What can I expect from my new website?
One of the most common questions we get is “what can I expect from my website?” meaning what kind of action will I get off my website. There are too many variables to give an honest answer. Here are some general things we’ve learned over the years.
Who created your website?
If you did it yourself or had a cousin or friend who is an I.T. professional do it the odds are very low that you’ll get much in the way of results. Why do we add the “I.T. (information technology) professional to our list of poor website designers? It is like asking a dentist to perform brain surgery. While the two may at first seem related it soon becomes apparent that they are worlds apart.
How often do things change on your website?
Like anything that stays the same, it tends to gather dust. A static website is commonly referred to as a “cobweb’ by our team. Do you go back to websites that never change or do you continually visit websites that have new information? If you have a website you should have one you can update on your own and update it frequently. If you have lots of money, hire a pro to change it for you.
What is your personal home page set at?
If you have your own website why would you have your home page set to Yahoo or Google? If you want your website to grow have your website set as your home page. What is your home page? This is the page your browser opens to automatically when you start it up.
How popular is the subject of your website?
If your website is about mundane things then there is little chance you’ll find much success. Are people looking for what you provide? If not, then your website will probably not perform well on its own (organically). You may want to look at a marketing strategy for your website to target the few that are interested.
How much content does your website have?
Content is King. First you need a lot of content so Google and humans can find what they’re looking for. The more information you have the better your chances are of being found by both the major search engines and the human beings looking for the information your website contains.
Is your business or location seasonal?
Ice cream in Alaska during the winter is not nearly as popular as it would be in Florida during the summer. If you’re focused in the northern hemisphere (like PAontheweb.com) you may find more traffic to your website during the winter than the summer. People are indoors more and on the computer in the winter because of the temperature and the shorter days. This may also be true during the dog days of summer when it is so hot outside people would rather be in the cool.
This is by no means a complete list of the variables that make a website great. However, it is a good starting point.
