Episode 89: What to Include on a Website

Episode 89 What to Have on a Website

00:00

Hey y’all, Robert Cairns here. I’m the founder, CEO and Chief Creative, amazing ideas of stunning digital marketing. In today’s podcast, I want to sit down and give you guys some actionable tips on what to do and what not to do on your website. Many people do things on their websites that they shouldn’t do. And frankly, many people do things on their websites that they should do. So I thought I’d put it all in one great podcast for you guys, and share that information with you. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the podcast.

00:43

Hey, guys, Robert Cairns here. Today, I was going to talk about in this podcast, the do’s and don’ts of what you should have on your website. This is really an important episode. And frankly, if you’re in business, I think you need to pay attention. Many people get part of it right? Many people don’t get it right. So let’s dive in. And do a quick look. I know for some of you, you’ve probably heard me say some of this and other podcasts, I get that. And for some of you, this is really going to be new pay attention. Let’s do it right the first time. The first part about the web site equation is your web host truly matters. It’s a big part of your security solution. The type of web host and hosting you get will also impact site speed, site speed is slow, people will leave very simple. We call that a bad user experience. That’s the first signal I’ll get there. The other thing to look at is the two sizes. So it will impact your SEO from Google. So you also need to keep that as well, slow sites don’t rank well on Google. Now, when you’re creating a website, we’ve all heard it, do I do a site or do I not do a slider? Stay away from picture sizes if you can possibly avoid it. Frankly, sliders do not have an impact on SEO that’s positive, they can actually slow your site down, slowing your site down, translates to a bad user experience and an SEO hit. Think about that. And a lot of people like to put sliders right up at the main page of the website. Well, the problem with that is, if you put a slider up a domain page, you’re using prime real estate that could be better off used for other things. So I think what you really need to do is say, Can I use this space better. And if I can, maybe I don’t want a slider. So think about that. Now, we all love to put pictures on our websites. And frankly, you should. One of the rules I adhere to very strongly is keeping my pictures to 100 K or less. And don’t let a plug in like smush it be the one that compresses them. shrink your pictures before you upload them to your website in the first place. And that will help big pictures mean score website. And we’ve talked about what speed matters here. So I don’t think we have to go into that again. atop your website, include your company’s organization, phone number, as well as an email address to contact you. One of the things people really look at is how do I get a hold of a company. And that’s one of the big reasons so make sure that info is front and center. Also make the navigation simple and easy to get around. People want to use websites that are easy to navigate. One of the things we used to do unnecessarily three or four years ago, is we’d put social media icons on top of our website to show off for social. The problem with doing that, frankly, is if you put those icons right at the top people click on them, which takes you off the website. So if you’re going to share social media icons do it we do it stunning digital marketing comm we put our icons in the footer, not above the fold, and that way somebody wants to click off, they’ve already been through the content or scroll down. So think about that. Speed of contact information, let’s talk the mobile version of your site. You should have a call now button as well as directions right away to organizations place of business and make them front and center. 90% of people that search a mobile want to go to a place right away. And frankly, if it’s a case of a restaurant, they want to eat now. So let’s think about that. Let’s make that easy for them to eat now, at your establishment not that competitive. Also, make sure the address and the business hours on your website are up to date and accurate. There’s anything more that’s really pissy is when somebody goes to your organization, you’re closed, or they can find you don’t just go to a competitor and be done. So think about that.

05:25

Now, in the old days, we used to do things like put us a Twitter feed or a Facebook feed on our main page, please don’t do that. People won’t find you on Twitter, they’ll go to Twitter, these external feeds have external CSS and Java calls. And frankly, these calls go out to another site to pull the information and go are actually going to slow your site down by these external calls, which impacts SEO in the user experience. And we’ve already talked about that. Now, messaging, your key messaging needs to be above the scroll. First of all, do not and I do not mean, right, as the business owner, how you want to sell things. Frankly, customers don’t buy features. They buy what they can get out of an item or service, and they actually buy people. So I suggest All of you go over to my good friend, Todd Jones, his website called copy, fight calm and pay for his website copy framework, it will help you frame the copy on your website. And it will really help you frame how you want to write it. So get his framework, it’s a big help. The second suggestion I have is read Simon senex book to start with why. And what this book really talks about, and I’ve talked about on this podcast before, is why the customer needs something. The book is a must read for anybody in marketing. And if you’re working on a website, frankly, you’re in marketing. Also go check out his TED talk on YouTube. Look it up. Now, if you have a bookable service on your website, create a booking system have a bookable link, get your customers to book time with it a couple reasons why. Number one, if they booked a time, they’ll be around an 80 or 90% show up rate, which is good, it’s a win win. Also, it automates the process, and you don’t have to do anything. They don’t have to call you on tire performance and just let them book. On your contact page on your website. If you have a brick and mortar location, always have a map to the location, it really helped find you and frankly is a must in today’s age. Now, let’s talk about reviews. Have a review page on your website. I actually even have a plugin that I run on my WordPress site that imports my reviews from my Google My Business Page GMB page. Consider asking customers for a quick 32nd video testimonial. And I’m going to give you a tip. When you post this, don’t edit them. Don’t brand them. The it will show real testimonials from real people and real customers. Under the hood of your website, always make sure you have Google Analytics installed. This will help you attract visitors to your website, it’s free to set up are really important. And along the same lines and stuff to install, make sure to install what’s called a facebook pixel. What a facebook pixel is is a tracking cookie that sends information back to Facebook, about how and who is on your website. And the reason this is important is Facebook keeps this data for up to a year. And you might never use it. But you might. And here’s what it’s used for. If you go outside to pay for ads on Facebook, retarget visitors to your website, they’ll have a database, or a list of who you can retarget. So think about that. And it makes it well we’re doing also on your website, make sure you have a terms of service and a privacy policy and frankly, a cookie policy, all really good ideas. Now, content on your website. I think every organization should have a blog. It’s something I feel strongly about. I feel as a must. And I feel you need a blog is changing content, which Google likes. It also can be used to show you’re an expert in your field. And this is really important when people are working whether they want to hire you or not. Now, should you leave comments on your new blog. In today’s day and age, I would say no turn them off. Most common things done on social media Five years ago, I would actually set with a month. The other problem with leaving comments on I truly believe most comments in today’s day and age are actually spam comments and you spend all your time as a website owner moderating spam and that’s not really a good thing.

10:22

Really that’s all the tips for today. I hope you found them helpful and handy and I hope these tips help you. If you need any help, please feel free to reach out to me at VIP at stunning digital marketing comm as always, you can check out our website is studying digital marketing comm on our website, you can find links to this to social media, as well as this podcast SDM show. Feel free to follow me on twitter at Rob Cairns. If you want to make a phone call, we do still take phone calls that legendary system please call us at 416-624-7647 Please keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. Make your business succeed.