As a developer of WordPress Solutions since the software arrived on the scene in the mid-2000’s I have seen many developments go through our Sydney, Melbourne Boston and Miami studios and the one thing that is always constant is the need for the business owner to take responsibility for the continued success of the website. To me, the design should be in the simplest form possible to allow users to get the information as quickly as possible.
The moment you begin thinking about wanting things on your site for purely an aesthetic purpose is a moment you start to lose the core principle of interface design. Concentrate on what your users want to see and hear on your website. Here is a breakdown of some important tips and advice to make sure your development is a success.
Choosing a Domain Name
Your domain name should be as close to your business name as possible. If you are starting a new venture, then you should either go for a .com or a country specific name such as a .com.au (for Australia) and .co.nz (for New Zealand). Remember this one important note – I call it [highlight]”out the door”[/highlight] policy. If someone is leaving your home or office and they are walking out the door and ask that simple question – “what’s your domain name?” and you have to explain it’s spelling or something special about the name, then it is the wrong name!
Branding & Design
So you have a logo? Great, next thing you must do is to create a [highlight]style document[/highlight], one that instantly gives your brand understanding and recognition. A style document also explains font usage and other elements that guide the web design, printing, signage etc. Here is a little list of minimum requirements that should accompany any logo.
- Mission Statement
- Tag Line
- Vision & Philosophies
- Target Audience
- Proper Logo Usage
- Preferred Placement
- Clear Space
- Preferred Size
- Color Palette
- Brand Typography
This way anyone who works with your brand understands exactly the requirements that must be met.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) + Unique Content
We all want our websites to appear higher in search rankings and you can be assured you will get a truckload of inquiries from SEO firms telling you how you can appear higher in search results. [highlight]Truth is they are for the most part useless and a waste of money. [/highlight]
Only one thing rules in SEO and that is a proper framework (WordPress is perfect) and the second thing is unique content. Unique content means articles, posts, pages links all written by you that directly target the audience you want. Let’s use this article as an example.
We have a headline “WordPress Design & Development for success on any budget!” we have the body content (everything you are reading here) and we also have tags. Tags in WordPress are unique identifiers within a post. These should only be keywords such as people, places, and items of importance. In this instance I am using these tags, WordPress, Web Design, Domain Names, SEO, Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Optimization, Branding, Logos, and Logo. These are all common terms and I do not expect to get great results from them. However, if I continually write about these terms then the more and more pages I will have to Google and other search engines under these terms.
Yakadanda ranks highly in search terms such as WordPress Web Design Sydney because we take the effort to continually write about WordPress, Web Design and we have an office in Sydney. We have only opened up our WordPress Studios in Boston and now Miami and over time we will continue to rise for those terms as well.
Remember, you put the effort in and you get the results. If not – then do not expect empathy from your developer. The problem with this route is it takes time, but once you get there all the rewards will come. So make the effort now and get the rewards later. You can, of course, choose to combine this with Search Engine Marketing (paying for search positions) but the moment you stop paying is the moment you lose position.
If you would like us to create a small business website for you contact us today on 617 513 0082 (Boston, USA), 305 814 3093 (Miami, USA) or 02 8006 0716 (Sydney, AUS) you can also fill in the web-based form by clicking here and emailing us
