Every business needs a website. It’s one of the most important aspects of a business.
When you need a website, the question is, who do you go to? Where do you begin? The number of web designers and agencies are growing daily. To make your choice simpler, always look out for the below and ask many questions.
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – Is the process of getting a website ranked high on Google search results for specific keywords. There are primarily two sides to this:
- On-page
- Off-page
On-page SEO is all about your actual website:
- Content rich
- Clean, using search engine readable code
- Fast loading for all users
- Optimised Server
- No duplicate content
- Dynamic Sitemaps
- Strong Internal link structure
- Optimised Images
- etc.
You might have fancy moving objects on a website, accordions, tabbed content etc. but if search engines can’t read it, then you might be missing out on potential customers.
Another important point: When replacing an existing website with a new website, always have Google friendly redirects in place. Otherwise you could lose search rankings, and more.
Mobile Responsive
There are almost a billion mobile web users. A website should be fluid in it’s design. Work for all devices. Work on a Retina display Macbook, Android Phone, iPad mini and more devices all from one design. And the experience should be the same for all users. The website should be easy to use and navigate.
Future Proof / Modular
There is always items and functionality that everyone misses when a website goes live – because you didn’t think about it before or maybe something new was released in your industry that requires a chance on the website etc.
The issue comes when you need this new functionality. If a website is not modular based/future proof, you will generally have to folk out £100’s for the simple custom functionality. If the website is built well, a good developer will do it at no charge.
No Monthly Rental Fees / Full ownership
Many organisations charge a client a monthly rental fee (in addition to hosting costs) and reserve all ownership rights to the website. If the client deicides to leave the developers, they will switch off the website and the client has to start from nothing. A good developer will give full ownership of the website to the client and if they want to move elsewhere, provide them will all the files.
Tracking / CRO Tools
There is no limit to how good a website can be. There is no perfect website. With the aid of CRO (Conversion optimisation) tools, a website can constantly be improved. Having these tools in place, can make a huge difference over the year when a new website launches.
Secure
It’s never been more important to keep a website secure. Keep everything updated and secure. Potentially using IP locks on admin pages and and more.
Social Media
We all know the importance of Social Media. Integrate it at all levels of the website through means such as share buttons, widgets, social comments and more.
Blog
A blog is important. Keeps your website fresh, updated and encourages a community spirit. Blog posts show up on the search engine results pages regularly. Also tells your users you’re active.
Conclusion
Above are only some of the things you should look out for when looking for a web developer for your website. Contact REMDigital today to find out what we can do for you.
