If you're planning on launching a new business website there are a lot of considerations that should be made before you think about commissioning a web designer. The number one mistake people make is to consider SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) as an afterthought. SEO should be prioritized right from the start and should be a key element of the brief to your chosen designer. Pre-development SEO issues include:
Choosing a domain
Many people are wary of the perceived "Google sandbox effect". The theory goes that brand new domains are potentially "on hold" from ranking on Google until they have established trust and quality backlinks. Although this is still very much open to debate and opinion; new website owners should not worry themselves with this issue too much. Instead, energies would be much better invested in areas such as keyword research, competitor analysis and content strategy. Keyword research, in particular, could help you to make an informed choice on your domain name. For example, let's say you're planning on setting up a cleaning business in Cambridge. The first step you should take is to use a keyword research tool, such as Wordtracker, to investigate the phrases people use to look for cleaning companies. You might discover that there is a relatively large volume of people searching on the term "Cleaning Company Cambridge". Should this be the case it would be worth finding out if the domain cleaningcompanycambridge.com is available. Using a domain name that integrates one of your main target key-phrases will often help you to rank in the search engines on that particular term.
Keyword research
Don't worry too much if you can't secure the specific domain name you are after. If your website is engineered correctly, you should be able to generate pages that integrate your chosen keywords into the URL structure. The important thing is to know which keywords you're going to target before you brief your designer. Your designer should then build your site with both these keywords in mind and the flexibility to add more pages further down the line. What you don't want is a website navigation scheme that severely limits your ability to add new content aimed at targeting new keywords.
Competitor analysis
Finding out how many other businesses are targeting the same keywords is also a crucial consideration before you go ahead and design your website. Assuming that you will be able to rank on the term "Cleaning Business", for example, could be a costly mistake if you suddenly realise post-development that this is an already saturated market. You should also use either SEO software or an experienced SEO consultant to look at factors such as your competitors' domain and website age, inbound links and content. If you discover an abundance of established websites with great quality content then be prepared for the long haul if you wish to rank well on similar terms to these sites.
Content strategy
The fundamental mistake people make when planning new websites is to assume that the content can be written, uploaded and then left to sell itself. Content for new websites needs to be dynamic, interactive and consistently developed. This is because search engines love new content. Websites that are effectively static "info" pages, left for long periods of time without any changes, will not perform as well in the search engines as websites that provide a constant flow of fresh, original and genuinely useful content. The key is to put in place a strategy for making your site the authoritative voice on your sector or subject. Key considerations include: developing the volume of pages on your site over specific timeframes; integrating a blog into your website; creating a social media strategy to engage your site content with the wider web; syndicating useful content across third party sites and considering other marketing methods such as viral to spread the word about your new content.
Site design
Once you've established your target keywords, analysed the competition and thought through your plan for content generation you are pretty much ready to start writing the brief for your designer. The crucial step, however, is to find a designer who knows how to build search engine friendly websites. Web design is now a thoroughly saturated market itself, and many designers offer the Earth for next to no money. Be very careful when opting for cheap web design. Make sure you ask lots of questions about the functionality and flexibility of the navigation scheme they are proposing. Ensure that they integrate a search friendly Content Management System in order to allow you greater control over your web development. Low budget business planners should consider commissioning a designer to create a custom WordPress theme. WordPress is built to be search engine friendly and a good designer will be able to create a great, commercial looking website using this technology. The added bonus of an already built-in blog will give you a head-start on the content strategy front.
Create a great experience for the user
Targeting specific keywords is a perfectly legitimate exercise but never forget your end user. Poorly written web copy that is optimised well for the search engines might impress Google's algorithm for a while but if it doesn't impress your website visitors you won't rank well for long. Your website should always have your users' and potential customers' best interests at heart. The key is to engage your website visitor to explore as much of your content as possible. If your site has a high bounce rate (people clicking off without exploring beyond the landing page they arrive at), your site could be flagged up as a low quality. Therefore you need to entice your visitors to explore as much as possible. Offer tips, advice, news, offers and, again, genuinely useful content. Encourage your users to share their opinions, comment on your content and recommend your site to their friends. Place a lot of consideration into the look, feel and style of your site. Employing a brand consultant can be expensive but can have a huge benefit in the long term. Establishing your brand is all about setting out your stall, appealing directly to your market and ensuring that you convey the most appropriate and professional looking image.
Launching your site
Following these steps you should now be at the point where you have a great looking, quality website featuring an abundance of informative and useful content. Now comes the tricky and on-going process of developing traffic. A user focused link building strategy is paramount but time consuming. You may wish to employ a link building consultant, however, be very wary of purchasing cheap links from an SEO provider. Modern link building strategies should always bear the end user in mind and links to your site should be on-topic and relevant. Instant traffic can be generated initially through paid search advertising and, so long as your content is of a high standard, can also help you to build natural links. Offline promotions combined with online PR and advertising should also be considered. Finally, don't forget to offer a subscribe option to your users. You need to build loyalty and trust and a growing database will help you to continually keep your users' and customers' up to date.
JHM is a specialist Small Business SEO company based in Brighton.
