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Will my website be on a content management system?

A content management system (CMS) means that any content or SEO updates you need to make can be done immediately, easily and usually by yourself - with a little training. If you don't have the resources to do it yourself, ask the website company to tell you how much they charge. Most will charge a monthly fee even if you don't make any changes.

A CMS website will cost a little more to build but if your business is one where you'll need to update the website regularly then that initial extra outlay will soon pay for itself.

Not having a CMS website means that if you need to make any changes whatsoever, then the website developers will need to do it for you and they will charge according to the time it takes and your cheap web design just got more expensive.

Will the URLs of my website be both user and search engine friendly?

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are the addresses of the pages of your website on the World Wide Web.

If they are user friendly, they will be easier to remember. The following are called dynamic URLs meaning the website is built on a database. If your URLs look anything like these, you'll have a problem from the outset:

page.aspx?PageID=00
page_id=brand&brandid=00&desc=mywebsite
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=00
product.php?categoryid=00&productid=00

Search engines are known to index the content of dynamic pages a lot slower than those of static pages but, more importantly, could you remember those? Dynamic URLs can easily be rewritten to static but most website designers simply don't bother.

Capitalisation of text in the URL is not considered good practice - users shouldn't have to guess or remember whether or not a URL is in a particular case. Nor should web developers leave spaces in the URL so they end up looking like this:

this%20is%20my%20website

Will every page of my website be search engine optimised?

Most developers pay scant regard to search engine optimisation. Most e-commerce websites fail simply because the owners fail to include SEO in their marketing plan.

How many times have you seen the company name followed by the word 'Homepage' when you've beeen searching the web? Those websites have not been professionally search engine optimised.

A lot of web designers simply have the same Title and Description on every page. This is basically telling the search engines that every page has the same content.

Web pages that are properly structured to make it obvious what they are about, and the keywords and phrases associated with them, will rank better than those that are not. H tags are an important element on the list of things to help your website rank higher in the search engines and they need to be properly implemented.

How much control will I have of the Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions of my website?

You need total control.

It's the combination of the Title and Description Meta tags that most people see in the search engine results (SERPs) pages. Combined, they are a free advertisement for your website.

The Meta Title tag is crucial for search engines and remains one of the most important elements of search engine optimisation. It not only determines how a search engine may rank the web page but most display it as the headline in their listings. So it's important to spend a good deal of time perfecting this element. And search patterns change so you need to change your tags accordingly and not pay through the nose every time.

You could end up paying dearly for a cheap website design both in lost business and putting things right.

Miami Web Design

Whether you are about to launch a personal website, or one for your small business, it's crucial that you evaluate the website before it goes live to world. Use this 10-point checklist to ensure that your website is user-friendly, looks professional and reflects your personal or business brand:

1. Branding
The look of your website, as well as its content, must be consistent with your brand. You should be using the same logo, type font and color palette across all your marketing collateral, including your website. When a potential customer sees your company's billboard, magazine advertisement, or brochure, and they then head to your website, what you don't want is the customer thinking that they've come to the wrong website. If your website looks nothing like your company's branding the visitor will get confused and just click away. It's critical that you focus on the branding of your website as you would do with any other marketing collateral. What makes large companies so successful is that their branding is consistent across their product packaging, their websites, and their advertising.

2. Layout
It impacts the usability of your website. When designing the layout for your website you need to make sure that all the elements are in a logical order. This is especially important if you are trying to get your visitors to buy products or services. Think like your customer when evaluating your website's layout. Don't make it difficult for your visitors to find information or make an online order.

3. Load Time
While most of your visitors will have high-speed Internet access, you should remember that connectivity speeds can vary. It's important to be aware of file sizes, image sizes and total load time of your website. A good tip is to try and test how long it takes for your website to load using different connectivity speeds and devices.

4. Errors
If links in your website take your visitors to 404 Error pages, your visitors will walk. Make sure all of your links are working correctly and pointing in the right direction. Test all the internal and outbound links prior to launch. Google provides webmasters with tools to identify dead links.

5. Advertisements
Visitors will usually forgive a website for having an advertisement here or there. However, if the website is 80% advertising and 20% content, the likelihood of visitors returning is slim. Be aware of the amount of advertising on your site. Remember that your visitors have come to your website looking for information, and your products and services. They have not come to just read someone else's ads.

6. Navigation
Have you ever been to a website and just didn't know where to start? Make sure your navigation is user-friendly. Plan the navigation for your site by anticipating how visitors will interact with the different elements that make up your site. Visitors just don't have the time to tangle with a site that looks like a maze. Make it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for and you will be repaid with repeat visits and online sales.

7. Purpose
There is a purpose to every website. It could be selling a product or service or trying to get people to sign up for a membership program. If it's not clear to your visitors what they should be doing on your site, they're not going to do what you want them to do. Test this out with friends, family and colleagues. Have them visit your demo site and then ask them what they think they're supposed to be doing there.

8. Annoyances
Don't add any unnecessary widgets, flying saucers, mouse trails, pop-up ads or other 'cool' features. Keep it simple. If it doesn't complement the visitor experience, your site won't need it.

9. Audio & Video
Remove any auto play multimedia elements from your site. Give your visitors the choice to listen to music or watch videos. Never have any website elements that will intrude on the visitor's experience.

10. Quality
Your website should have an overall feeling of quality. The writing should be strong, informative and grammatically perfect. The visual look of your website should have style. If you are not known for your style, you might want to get a professional designer in to give your website a stylish finish.




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