How to improve your website
How to improve your website and the pitfalls many unwittingly fall into.
Key points to improve your website:
- Make sure your website is mobile friendly
- Use hosting that provides HTTPS
- Optimise your images for quick loading
- Take time to develop meaningful and helpful content
- Give you images accurate ALT text
- ensure you backup your website daily
Design of your website
Everybody loves a well-designed website but what makes a website well-designed?
One of the biggest problems we encounter is when a client is too “self-indulgent”. What we mean by this is just because your favourite colour is purple don’t go out and make your website reflect this just because you like it.
What would your customers expect to see?
Think about your audience and any expectations they may have. Make sure you look at your competition well and try to get a feel for what works best.
Font size is also significant. Make sure your base font is big enough to read easily. Check the contrast too and try to avoid using a medium to light grey on white background however nice you may think it looks.
Website usability is key and above all be objective and not self-indulgent!
Mobile friendly websites
It goes without saying that your website must be mobile-friendly. More and more people are using their mobiles to find products and services than ever before. Google will also consider this and penalise you if you’re not complying. Small text or clickable elements too close together make for a difficult-to-use website.
Website navigation
One of the biggest issues we come across is when the text is too small or the key areas of the website are not easily accessible. Consider creating image-based portals allowing easy access to the key areas of your website with 1 click of the mouse.
Cheap hosting equals a slow-loading website
Website speed is important. People not only expect your site to load quickly, but Google is now penalising slow-loading sites, especially on mobile devices.
A half-page width image should only need to be 600px wide. Use JPG format and avoid PNGs where possible.
Content
Content really is King but is often the most under-invested area. You absolutely must have great content that’s clear and informative.
A great content-rich page should be made up of at least 300 words or more and have some stunning images which are appropriate to the accompanying text. Writing 30 to 100 words is not good enough.
Website support and maintenance package
A good website support service is invaluable and takes care of everything allowing you to focus on your business. DoodleIT provides ongoing website support and takes care of all the updates and security issues for you. Find out about our web design North Wales service here.