The first step to your Website Development must always be:
Keyword Research and Competitive Analysis.
When it comes to websites, even with all of the evolutionary changes online with the huge growth of importance of Social Media in the Online Marketing mix, it is still mandatory for a website to be built around relevant keyword phrases for that business.
If you want your website acknowledged by the Search Engines and have a chance to appear on the all important first page, top 3, then you need to target specific keyword phrases and been seen by the search engines to be authentic in all aspects of your website’s configuration.
Keyword phrases are what real people are typing in when they have a search query. Therefore it’s natural to want your business to show up for that keyword phrase.
Equally logical is for these keyword phrases actually being searched for currently. It’s not about what you and I think the best phrase is. It’s about assessing the search estimates provided to us by Google.
And whilst the source is Google. We have no way of assessing how exact these estimates are to reality. The good news being that everyone in the industry is in the same boat. That is why we use estimates as an across board starting point. And then we test and monitor through tracking to ascertain actuals and work out what modifications may be necessary moving forward.
Along with assessing keyword phrase search estimates, it is about balancing that with how competitive these phrases are, or are not.
Ideally you would want to see that not too many other sites are targeting the same keyword phrase (Competitive figures head into the millions for competing sites).
As the bigger the number of other sites going after the same keyword phrase, if they are then also optimized well; the longer it will take for your site to move it’s way up onto the first page, and the ultimate top 3 position. The analogy of being at a concert, and arriving at the back but wanting to make your way up to the front works here. The bigger the audience, the harder it is to work your way to the top.
A reality for local businesses however is that, for some businesses it would be imprudent not to target a keyword phrase as that is what your business is about and that is what your key competition are targeting.
Then it comes down to other strategic solutions may be required in order to encourage faster traffic to your site.
The Double O approach to Keyword Research and Competitive Analysis is to use a range of highly sophisticated and proprietary tools, along with several years of hands on industry experience to complete our assessment. Providing you with our recommendations for which keyword phrases to target and build the website around. This will also include estimated time frames to achieve first page status for each phrase, based on the competitiveness of that keyword phrase (this competitiveness analysis is based on both volume and optimization factors).
The next step is:
Strategic Recommendation For Site Configuration
This includes how many recommended keyword phrases to target. How many recommended pages the end website should have. This may be a staggered, build process, starting with the minimum number to effectively compete, with view to broadening the scope of the site based on achieving base performance levels on the current keyword phrases.
We’d also address any mandatories you want included on your site, and how to achieve a balance of meeting both you, the Client’s needs, the User’s needs and the Search Engines algorithmic requirements.
Within this stage we would discuss look, feel and positioning within it’s market place.
We would review existing images made available from the business or recommend the purchase of additional copyright free images relevant to the business and positioning it wants to achieve online.
Any company or brand logo’s would be assessed and may require modification for online purposes only.
This then leads to:
Website Design
The Double O approach is all about being strategically relevant to both the target market, and in the online world, also the Search Engines.
Both use different criteria to assess the authority of a website.
The User is wanting to feel connected to the business/site and have an enjoyable user experience where they ‘get what they came for’ when searching for your site.
The Search Engines (driven by market leader Google) assess both on User criteria. They want to see a site is well laid out and provides an easy and effective user experience.
They also assess quality of content, and whether it is connected (LSI: Latent Semantic Indexing) with the keyword phrase being targeted.
They will negatively assess and punish (ranging from sand boxing to de-indexing your site) your site if they feel that a site is keyword stuffing or spamming. Or does not have relevant content to what their algorithm’s criteria requires.
When it comes to Website design, Double O work exclusively with the WordPress platform because WordPress, in basic terms, has proven itself to receive Google’s (and other Search Engines’) thumbs up.
We assess all the elements in your Strategic Recommendation and then locate a base WordPress template from the 100’s of thousands on the marketplace, that we believe will best meet the objectives for the site.
This template is then modified to reflect exactly what your business, and you, require. Which may also include additional custom coding to achieve the desired result.
Resulting in an outcome that is original and unique to your business and your business’s requirements and looks fantastic to your target market.
What goes into your site includes:
Website Content
Content is imperative to a Website’s success. As the Search Engines evaluate authority based on the perceived quality and relevance of the Content to the keyword phrase and target user (as well as other factors).
This is again achieved with their algorithms, which are improved upon several times a year. All with the aim to improve the User’s search experience.
Therefore Content must be of a certain length, contain a balance of keyword phrases and other phrases related to that keyword phrase (latent semantic indexing). Generally concentrating on one keyword phrase per page of content.
Content must always be Unique. This means that is can not be found to already exist online anywhere else. So Copying & Pasting or Rewriting existing Content are not viable options if you want the Search Engines to reward your site with that all important Authority.
Double O offer three Content Options:
1. Client creates Content, guided by Double O as far as length and structure of this content for each page, as per the Search engine specifications. All edits are to be completed by the Client until completed.
2. Client provides base Content & Double O edit it.
3. A Double O Content provider, skilled in your field, will provide the content as per the Search engine specifications.
Other key factors included in this process are:
Onpage Optimization
Basic Onpage Optimization is a mandatory requirement for a site to achieve any chance of being recognized in the Search Engine results. Stand alone it is not enough. And it differs to the On page and Off Page SEO that would be recommended on an ongoing basis for your business 9 times out of 10.
Onpage Optimization at this stage, covers the fundamentals. And as with everything else online is strategic in it’s application.
It includes such things as having the right balance of meta keyword phrases (Google no longer assesses these, but other Search Engines do), description and title to reflect what the User facing content is communicating.
Each page requires different meta tags. Copying and pasting the same tags page to page, will result in a penalty by the Search Engines. As too will having too many keyword phrases, to words in your description or title.
Also on the User facing page there is to be the correct balance and layout of Keyword Phrase via Headings and where it appears in the Content.
All of this is highly detailed and requires a thorough understanding of the differing Search Engine algorithmic requirements.
On page Optimization is equally relevant whether you are looking to gain traffic organically or via paid methods. The Search Engines driver will always be to provide a quality user experience, and they determine what that looks like, not you or I.
Let’s not forget essentials like
Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Privacy Statements & Site Maps
All of these elements are crucial inclusions on any site.
Google Analytics provides traffic stats for the site and specific keyword phrases
Webmaster Tools lists your site in Google and now a days you will receive messages from Google if your site is in danger of being de-indexed due to a recent algorithm change.
Privacy Statements are a standard requirement, or alternatively you may include a Terms page. Google also looks to see a full name and address and phone number, and this needs to be the same anywhere your business is represented online. Google’s (and other search engines’) spiders track this.
Site Maps are indeed plural. Google requires a site to have an XML site map (for the Spiders) and also a User friendly site map.
There Are Also Different Sites To Consider:
Desktop
This is your main site. The site you see on your computer. Website Development focuses on creating a Desktop Site.
Mobile Friendly Site
If Double O are creating your Website from the beginning, they will automatically include a Mobile Friendly version.
However you may have a Website you are happy with, and then it becomes about creating a Mobile Friendly modified version of your site. That with the magic of coding, will be what a user is redirected to if they are searching via their Mobile.
It is commonly accepted now that Smart Phone internet browsing and Tablet internet browsing is growing at such a rapid rate it will eventually supersede the Desktop version.
Why it is necessary to have a specially designed Mobile Friendly version of your site is because when people are searching through their phone, they are motivated differently. They are likely to want to be able to call you from your site. Find directions. And be told of any special deals.
Plus the configurations of a Mobile device (with many different brands on the marketplace) is different to a desktop, so it is about fitting it in elegantly on that Mobile device.
Finally, many business owners were caught out in the ‘Flash Boom’ where they agreed for someone to create a Flash site. These have been termed by the Search Engines to detract from the User experience and are therefore penalized as such on the Desktop.
And the iPhone which is globally popular, as with all Apple products, will not play Flash. So when your Target Market goes to find your business on their phone all they see is either stark black or white and nothing else. Meaning a missed opportunity at converting a prospect to a paying customer!
Tablet Friendly Site
Very similar to the Smart Phone situation. The iPad will not play Flash. And that aside (if you prefer the Samsung Tablet), the Tablet has different configurations to the Desktop and that requires a custom configured site to be created specifically for the Tablet
Blog
For some Businesses, including a blog, either attached to your main domain, or on a separate domain, may be a very real and viable option. Particularly if it is the type of business that seeks to have, or already does have, a lot of engagement with it’s target customer.
The important reality about setting up a Blog, which again follows a clear strategic approach in accordance to being positively assessed by the Search Engines as well as well received by the Target Market. Is that who is going to post 2-3 times a week on it?
There are of course several solutions. It may be something you, or one of your employees are happy to commit to doing.
Or we at Double O could locate, and contract someone (who is already experienced in your field, or you agree to train) to post on your blog on your behalf.
As you can now no doubt see, it is so much more than just ordering a Website. In order to get the best bang for your investment, it is strongly advised that you create a site that is given the chance to be seen by your Target Market because it meets the Search Engines’ requirements as much as providing an engaging user experience.
We’d be more than happy to discuss your specific needs, and provide a Complimentary Report on how your Site is performing currently, as assessed by the Search Engines (not Double O personally :-)).
If you have not yet ventured online, then you have most definitely also come to the right place!
