During and directly after the build, the owner, Ben Beard, decided he wanted to know how search engine optimization works and, with the help of the Bold Type team, we now work together to get the best SEO results for the Captivations website.

And because Ben wants to work on his business, he has commissioned Bold Type to write online content: news for the website, enewsletters and content for social media networks and key online directories.

How does SEO translate to increased business?

Captivations comes up no 1 position on page one of Google for the world. Click to enlarge image.

Recently on a trip to Canada, key words ‘netball uniforms and bodysuits’ was searched on Google worldwide – yes, that’s worldwide competition!

Captivations came up sixth on page one of Google for the world. For ‘netball bodysuits’ they came up no. 1 position on page one of Google – yes, no. 1, page one Google.

Not only is their SEO strong in Australia, Captivations is ranking highly around the world. That’s good news for the expansion of their business and for overseas customers who can now access a new source of netball uniforms.

Page one of Google is the goal

Being on page one of Google (and other search engines) means that your website gets visited and not your competitors who may not even make the first ten pages of search results.

To get great SEO, you need to think of the shark – in continuous movement, being dynamic and staying alive.

A website needs to keep evolving to stay on top of the competition

If we use Captivations again as an example, they think about and implement improvements to their website – all the time! The company regularly updates the homepage, revises content, and adds new pages. Recently they added ‘example design’ pages for custom netball uniforms to enable visitors to see what they can expect when ordering. The plan is to roll the ‘design example’ feature out across their range of custom sportswear for other sporting codes.

Not only do their visitors benefit from seeing what they get when ordering, but search engines can see that this business is one that means business – and the website continually ranks highly when people search for their products.

Make your website like a shark

You need to devote time to your website every week. A website needs to interact with clients so you need to create a dialogue and keep it going. News pages about your products, the industry and related fields helps keep your customers informed. Customers also need to speak to you so having well positioned contact forms, contact telephone numbers and feedback loops is important.

Making sure that your website continues to grow and deliver information is a significant part of having a very successful website. Design, easy navigation around the website, simple coding behind the scenes are other issues that we will address in the future.

Bold Type is proud to work with the Captivations team to get such great results for their business. We can do the same for your business. Contact us today.

Keep moving and stay alive!

Bold Type wishes all our clients a successful and prosperous 2011

It’s nearly 2011. Forget all the new year’s resolutions that you’ll make and break – it’s time to make the decision to do whatever it takes to make your website work at its maximum potential and earn you more money. To do that you need to aim for page one for Google searches for the goods and/or services you provide.

However, getting to and staying on page one of Google is an ongoing process. Savvy website owners know this and continually add content and update information on their websites and on related Internet directories and social media sites.

There is no doubt that the Internet has had a great impact on people’s lives. It’s how people find things – and with mobile devices such as the iPhone 4 providing super fast access, it’s easier than ever.

Because of this shift from analogue (phone books) to digital searches on the Internet, the Internet has the potential to significantly improve the bottom line for small business owners. In fact, the Internet allows small businesses to compete with larger companies for a bigger slice of the Internet customer pie.

Your business needs to have a strong Internet presence

Business owners who are continually improving their websites are getting a huge advantage over their competitors with this new growth market: the Internet shopper.

But just as every successful business has always had to keep up with advertising and marketing trends, Internet savvy business owners are modifying their websites regularly so that their website is accessed by Internet shoppers over their competitors.

‘We quadrupled the number of targeted visitors to our website with Bold Type’s support. And our enquiry rate has gone up substantially as have orders that have come from our website enquiries.’
Ben Beard, Captivations

Make your website improvement your no. 1 new year’s eve resolution

Smart business owners update, reskin or rebuild their websites at least every five years – at the very least. And with CMS-built websites built using programs such as WordPress, it’s easy to continually update websites to ensure a high Google ranking.

An outdated website (or worse, no website at all) is not going to be effective in today’s Google-centric Internet world. A business’s website needs to be the centerpiece of their online presence which incorporates effective Internet marketing strategies including free (and paid) search engine optimization (SEO).

Bold Type build websites for small and medium businesses using WordPress – voted no. 1 open-source website content management system in 2009. We also consult on search engine optimization, write content and news items for your website, can improve your overall Internet performance and help manage your email marketing – all of which help make your business more profitable.

Related website development articles

Websites need to capture the essence of your business

Read some articles on the importance of search engine optimization

Contact Bold Type today to find out how we can help you make more money from your website.

News article about moving house written by Bold Type for Liza McKilliam's real estate website

When writing for the web – indeed, for any particular website – it’s important to consider what will interest the visitors to that website. For those interested in buying and selling homes, moving house is inevitable. That’s why a recent article written by Bold Type for Liza McKilliam’s real estate website is all about moving house.

It’s apparently true that 43 per cent of households in Australia have moved at least once in the last five years and 49 per cent had moved more than three times so, for many Australians, finding out how to take the stress out of moving is of interest.

Writing content for the web for different businesses is one of the services we offer at Bold Type. We can also manage your Email Marketing System, writing and sending regular emails to clients.

Contact Bold Type to discuss how we can help you.

Visit Liza McKilliam’s real estate website – a website designed and developed by Bold Type.

Clear writing is essential for webpage content

Writing content on a webpage? Check your text against these 12 tips.

1. Content needs to be clear, concise and easy to read – that’s it.
2. Headings and sub-headings need to be clear and mean something – avoid puns and other attempts at humour and forget clever – just make sure that headings explain the text that follows.
3. More important information should be at the top of the page.
4. Use simple sentence structures. More full stops rather than lots of connective words in any sentence. That’s it. You’ve got it.
5. Paragraphs should also be concise – try to limit to 50 words.
6. As with any good writing – one paragraph, one concept.
7. Think about the fold line on a webpage. Keeping content above the fold line avoids having to scroll down, down, down.
8. Bullet point lists should be used – short, concise, easy to read (see no. 2)
9. Include keywords and phrases and keep the content on the page focused on the main topic (don’t introduce five different topics on the one page unless it’s a landing page linking to other pages).
10. Here’s another thing: add links to other webpages that relate to the same subject matter.
11. Direct the language to the user. Write about features and benefits to the audience. Avoid brag-speak but keep it conversational.
12. Add an image or two to break up text into easy to find ‘chunks’.

More articles about creating websites

Make your website work for you

Writing news for the web

Writing for the web – it helps to have the right equipment

Adding content to a website on a regular basis is not just about writing any old stuff as we sometimes see on Facebook and Twitter. If you are a business, the content should be about your niche market and appeal to the people you want to attract as customers. It should also be focused on one aspect of the business.

If the new webpage of content is about, say, ‘writing for the web’, stick to the topic. Adding content on that page that is about other things will do you no favours in terms of search engine optimisation.

Google searching robots become confused if they can’t get a handle on what the webpage is about. And your audience will probably turn off too.

A ‘news’ section on your website is good for business

Having a news section on your website allows you to highlight aspects of your business, write about special deals, talk about new products and services and give your clients the latest industry news. Websites that are current and have content added regularly are perceived as influential. Companies that have dynamic websites are perceived themselves as dynamic companies of influence.

While you focus on business, we can write content for your website

Bold Type writes news updates and other web content for our clients. While Bold-Type websites are easy to use (add and modify content), some clients want to focus on what they do best – manage their business – so they outsource the writing and editing to us. Regularly added new web content improves the website and helps improve the site’s search engine rankings. This means more visitors and more potential clients coming from the Internet.

Read about the 12 tips for writing great web content.