Your website is the main hub for your business. It is the place where most folks will find you, and it is the place where you will provide myriad pages of information. A business’ website is its central point from which all its other operations stem. You can see why a website is so important. It is one of the most versatile tools a business has at its disposal in the twenty-first century.
As you can imagine, having a great-looking website is hugely important. Having a smooth-running website is just as important. A lot goes on behind-the-scenes to make sure the front end of the website looks good.
We’ve been discussing in recent blogs about the importance of paying attention to the details in every aspect of your business. Your website is no different. In fact, there are so many places in your website where the details matter that this blog will only scratch the surface; but we hope that this blog fosters your analytical thought process to look closer at your website.
The Copy Matters
One thing that shall appear in great multitudes across your website is text. It is everywhere. Even if you don’t (or won’t) use many long paragraphs or lengthy descriptions, copy still populates your webpages.
Think about it: the dropdown menus, navigation tools, address, slogans, and more all use copy. The copy you use matters. Well-written copy communicated succinctly to your audience. It will begin a conversation with them that will, if done effectively, lead to sales and growth for your company.
But what should you be looking at? For starters, you should look at the wording you are using on your website. You need to look at the grammar, the syntax, and all the technical aspects of your copy, too. For example, how does the copy visually look?
If you have pages that have extensive use of copy ask yourself: “How is the layout of this copy?” A “wall of text” is a terrible thing for any webpage: it will overwhelm your audience.
The trick is to visually break up the text. The simplest way is to simply break your paragraphs down into much smaller paragraphs. Keep each paragraph to only a few sentences. Whitespace is your friend. Remember that.
Another way to break up your text is to include photographs, videos, or other media. Make sure it is complimentary to the text. This method will keep your audience engaged while also sharing more information with them.
As we will touch on later in this blog, the backend of what we see is just as important as these customer-facing elements. SEO is a major part of your website. While an entire blog (or possibly even blog series) could be dedicated to SEO, we will briefly touch on it here.
You want people to read your content and your website. The trick is to optimize your content for search engines to find and present to your customers. In short: editing your content to show up on Google on the first page. Pick a keyword and edit accordingly.
There are plugins for websites that help you keep track of this information. Your keyword will show up in various spots, but the key is to make it seamless. Like a good edit in a film, your readers shouldn’t notice the keyword within the content you are presenting.
The “Flow” of the Website
Speaking of visual components of a website: pay attention to how your website “flows.” There are several things to pay attention to. We already discussed the copy, but what else should you look at?
Details are important. They can be big or small. You’ll probably find more small tweaks than big ones, and they are equally as important. When looking at the flow of your website consider all the visual components—and we mean all.
Here are a few things you should be looking at:
- Color: How does the colors on your website complement each other. Moreover, how do they complement your brand and your brand’s story?
- Logos: Do you use logos on your website? Where are they located? The placement of your logo (and icons) is important. A poorly misplaced logo or icon could get lost across your website. Remember, most people probably won’t make it down to the footer of your website. Use this to your advantage. Put the most important information near the header of your website.
- Variety of Media: What media are you using? Are you only using text? Video? Photography? Mix it up. Having a good variety will keep your audience engaged and more likely to “click around.”
- Organization: Is your website too “noisy”? Rather, is it too busy and confusing? Keep it organized and keep it simple. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience.
Of course, this just scratches the surface. The main takeaway is that you need to pay attention to everything on your website. You want everything to work in harmony, not only with each other but with your brand and your messaging. You want to communicate a strong, unified message to your audience.
Behind the Curtain
When we go to see a play, we enjoy the performances on stage a lot more than what happens behind the scenes right? Even though everything that we’ve talked about in this blog so far is the flashier and most customer-facing details of a website, what goes on behind the curtain is just as important: even if most of your customers will never see it.
Backend Details of Your Website
Semantic Markups
So, what is semantic markup? In short, it is using a markup language, such as the HTML of your site, to provide meaning, syntax, and structure to the elements on your site that are readable by computers and people.
Why is this important? When done correctly, HTML is used for its intended purpose, which is to provide meaning and structure to your site. While it was used in the past to style websites before the creation of CSS and Javascript, it was never intended for that purpose.
When our markup is not semantic it is not as easily read by machines such as search engine crawlers, browser translation tools, and assistive technologies such as screen readers. If it’s harder to read then our sites don’t show up in search results as often and we miss opportunities by having our information easily read by users of assistive technologies. If we want to capitalize on the opportunities presented by getting our information to as many people as possible, it cannot be understated how important semantics are to your site.
SEO
There are other areas where the SEO can be improved in the small details behind the curtain. The important thing to remember is that there is a lot more going on with a website than what meets the eye. Search engine crawlers reward sites that provide information that users are looking for in efficient and relevant ways.
Search engines like Google are on a mission to provide us with the best search results when we are looking for information. The way to get selected by search engines when the search happens by the user is to follow the advice that we have in this blog.
Everything, from keyword-rich copy, to semantic markup on the backend (to ensure accessibility to all machines and people), to relevant content that people want to access, goes into the complicated equation that computes what sites get shown to users when they are searching for information. We want our sites to be seen. So, everything that we can do to improve our odds is worth the attention to detail.