Make it simple, but significant. – Don Draper
Building your brand requires strong design and continuous work in all aspects of your business. Are your logo and brand cohesive? Does it speak loudly about who you are? Your online presence should reflect the time, effort, and investment you have put into your brand. Strong design is essential in making sure you are not only driving a flood of people to your doors (both IRL and URL) but creating an experience that pushes this visitor to action.
Converting lookers into buyers is going to depend on their user experience (UX). How quickly and easily did they find you and did they find exactly what they need to take an action (purchase)? Multiple conversion points, load speed, mobile responsive design, and the ability to database mine are all vital aspects to a good UX.
Tracking and analyzing data from your site and other digital channels means you get an accurate look into how your business is being affected by search results, your marketing, and advertising efforts, and your social media strategy. Yes, many folks can build your website, but make sure they are also adding analytics tools so you can understand how your business grows – and where those opportunities live.
Additional factors include security, domain name, third-party integrations, content management systems, and maintenance. Imagine your website is like a new vehicle. All the factors that go into owning and operating a new vehicle, as well as keeping it running, is like owning and operating a website. Don’t forget the insurance!
Whether you maintain the website yourself or hire an agency for that service, it’s imperative the site gets – at a minimum – a monthly inspection. Here are some of the tasks related to proper website maintenance:
- Updating plug-ins or API upgrades and changes
- Backup files for your site
- Checking for any hacked code or backdoors
- Updating core files i.e.: WordPress
- Keeping themes up to date
- Loading pixels or other code to the site for paid campaigns
- Adding or changing content
- Content inclusion that helps with SEO like backlink profiles or social signals
- Reporting monthly on analytics for proper insight into your marketing efforts
Paying attention to what is happening in the world of digital marketing and advertising can mean the difference between success and failure. For example, third-party cookies are being phased out by Google and Apple, while many other browsers have not allowed them for some time. Data collection isn’t going away, but knowing your options is always preferable to running blind into the future.
