Reginald Chan

Category: Business

  • 6 Important Factors to Consider When Checking for Website User-Friendliness

    6 Important Factors to Consider When Checking for Website User-Friendliness

    User-friendliness is a term that should never be overlooked when it comes to websites. It should remain one of the ultimate goals you should adequately look into when designing your website. It is not about how fancy your website is. You can have a beautiful website with beautiful graphics and designs; however, if the website proves to be a maze to navigate, then the website could be of no greater use.

    Creating a user-friendly website carries as much weight as creating a website with a unique design. Most website owners now understand the essence of creating a user-friendly website. However, most of them do not know some of the features that they should be looking at when determining if their website is user-friendly or not. This article explains some of the key features you should look at when checking if your website is user-friendly.

    What It Means by A User-Friendly Website

    Website usability refers to the ease of using a website, from reading the website content, navigating through the website, completing a task on the website, making a purchase, selecting a product on the website, successfully loading a page. All these are the elements that refer to the usability of a website.

    An important concept that relates to website usability is Accessibility. It focuses on the skills and limitations of your potential website visitors and how they impact how your visitors use your website and consume the website content. For instance, how someone with a visual impairment uses a website is not similar to someone with how someone with proper eyesight will use the website. These are some of the things that you need to put into consideration when creating a user-friendly website.

    Why User-Friendliness Matters to Your Website

    A user-friendly website stands head and shoulder above all other websites. The more user-friendly a website is, the better chance it stands to get more visitors to engage with the website and learn. It will be pretty hard for a user to shop through your eCommerce website, sign up for a program or read your blog articles if the user cannot figure out how to complete these actions or the user gets frustrated in the process of completing these actions.

    From the accessibility point of view, it is not about thinking about a few users with different abilities. The thing is, when you aim to make your website more accessible, you are doing everyone a favor. What is good, user-friendly, and accessible to one category of users will also benefit all your other visitors.

    Determinants of a User-Friendly Website

    1. Mobile Compatibility

    The number of smartphone usages has significantly increased in the recent past. A great majority of the world is now using mobile devices to access the web. This trend has had a significant impact on websites. The traditional websites that were not mobile-compatible have become almost irrelevant in today’s era of mobile usage. Although many industries have mobile-friendly websites, some industries are yet to realize the significance of a mobile-compatible website to its users.

    Ensuring that all your visitors have a great experience, regardless of what type of device they are using to access your website, is very important to your business. If your website takes too long to load on mobile devices or has some compatibility issues, then your website visitors might leave the website and use your competitors’ websites. At this point, you notice how much weight a mobile-friendly website will have on the general success of your business and your website.

    Apart from having significant advantages to your users and driving in more traffic, mobile-friendliness also improves your search visibility, enhances user experience, increases lead generations, and improves brand identity.

    So, how can you tell whether or not your website is mobile-friendly? That’s pretty simple. You can determine whether your website is optimized for mobile devices by checking whether the website scales to display content that fits even smaller screens. The simplest way to check whether your website is mobile-friendly is by using Google’s Search Console mobile-friendly test. You need to paste your URL into the search bar, and you are done.

    2. Website Accessibility

    According to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), “the web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When the web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability. When websites, applications, technologies, or tools are badly designed, they can create barriers that exclude people from using the web.”

    A good website should be accessible to all categories of people, including those with visual impairments, the old, and the disabled. Usually, these categories of users will use screen users to access your websites. You must make your website available to all users by adhering to the 508 website accessibility guidelines.

    The W3C has provided clear and extensive guidelines that you can follow to ensure that your website is accessible to all individuals.

    3. Website Security

    Just like having your car get safety approval, you also need to perform a security audit for the safety of your users. A secure website is a user-friendly website. Today, the issue of website security should be taken seriously. This is following the recent surge in data breaches that target small and big businesses. There is no point in running an insecure website that could easily compromise the users’ data.

    To ensure that your users’ data remain safe and secure on your website, you will have to put in place proper security measures and protocols. The SSL certificate has been a great player in matters about website security. To ensure that your website is safe from the ill-work of hackers, you will have to buy SSL certificate and install it on your website.

    The SSL certificate is an encryption tool that protects the data transfers that happen between your users and your browsers. The certificate converts raw data into the gibberish and indecipherable format. It will be useless for an intruder to access encrypted information.

    So, how do you know whether or not your website has an SSL certificate? You will have to check the URL of a website. Generally, a website with an SSL certificate will have its URL starting with HTTPS and a padlock symbol next to it. A website without the certificate will have its URL starting with HTTP and would not have the padlock icon. To ensure that your website users are protected from security vulnerabilities, you must acquire and install the SSL certificate on your website.

    4. Fast Loading Speeds

    Loading speeds and website user-friendliness are birds of a feather that must always flock together. You can not mention one and leave out another. Most web visitors will show a great sense of satisfaction to those sites that load quickly. Their intolerance will begin to manifest in bold when a website starts taking too long to display its content.

    Most web visitors prefer websites that load faster. This explains why websites with incredible loading speeds are associated with low bounce rates. To make your website more user-friendly, you will need to reduce the loading time to the utmost 5 seconds. You can use page speed tools such as Pingdom and Google PageSpeed Insights to determine the speeds of your website.

    5. Effective Navigation

    All the content on your website should be easy to find. The website should have clear calls to action and navigation bars that will direct your users to move from one point to another. You should adequately silo your website to determine its navigation. The most important thing here is to ensure that your users find what they are looking for. If it is an eCommerce website, they should have an easy time going through the entire purchase and payment procedures.

    6. Well-Organized Website Content

    This last bit takes more than just a tool to create a user-friendly website. You should ensure that your web pages, content, and resources on your websites are well-organized. After that, your website will qualify to be termed as user-friendly. You should ensure that you adhere to the 3-click rule where your web visitors should not be allowed to make more than three clicks before they find what they are looking for. A well-organized content will impact your users’ experience and help create an excellent website impression that can help build a reputable brand.

    Conclusion

    Having a user-friendly website will significantly impact the success of your website. A user-friendly website will provide a seamless user experience to web visitors and improve the chances of your website’s success. As you think about designing a website, always have your users in mind. This article has clearly explained some of the considerations you should make when determining whether your website is user-friendly.

  • Why It’s Important To Stay Creative And Productive While Working Remotely?

    Why It’s Important To Stay Creative And Productive While Working Remotely?

    Thanks to the advancements in modern technology, more and more people now have the opportunity to work from home or in any location they wish to for as long as they have the means to get connected. However, one of the first casualties in working remotely is creativity and productivity because of the many temptations you are bound to encounter. This article lists down some of the reasons why it is important to stay creative and productive while working remotely.

    Motivation

    One of the primary reasons why it is important to stay creative and productive while working remotely is that creativity can lead to motivation. For instance, if you feel discouraged or frustrated about a task, doing something creative in your workspace can uplift your mood. This will allow you to focus more on the task at hand, particularly because you get the inspiration or the motivation to keep you moving.

    To help you find inspiration to be more creative and productive while working remotely, you can use mental or physical fitness exercises. The reason behind this is that physical fitness can clear your mind, opening up space for creativity to enter your being. In addition to this, you should also consider that mental fitness is just as important. For instance, you can try to meditate because this is a powerful tool in making space for new ideas.

    You also have the option to dress for success even if you are working remotely. This will provide additional motivation for you to be productive during the day. This will also help you feel better mentally, allowing you to focus on checking the important tasks on your to-do list. When you are properly dressed, you will be prepared for any impromptu calls with your colleagues or clients.

    Better Collaboration

    Another reason why it is important to stay creative and productive while working remotely is that it paves the way for better collaboration with you and your teammates even if you are located in different parts of the world. In this case, you can consider the use of Lucid Spark’s creativity and collaboration solution to help you put your and your team’s ideas into action. When you are creative even when it comes to the means of communication that you and your team leverage, you will most likely find solutions even to the most complex tasks that you need to accomplish.

    There are instances wherein you need to think beyond email when it comes to communicating with your teammates. This is where you can explore the use of other digital tools that can help replicate an in-person experience. For instance, you can try to use video conferencing tools or screen-sharing apps to ensure that people are on the same page during your meetings.

    To help you overcome the challenge brought about by the lack of social interaction when working remotely, you can find a work buddy that you can chat with when you feel the need to talk to someone. You can also try to work in another location, such as a co-working space that will allow you to be with other people for a change. Sometimes, small talks with your colleagues and peers are necessary to get your creativity flowing and boost your productivity.

    There is also the option for you to facilitate non-work interactions with your team, creating the time and space for you to simply talk about hobbies and other topics just as you would during break times in a normal office setting. This will help you be alleviated from stress and feel better connected. In this case, you can try to spend a few minutes catching up before or after your video conferences or host a virtual happy hour to build bridges between you and your colleagues.

    Work-Life Balance

    It is important to stay creative and productive while working remotely because it is the key to a work-life balance. With your creative juices flowing, you will most likely be able to finish any task at hand. In this case, you will have the opportunity to maximize the time that you spend with your family and friends.

    Alongside this, when you are productive, you get to finish what you need to accomplish for the day ahead of time. This will give you the flexibility to attend to other things that matter such as fetching your kids from school or cooking for your family. This will also allow you to focus on self-care for your overall well-being.

    If you are proactive, then working remotely may just be the means for you to live a healthier and more comfortable life. When you work remotely, you will save a significant amount of time in commuting that you can spend on exercising or joining a fitness club instead. You are also less likely to get sick because you are not picking up on the germs of other people such as your co-workers.

    Career Advancement

    Creativity and productivity in working from home are the keys to advance in your career. When you are creative in what you do, you will tend to surpass the expectations of your team members, and most importantly, of your superiors. When you are often credited for the work that you do, you are opening doors to advance in your career. In parallel to this, your productivity will not go unnoticed even if you work remotely as long as your output is delivered, perhaps even ahead of time. Just make sure to think of ways on how to stay creative and productive while working remotely.

    With the advancements brought about by the internet, there are now several reasons why people opt to work from home or work remotely. However, in doing so, you need to ensure that you maintain your creativity and productivity. This is because when you do, you will be more motivated to work, you will have better collaboration with your team, and you will also achieve the work-life balance that you deserve. In addition to this, creativity and productivity will also pave the way for you to advance in your career.

  • How To Pick The Right Professional To Shield You From The IRS?

    How To Pick The Right Professional To Shield You From The IRS?

    The ramifications of choosing the wrong auditor can have a profound effect on your business. The best-case scenario is you’ll manage to work for years to correct your mistakes. The worst case is the auditor will leave you vulnerable to massive penalties and legal issues that could run your accounts dry. That’s why it’s imperative to make this decision wisely.

    Below are some of the key factors to consider when choosing an auditing professional or firm.

    Qualifications

    The firm you choose to work with must have credentials proving they have undergone the necessary training and are certified by the relevant board. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires all companies auditing public businesses to be registered by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

    Hiring a firm that’s under the oversight of PCAOB comes with many benefits. First, it’s a show of credibility, which is good, especially when the Internal Revenue Service is going through your books. You really don’t want the investigators to find out that you’re even working with crooks.

    Secondly, an auditing firm that has gone through the hassle of getting registered is probably serious and transparent about its business operations, meaning your books will be in good hands. 

    Such auditors are constantly appraised to the ever-changing tax and auditing regulations. They’ll utilize their knowledge to ensure your accounts meets all legal requirements.

    Experience

    An experienced auditor is a valuable asset to your business. Although these professionals are likely to charge higher fees, the knowledge, quality, and efficiency they bring to the table are unparalleled.

    In your meeting with the company, ask them how many years they’ve been operating. Inquire about some of their previous and current clients. Look up the clients and see whether they’ve had any unfriendly encounters with the taxman.

    Depending on the specific auditing problem you’re in, it may be vital to ensure the firm you’re hiring has experience in your industry. This is really important since certain regulations change based on the industry in question, i.e., is your company under not-for-profit, government, or public company regulations? Let the auditing firm show their track record.

    Reputation And Reviews

    Testimonials and references go a long way to tell you how good a company is doing its business. 

    There are two ways of getting these testimonials. You can ask the company directly about their other clients. Proceed to contact the clients and ask about the quality of services they receive. This option is as straightforward as it sounds, but it might not be very reliable. Why? Rarely will a business give you contacts for a client they hard a rough relationship with. And that’s why you cannot overlook option two.

    Conduct your own research to determine how reliable the firm is. This is where business review websites like Yelp and google my business come in. You will find independent reviews that can paint an accurate picture of how it’s like working with the firm on a daily basis.

    You could also tell the reputation of a firm by looking at their honors. Have they participated or won any auditing/accounting awards? 

    Size Of The Firm

    Proper auditing takes a lot of effort and time. When IRS notifies you of an imminent field audit, the whole process becomes even more complicated. The Effective Audit Experts – Tax Shark explain that full-blown IRS field audits are rare, but they do happen, and they can put a business owner under immense pressure. In such situations, it’s imperative to hire a firm with the necessary capacity to handle your workload and keep you off the IRS radar.

    A sizeable firm also adds value to your business. They’ll handle your accounting with efficiency to smoothen your business operations and adherence to the law. Sadly, big audition firms also charge higher fees.

    Use Of Technology

    Working with accountants that have embraced auditing technology is beneficial in various ways. For starters, it makes the auditing process more efficient. Tech can digest tons of data and produce accurate results much faster than traditional auditing techniques. This leaves you and the accountants with sufficient time to scrutinize the results and draw any anomalies that could be affecting your business.

    Some of the latest auditing software are also developed to provide useful insights for better decision-making.

    Tech-based auditors are very useful, especially to businesses that store their data electronically. They can even perform virtual audits and communicate their results and findings without interrupting the regular office operations.

    If your business is still using traditional accounting techniques, good auditors will scale down their technology to address your unique needs.

    Customer Service

    It’s good for businesses to stick to one auditor for as long as possible. However, this is only possible if you hire a good and reliable firm. One that is helpful, friendly, and responsive. 

    For this reason, experts urge businesses to interview potential auditors in person. Take note of how they handle your questions and concerns. Check how accessible the senior employees are. Look around their offices and see whether they have sufficient capacity to handle your needs.

    Fees

    It’s okay to shop around for the best deal but keep in mind that you’ll always get what you pay for. Ideally, the auditor’s fees should be the last thing you consider since saving a few bucks is nowhere as important as ensuring your business gets accurate and reliable services.

    If you have a limited budget, you are free to make several compromises, but do so carefully. For instance, you can opt for a smaller auditing firm since they usually charge less when compared to established auditors. Tech-based auditing may also be a reasonable trade-off if it’ll help you save a few dollars without hurting the services rendered. 

    Do not compromise on crucial factors like knowledge, experience, accreditation, and reputation/reviews.

    Good auditors do more than just helping your business comply with legal requirements. They’ll generate valuable insights from raw data to help you make accurate and beneficial decisions affecting your business. Think of them as business partners.

  • 6 Effective Tips From The Pros To Make Your Website Rank Higher

    6 Effective Tips From The Pros To Make Your Website Rank Higher

    Let’s face it, in the twenty-first century, almost everyone with a business has a website and social media to match. Now more than ever, people recognize the opportunities that an online presence can provide. Regardless of whether you’re a business novice or relatively seasoned in the digital marketing space, you’ll likely be aware of how important exposure and brand building are to your business’ success. The thing is, with so many websites in existence, it’s difficult to get noticed. To make the most out of your digital assets, getting your website a higher search ranking is essential- but what’s the best way to go about it? Though advice will vary from person to person, some basic needs should always be met. Curious as to which tips take the top spots? Here are 6 effective tips from the pros to make your website rank higher.

    Try Blogging

    Though musing about your day or showcasing pictures of your breakfast might seem like anything but groundbreaking content, for most brands blogging is an excellent way to organically increase website visits. This is because bloggers usually amass a loyal following and have an easier time naturally incorporating internal and external links. The higher the frequency of the posts, the higher the generated traffic. Blogging is a great strategy for building your website because it allows for almost unlimited content potential. All the while, it appeals to current and potential customers, as well as the all-important social amplifiers.

    Focus On What Sets You Apart

    In an oversaturated online market, going with the herd can be a very bad thing for the success of your website. If you are a mid to small-sized business, you likely won’t have the resources to appear in a top spot in broader searches. The less specific a keyword or offering is, the smaller the chance you will find success while engaging with it. The reason being, if your focus is too vague, the potential for competition skyrockets. By concentrating on what sets your website, product, or service apart, you will increase your rankings tenfold. Let’s say you own a water bottle company; if you focus solely on using keywords and content related to water bottles, your product will be easily buried. By switching the primary focus to your environmental initiatives, health benefits, or another unique feature that only you offer, you’re far more likely to rank high up in a more specific search group.

    Use Varied Content

    Content marketing is a concept best implemented in a variety of formats—basically, the less formulaic your content, the better. Most digital marketing experts will agree that though keywords and writing-based content are extremely important for optimizing search engine results, using images and videos in new and interesting ways will help keep your content exciting, eye-catching, and fresh. In addition to this, tags and metadata on pictures and videos can help to further boost your website’s rank when used correctly. By using keywords in conjunction with visual aids and things like eye-catching infographics, you’ll be moving your web page up the ranks while capturing more eyes and prolonged website stays.

    Build Your Network

    Algorithms and other web tools are useful and effective, but technology is not the only way to ensure your website ranks high among others. Though it can be tough work, building your network and attracting links from top-quality sites is one of the best ways to increase your company’s rankings and overall exposure. This is something that takes a little more time and groundwork than normally seen on the internet. However, if you start to build relationships with publishers, webmasters, and bloggers, this sweat equity will be greatly rewarded in the long term. Taking care to reach out personally can help grow your brand and website exponentially and place your content in front of entirely new audiences.

    Keep Up the Pace

    The world of e-commerce and marketing is a pretty fast-paced environment, and your website needs to be up to the task. You may be doing everything right, but if your website is slow or unresponsive, you can kiss a high website ranking goodbye. To curry favor with search engines and customers alike, keep your website up-to-date and well maintained. The functionality should be flawless across any device and platform to capitalize on any traffic earned. If you’ve spent time and money on great content and even better goods or services, you are doing yourself a major disservice by not optimizing your website for speed and efficiency.

    Click-Throughs is Key

    So you’ve managed to rank high enough to get noticed on a search page- now what? In order to get high and stay high, any savvy company should be concentrating efforts on increasing their CTR or click-through rate. Unsure of what click-throughs are, exactly? Consider this: every time someone chooses to explore your web page as it appears in their search results, you’ve successfully garnered a click-through. These are important for several reasons. For one thing, the main way a business generates sales is through its website. This means that increasing CTR boosts the potential for sales. Additionally, the more search engine users click on your website whilst in the middle of a particular search, the more relevant your page is deemed, and the higher your website will rank. Make sure that your metadata is relevant and clear and that your titles are short and emotive to really make them pop.
    There you have it, some of the most effective tools for leveling up your website’s ranking. While the list may not be exhaustive, these tips are ones that marketing pros will never overlook. From highlighting and celebrating your differences to creating interesting, creative content- there are many things you can do to ensure your website resonates both personally and in the online space. Remember to never take basics like website functionality for granted, and always strive to create authentic, engaging copy. By employing a mix of tried and true strategies and never settling for anything less than the best, your website, brand, and business will thrive and climb up the ranks in no time at all.

  • 6 Top Solutions to Prevent Sexual Harassment in Workplaces

    6 Top Solutions to Prevent Sexual Harassment in Workplaces

    A quick search on the internet for sexual harassment will tell you that little has been done in preventing cases of sexual harassment at work. On any given day, the internet is filled with dozens of news headlines about sexual harassment. Even though most organizations tend to believe that sexual harassment at work isn’t in their workplace, the truth is that sexual harassment is widely prevalent. For this reason, we shall continue to share with you the top solutions to prevent sexual harassment in workplaces.

    Define Sexual harassment

    As an employer, you must inform every member of your organization about what sexual harassment is all about. What is defined as sexual harassment? This is one question that many employees find confusing. For example, is it wrong to hold a coworker’s hand while at work? The answer is dependent on the situation. If the other worker isn’t comfortable with you holding hands or touching the body, then that can be deemed as sexual harassment. 

    Most organizations discourage dating among colleagues. Doing so can help in many ways, among them improving productivity at work. Most importantly, this rule helps curb cases of sexual harassment. It ensures that employees focus on work and not flirting with colleagues. In an instance where one engages the other colleague in unwanted flirting or asking for dates that have continuously been turned down, this may be considered harassment. 

    Also, sexual harassment can happen online. For example, transmitting sexual harassment pictures to a coworker is a criminal offense. It’s for this reason that most companies usually monitor work emails to prevent such incidents from happening. The mentioned examples are just a tip in the ice of the many incidences that may be deemed as sexual harassment. 

    Professional training

    Sexual harassment is a crime. As an employer, it, therefore, means that you should boldly let your employees know that your workplace has a strict zero-tolerance rule to this. While your anti-harassment policies may deliver the message, introducing sexual harassment courses is highly recommended. The training should be conducted for both employees and supervisors. Refresher courses should also be provided annually or as needed. Doing this helps everyone in the company understand the definition of this act and the rights and remedies to those who feel that they have been victimized.

    Develop Sexual Harassment Policies

    Defining sexual harassment is one thing, but making your employees understand the consequences of this harmful act is another topic, and that asks for attention. As an employee, you are tasked with creating clear and detailed sexual harassment policies. With the policies in place, everyone in the organization will understand that your company doesn’t condone such actions. 

    The policies should indicate the specific behaviors that will constitute sexual harassment and that aren’t tolerated. The policies should also include punishments for those who cause sexual harm to others. To ensure that everyone understands the policies well, circulate them widely to every member and ensure that they sign to indicate that they have read and understood. In addition, you can bring in professional trainers to help establish an understanding of the topic and the policies you’ve in place. 

    Lead by Example 

    On most occasions, sexual harassment allegations at work revolve around the top bosses taking advantage of the juniors. This is sad since most of these cases go unresolved as the juniors fear losing their jobs. As the employer, you should lead by example. It will make no sense setting up policies that you can’t follow. 

    According to successful entrepreneurs, having a solid management and HR team is essential for creating a respectful workplace culture. If it means holding management-level pieces of training, don’t hesitate to bring them up. Remember, most of these juniors look up to you for protection. If you don’t lead by example, the employees won’t feel comfortable approaching you with such an allegation. But, once you present yourself as a boss who understands your work, then this means that handling such investigations won’t be a problem at your premises. 

    Have a Clear Harassment Reporting Procedure

    Generally, reporting sexual harassment cases can be tiring. Many victims may find themselves giving up with the process, depending on the structure you’ve at your workplace. Some may even feel intimidated to report to their seniors such cases. As the employer, you should, therefore, have a clear and straightforward harassment reporting procedure. 

    The procedure should be detailed and shouldn’t involve going through different offices for the matter to be considered legit. Instead, you can form a committee that listens to such allegations and carry out the needed investigations before implementing the necessary punishments. With a straightforward reporting procedure, it means that all the matters will be attended to and the culprits punished without making the victim feel intimidated or threatened. If it’s a matter that requires police intervention, you shouldn’t hesitate to bring them onboard so that they can take over the case. 

    Take Decisive Actions when an Issue Arises

    As mentioned earlier, most organizations assume that sexual harassment cases don’t exist on their premises. The sad truth is that they are there. The big question remains, what actions should one take when a matter of such nature emerges? As an employer, it’s recommended that you respond promptly to reports of harassment whenever they are presented. You should carry out a thorough investigation of the matter and impose meaningful consequences on the culprits. 

    Taking swift and informed decisions isn’t only good for your company’s reputation, but it also makes the employees feel that they are working in a safe environment. Failure to deal with the issue when it arises sees the criminal employees continue doing so as they are sure nothing will be done. Therefore, you shouldn’t hesitate to take action and let every employee be aware of the consequences. 

    Currently, sexual harassment allegations have been on the rise. It’s right to say that the increase is influenced by the fact that most employers tend to ignore the existence of these cases. Mentioned in this article are some of the proven ways you can help prevent sexual harassment in your workplace. Read through the article to see how easy this should be to solve them and the intensity of the topic.

  • How To Set Up A Perfect Website In 2021 Style?

    How To Set Up A Perfect Website In 2021 Style?

    Building a website is a hectic task that requires lots of planning. Depending on your strategy and the type of website you are building, it may also take time before your website starts generating any revenue. 

    In today’s review, we’ll be looking at the crucial steps involved in setting up a successful website in 2021. These tips will significantly reduce the stress involved in building and marketing a modern site.

    Create A Masterplan

    It’s impossible to build a successful website when you have no idea what its objective is. So, before you start spending money on hosting and digital marketing courses, have a meeting with yourself and decide why you want to build the website and what you hope to achieve. These answers will solve at least half of the problems experienced in the next steps of setting up a site.

    The first thing you need to figure out is the subject of the website. This should be followed by comprehensive research on whether there is a profitable market for your objective. The market analysis is really important, especially if you’re starting a blog you want to monetize. 

    If your topic generates enough searches per month, move to the next step and find the keywords needed to support your main subject. There are lots of free and paid tools that can help you with keyword research.

    At the end of the planning period, you should have a spreadsheet containing the main topic of your website and the supporting keywords for the internal pages.

    Register A Domain Name And Choose A Host

    Coming up with the perfect domain name should be super easy once you know what the website is about. However, there are some basic rules to follow when purchasing a domain name to improve the performance and visibility of your website. This is particularly crucial if you are building an affiliate blog since the name will influence how fast your website ranks.

    Generally, there are two ways to determine the kind of domain name you’ll use. The first is to go with your brand if you already have a company. This basically means you’ll use your company name as the domain name. Established businesses need to use their company names since it gives the website legitimacy.

    The other option is to come up with a creative name based on the topic or industry your website is targeting. For instance, if you are in the tech niche, you can create a domain name using tech terminologies. These domain names are a bit easier to rank since they’re easily recognizable to search engine bots.

    All in all, a good domain name should be short, simple, and professional. Experts would also advise you against adding hyphens and numbers in the name.

    Next up is finding the perfect host for your site. Pay for a reliable host to avoid costly downtimes. Some of the factors you need to consider when choosing a host are customer support, security, storage, backup options, and estimated traffic.

    You must also think about the server types. There are generally three options here, dedicated, VPS, and shared. Shared servers are the cheapest, but they are far from ideal, especially for e-commerce and other sites that deal with delicate customer details.

    Choose A Content Management System

    CMS is the system that allows you to publish all the content appearing on your website. There are platforms to choose from, but WordPress is the most commonly used one.

    The platform is popular because: 

    • It has an intuitive dashboard
    • It is scalable
    • Has thousands of plugins
    • It has lots of themes to choose from
    • It can be integrated with BigCommerce and WooCommerce
    • It’s open-source, so there is a lot of support from the community
    • It’s great for SEO

    Other options worth checking out are Squarespace, Elementor, Wix, and Shopify.

    Design Your Website

    This is one of the most critical steps in making a website since it directly affects the user experience. As the designers at nettonic.co.uk explain in their web design report, website visitors take just 2 seconds to determine whether they’ll stay on your site or not. This is a tiny window, so you must do your best to grab and retain your visitor’s attention as soon as possible.

    The good news is that designing a website is nowhere as stressful as it used to be. You don’t even need any coding knowledge to get the job done. Most platforms come with free and paid themes that you can edit with simple drag-and-drop functions to personalize your site.

    But, if you want to customize your site extensively, hiring an experienced developer is the best play.

    Below are some of the factors to keep in mind while designing your website:

    • User-friendliness
    • Mobile-friendliness
    • Loading time
    • Aesthetics

    Create Your Content

    Consult any digital marketing expert, and they’ll tell you that content is king. Without high-quality content, all the effort you’ll put into creating a website and ranking it will be for nothing. You could attract thousands of visitors per month, but your conversion rate will be terrible if your blogs are poorly written.

    It’s for that reason that you need to create the best content in your niche. Look at what other websites are doing and compile the information to build quality long-form content.

    Make sure your homepage reflects your brand. The inner pages are just as useful so create quality blogs for these pages as well. 

    Basic business information should be easily accessible to your website visitors. This includes contact information and location. If you are running an e-commerce store, add links for shipping, return policy, and payment methods at the footer.

    Implement An SEO Strategy

    Your SEO strategy starts when creating a website master plan and choosing a domain name. However, optimization is even more important once you have your content published.

    SEO is a broad subject, but it generally covers onsite and offsite optimization. Onsite SEO involves optimizing your website and content to improve rankings. It works on keyword density, URLs, metatags, external and internal links, webpage loading speeds, and creating mobile-friendly content.

    Offsite SEO aims to improve your rankings through campaigns like social media marketing and building backlinks through guest posts, website comments, and brand mentions. 

    Finally, it’s time to launch your website. But that’s not the end of the road. Continue creating fresh content and updating the existing one. You must also stay updated with the latest “white hat” SEO techniques to improve the rankings of your web pages.