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8 ways to refresh your website

12/22/202403/05/2021 by scmarketing

Online presence is vital today more than ever and your website should be at the heart of all that you do online. Whether you create social media posts, distribute email marketing or run a PPC campaign, all these digital marketing tactics should lead to one place, your website.

The more links back will help you in search engine results pages. However, you need to take stock and check whether your website is as up to date as you think it should be?

Here’s our tips and quick fixes for an effective website refresh to help engage with visitors and keep them on your website for longer.

1. Is your website easy to navigate?

Check your menu and whether it is easy to navigate. Since you created your website you may have introduced new services and products so does your menu reflect this?

Take a step back and look at your website through the eyes of your target audience, If you find that you reach a few dead ends when you move from page to page now is the time to think about adding in more internal links, calls to action and updating your menu.

2. Review your content, contact details and links

It may sound obvious but is your website content up to date? Does it truly reflect your service offering to your target audience? If you’ve streamlined or added services or products then you need to update your website.

Make sure that all your contact details including social media handles are up to date.

Check that any links you have on your website are working.

3. Add content to a blog

If you already have a blog then great. But when was the last time you added content? A blog or news web page is a great way to add fresh content to your website – which search engines love!

Creating fresh, unique and relevant content for your target audience is a key tactic in any long-term search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy. So, get creating!

It may seem a little daunting at first so stick with what you know and talk about how your products and services can solve a challenge for your target audience. Read more on how to write a blog to help you with your content.

If you don’t already have a blog page you should easily be able to create a new page especially if you have a content managed system (CMS) website.

4. Add new images

Are your images a little dated and impacting on your brand? A simple change of banner images is a quick way to inject colour for a visual refresh. And, adding video content can really help with engagement.

You can purchase stock imagery which is a cost-effective solution and ensures that you adhere to copyright rules (do not use Google images as your source, any images online will all carry copyright and you could incur penalties).

5. Backend updates

A website redesign or refresh is all about attracting potential customers to your website and keeping them on your site for longer. So, your SEO strategy is important to help your business be seen online. With that in mind, make sure that you have completed your meta descriptions, H/H2 headers and alt tags to help with website optimisation.

6. Mobile optimised

If you created your website sometime ago, check that it is mobile optimised. View your website on your smart phone and see how it looks. Is the menu visible and contact forms easy to fill out? A website must be mobile friendly as that’s where a lot of web traffic originates so if your site isn’t mobile friendly it could impact your results in organic search.

7. Update and add calls to action

A bold call to action stands out on your page. It guides a prospect in what to do, whether that’s ‘call’, ‘complete our form’, ‘book a meeting’, ‘sign up to our newsletter’, ‘download our eBook’. All these actions not only aid navigation but encourage website users to engage further by taking action.

8. Free website review

Take advantage of Smart Cow Marketing’s free website review to help you on your road to refreshing your website. If you need a hand fixing any issues talk to us and we can provide a quote for a web refresh or discuss options for a new website design.

Web design Croydon

We provide website design services for local businesses in Croydon and across Greater London helping to create high quality responsive websites as well as online marketing services for lead generation.

We create responsive, optimised, Content Managed System (CMS) websites. This gives a lot of flexibility for future blog uploads through to landing page creations for new products or services.

Does a website need a sitemap?

12/22/202402/24/2021 by scmarketing

A sitemap is created for a website to provide an overview of the website and what can be found on it. Think of it as a road map with sign posts to help search engines find it and therefore help to attract web visitors.

An sitemap is an important factor for ranking your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs) such as Google. This list of all your webpages helps to give access to web crawlers. Ultimately, a sitemap helps navigation around your website for both visitors and search engines.

Sitemaps allow web developers to list links from the website so that both search engines and people can find a website. A sitemap means that pages such as forms or login pages can also be listed therefore helping search engine crawlers find the pages.

Why easy web navigation helps with SEO

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a key success factor in creating a website. In order to optimise your website, you need to start with the foundations of your website including your sitemap.

The two different sitemaps are XML files (for search engine crawlers) and HTML (for people to improve navigation for visitors).

A search engine optimised sitemap provides easy navigation capability. It means visitors (both search engine and human) should be able to find what they need without having to access multiple web pages.

If a website user can access website information easily, then there is more chance that they will revisit, share the website details and recommend your products or services. This sitemap helps to create this user-friendly experience to attract more web traffic.

When should you develop a sitemap

Ideally, a sitemap should be developed at design stage in collaboration with your web developer. A proposal for a website should reference website optimisation and a sitemap should form part of this.

Our blog on web design guidelines can help you create an attractive website, it covers:

What functionality the website should have
Website design considerations
SEO
Website security

Website design Croydon

We’re a web developer and designer based in Croydon. We work with local businesses to develop websites that are optimised. We provide a professional web design service to your specification or we can update your current website. We create CMS platform (content management system) websites as this provides an easy option to upload future content and make changes going forward. Book a consultation.

Why not take advantage of our FREE website review so you can look at ways to optimise your website.

Website design and development is part of our overall digital marketing agency services to help businesses improve online presence. Our services include:- SEO audits, SEO strategy, local SEO, social media, email marketing and Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.

Web design guidelines

12/22/202402/10/2021 by scmarketing

Whether you have a website already or are looking for a web developer to create a brand-new website for you, here’s some of the key considerations to think about to ensure that your website is doing what it should – engaging with visitors and being a lead generator.

1. What functionality should your website have?

A website will be developed to your brief. Therefore, think about what you would like first before you speak to a developer. Look at other websites to see what type of functionality you would prefer. Keep a note of these so you can chat with your chosen web developer about your preferences.

Having a Content Managed System (CMS) gives you the ability to update content yourself once the website is created. Therefore you have the choice to maintain the website yourself or work with a digital marketing agency to manage this for you. A CMS website gives you a lot of flexibility for the future for regular blog uploads through to ad hoc landing page creations for new products or services.

You also need to consider the functionality. Do you need an e-commerce website or will a brochure website be suitable for your requirements?

2. Website design

Now you know the purpose of your website and understand your target audience, you need to ensure that your web design will appeal.

Work with your web designer so that they understand your company values, branding and target audience.

A web developer will usually create a mock design for you on a wire frame – check this out when you ask for a website quote.

This mock design will give you an idea of what the homepage will look like providing you the opportunity to feedback on any likes or dislikes. Sometimes it’s easier to do this once the design is in front of you.

If in doubt, keep your website simple.

Keep colour to a minimum and ensure they are in keeping with your brand. Sometimes the more space on the page the better on the eye.
Keep font consistent across your website and ensure you can read it – there’s some lovely different styles out there but some offer design over functionality!
Use images to help break up space.
Use bold call to actions to encourage website visitors to ‘contact’, ‘get a quote’, ‘download an ebook’.

Above all it’s about ease of navigation, this is where a sitemap comes in.

3. Sitemap

At design stage your web developer can help create the sitemap with you. This will be something you agree at initial stages. The structure of the website hinges on this. Most importantly you need a website that is easy to navigate, easy on the eye – as this helps guide you around the website, and you should always have the purpose at the back of your mind.

4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Establish up front with your web designer what content you already have, whether you need content edited or written from scratch.

Usually content is transferred from the old website. Or you can provide new content at design stage, indicating where copy needs to be placed.

Check with your developer that the website will be optimised and mobile friendly. SEO includes activity such as completing the meta descriptions. alt tags and H1 headings.

As SEO is a long-term strategy, you will need to keep up with adding fresh content to your website with keywords to help it rise in search engine rankings.

Help potential customers find your website with a digital marketing strategy for lead generation. Link building is a key part of this so activity would include adding links into social posts, completing your Google My Business page, inclusion in email marketing with ‘read more’ call to actions with links to your website.

If your website is new you might want to consider a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign as this can help give your site a boost in search engine results pages (SERPS).

5. Security

Get security sorted at early stages such as with an SSL certificate as well as an updated privacy policy. Captcha is another security measure to determine whether users are human which you can add to forms or logins. Captcha helps to prevent bots from accessing these areas.

Website design Croydon

Your digital marketing activity should have a consistent look and feel to help brand awareness and encourage loyalty.

We are a web design company in Croydon. Our digital marketing services include creating bespoke websites for accountants, SEO, social media marketing and PPC for accountants in Surrey.

Further resources for web design and development:

Website design and development key steps

12/22/202411/10/2020 by scmarketing

With the second lockdown in place across England, now is an ideal time to review your website for necessary updates to help potential customers navigate it easily and remind people of your any new services.

We find that most of our clients looking for web design and development already have a website but it’s somewhat out of date, perhaps on an old WordPress website version that could do with some new plugins or complete overhaul. With that in mind, we thought we’d run through the key steps to website design and development so that you know what to ask for from your developer. Even if you are just refreshing your website it will provide you with important tips to consider.

1. Website purpose

Before you embark on creating your website you need to have its main purpose at the back of your mind so that the website can be developed to your requirements and business goals.

Do you just want a brochure website with an overview of services or do you need e-commerce functionality for people to purchase products? Either way, know what you want from the outset to prevent any additional costs at later stages to add functionality.

If you haven’t already established your target audience then now is a good time as this could greatly impact the look and feel of your website. Follow our tips to create an online persona for your business.

2. CMS website

We tend to design websites on a Content Managed System (CMS). This gives you, the business owner, the ability to update content yourself once the website is created.

3. Security

Ensure you have established security at early stages include an SSL certificate as well as an updated privacy policy. A captcha is another security measure to determine whether users are human which you can add to forms or logins. Captcha helps to prevent bots from accessing these areas.

4. Develop your sitemap

Work with your web developer to create a sitemap. Sometimes a suggested map can be included in a proposal if you have already had in depth discussions. However, once you instruct a developer to create your website then the site map will be the first task to agree as the whole structure of the website will be based on this. Your web developer can offer advice on making your website easy to navigate which helps with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

5. Website design

If you’ve followed step one of this process then you will already have established your website purpose. This needs to be communicated with your web designer along with providing an understanding of your company values and branding. This helps a web designer to get a good understanding of your business. Allowing them to create a mock design for you – usually a wire frame. This allows you to see the homepage and perhaps one or two core pages so you can understand how the other pages will look too.

6. Content marketing

It’s not called a Content Managed System (CMS) for the fun of it. Your website needs content. You will need to establish up front with your web designer what content you already have, whether you need content edited or written from scratch. This can impact on the overall cost. Usually content is transferred from the old website or provided. If you need help with this, then make sure you get a quote initially for content including imagery so that you are aware of any additional costs.

7. SEO

Check with your developer that the website will be optimised and mobile friendly. SEO includes activity such as completing the meta descriptions. alt tags and H1 headings.

As SEO is a long-term strategy, you will need to keep up with adding fresh content to your website with keywords to help it rise in search engine rankings.

Just because you will have a new website, you still need to provide signposts to it to help people searching for services to find you. These include adding links into social posts, completing your Google My Business page, communicating with customers via email with website links. This all adds to your awareness. So, if your website is new you might want to consider a PPC campaign to give it a boost in search engine results pages (SERPS).

8. Review your website

You usually get a couple rounds of amends included in a web design quote. So, make sure you spend time reviewing it and flagging anything you think needs amending. Once you approve your website then you may find that any other changes cost money. It all depends what agreement you have in place, so check this up front.

9. Ongoing, maintenance and backups

Once everything is approved and your web developer has tested the functionality then you can go live.

When you get a quote for your website ask about ongoing costs for hosting and technical support. Most web developers will include a fee for weekly backups and updates to plugins. However, you may feel you want more support. So ask what is offered, whether that’s onsite SEO, blog writing or a complete digital marketing package.

Website design Croydon

Remember that the website is the centre of your digital world. Anything you share on social media, through email marketing or in a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign should all link back to your website. Therefore, all digital marketing activity should have a consistent look and feel to help brand awareness and encourage loyalty.

We are a web design company in Croydon. Out digital marketing services include creating bespoke websites for accountants and other businesses, SEO, link building, social media marketing and PPC.

Read more about our web design services and get in touch for a consultation or a free website review.