There are certain must-haves for any website. Whether your site is designed to be a minimalist single page design or the most complex site you can dream up, there are certain components that every site should have. Regardless of your preferred site design here are my 5 must-haves for any website, all of which COMO Web Designs offers as services for our clients.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Did you know the majority of internet traffic comes from the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing? Proper keyword search and meta data are absolutely crucial to attracting the right customers. I like to use Yoast SEO to help give my clients the boost in google rankings they are looking for. For example, they keyword for this post is “must-haves for any website”. When someone searches for this phrase on google, this page should be on the first two pages. The difficult thing about good SEO is that it takes a lot of time and patience. Most websites will not see any improvement in their google rankings for 9-12 months after starting the due diligence.
Backup
Some of my clients elect to manage the website themselves after I design and build it for them. If you have a good computer knowledge this is absolutely fine! What happens though if something goes awry? That’s where backups come in. In my opinion, the use of Updraft Plus or a similar backup option is an absolute must-have for any website. The beauty of this free service is that you can backup your entire wordpress site on the cloud using Dropbox, amazon, and Google Drive amongst others.
Website Security
Cyber-security is all the rage nowadays (and for good reason!) Hackers love to exploit sites are not secure. Unfortunately, no website is 100% secure. One service that I use is called Wordfence. It’s a great security plugin that offers free and paid versions. The paid version is definitely worth considering if you will be storing client information and data on the site as it offers real-time threat defense, two-factor sign in authentication, and much more at a very reasonable price.
Responsive Design
A website that looks good on computers, tablets, and cell phones is crucial these days to keep your audience active and engaged. We’ve all seen websites on phones that are so tiny, it takes a magnifier glass and better than 20/20 vision to see anything. This is an example of an unresponsive design. Many websites nowadays use a responsive design, that automatically creates a beautiful, aesthetic user experience regardless of the phone or tablet someone is using.
Social Media
If your business is not active on social media you are losing tons of valuable clients (unless your clientele is specifically targeted at geriatrics with poor computer skills). Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter are by far the most popular social media sites. Facebook alone has 2 BILLION active monthly users. Not only are these platforms a great option for paid advertising, but you actively get your name out into the community for free by sharing cool photos, blogs, or general ideas.
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