Essential website questions business owners ask first (2025)
Rachael in a white blazer jacket and black top on a photo shoot with some gorgeous samples and cream roses
In this article:
What makes a great website? A big and essential question that you should be asking as a small business owner. From boosting your organic search traffic to making your site feel more polished, trustworthy and user-friendly, there’s no shortage of moving parts when it comes to building a website that actually works for your business.
This article is part of our ongoing Q&A series where we answer your most pressing website and content questions. Each week, we unpack a range questions on topics all relating to websites for small businesses — from SEO and design decisions to tech tips and content strategy — to help you get more from your website and attract more of the right visitors.
Let’s dive in and don’t forget to check back for further questions in subsequent weeks — we’ll be keeping this updated as a rolling blog.
Wildings is a website designer for small business. We are based in Torquay and offer website design for interior designers and garden designers. We work from Devon with small businesses across the UK. This is our series in which we answer all your website questions, with weekly tips and advice on how to get the best out of your website, specifically developing blog content that attracts visitors and helps you get found by search engines.
1. Website design questions
Whether you’re building your first website or looking to improve what you’ve already got, knowing where to focus your energy can be overwhelming. In this section, we tackle the website design questions — like what makes a site feel professional, how to attract the right clients and whether it’s time for a redesign. From how to make your site give potential clients more confidence, to why yours might not be bringing in enquiries, we aim to get at the nub of issues, giving you a steer. You'll find insights on how to improve your branding and messaging, how to guide visitors through your site and the essentials to attract and convert the right clients.
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The first thing to do is to take that pressure off yourself. We all need to make sales as small businesses, but staying relaxed and focussed will help. Trying to sell in a state of high anxiety and stress doesn’t build the trust and connection you need to generate sales.
Overall, this is a big question with quite a lot of elements that go into it, but here are some pointers.
1. Are you telling people about your website and products?
It sounds obvious, but you have to tell people consistently and repeatedly about your products or services and where they can find them (i.e., you website!).
Putting up a website and expecting people to find it doesn’t work unless you have a large amount of momentum from lots of high quality content on your blog.
People need to know what’s on offer, where to find it and an incentive to visit your website, so don’t go thinking this will happen as if by magic with no action on your part. (Sorry to be brutal!)
2. How effective is your copy and messaging?
Check your product descriptions, copywriting and and overall brand messaging - are they up to scratch? By that I mean, are you focused on impact and benefits to your ideal clients or do you just list features?
It’s critical with you website that you give a sense of the transformation that people can gain from your product or service. What’s the compelling reason for choosing what you’ve got?
3. How easy or hard is it to buy from you?
Making it as easy as possible to buy your products or engage your services is vitally important. Any friction along the way will erode how effective you are are selling.
Review the purchasing journey on your website and check for any friction right up to the point of purchase. Is there anything that people see or experience that would cause them anxiety or uncertainty?
For example, we lost a sale recently because there was a glitch with a payment form. The customer was very keen to buy, but once we’d resolved the technical hitch, the moment had passed.
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Listen to those feelings as our intuition is often right and can tell us a lot. However, let’s also be objective and check some data so that we can get impact and know what we are doing is getting the results we want.
Here are some tips:
1. Ask previous clients
The most effective approach by far is to ask previous clients. They are the people who know you best and with whom you’ve built up the most trust. If you’ve helped them in the past they will be more likely to want to invest in helping you (but make sure you get the balance right).
Based on what you know, as far as you are able to, give them one question or one thing to look at. Make it simple and obvious - don’t expect the world from them as they won’t have the same knowledge or experience as you.
Avoid overloading people, so keep your question to one thing, otherwise people will baulk at it or won’t give you what you want.
2. Submit your site to Google
Does Google know about your site? Yes, Google does crawl new sites or pages eventually, but not straightaway. You’re much better off submitting your sitemap to Google via Google Search Console to kick start the process.
By submitting your site to Google it will prioritise crawling it and then can index it which then opens up the door for it to be found in search results.
This process can speed up getting visible in organic searches, but be realistic - it can take several weeks, so is not an overnight thing.
3. Check your Analytics
Have you looked at Google Analytics lately? This will tell you how people are moving around your site and interacting with different pages.
Analytics can help you identify drop-offs, which occurs when a visitors exits your website at a certain point in their journey without completing the desired action.
Drop-offs can help identify areas where users encounter issues, experience poor user experience or find content unhelpful. All of these can damage your site’s performance.
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I know what you mean! These are alerts from Google Search Console which notifies you of errors or issues found on your site when it crawls and indexes your pages.
It tends to focus on three areas: mobile usability issues, server errors and URL crawling/indexing (including page not found) problems.
Generally speaking these errors tend to be small, non-critical errors so there is no need for concern. However, it’s important to keep on top of them, as if you let them get out of hand, they can cause you problems.
Here are the key things to look out for:
1 1. Page not found
A page not found (404) error is probably the most important one because it means that a visitor and Google wasn’t able to view a page. This can impact you SEO, so you want as few of these as possible.
Practically, work your way through the list from Google and create a redirect (URL mapping in Squarespace) so that people and Google’s experience is not disrupted anymore.
2. Not indexed
This is quite common, whether the page has been crawled or discovered but not indexed. This means that Google is aware of it but for one reason or another has not yet added it to its index - this means it won’t appear in a search result even though it is live.
On certain websites, some pages are hidden by default. These are often ‘admin’ pages or where there is no reason that they should be indexed. For example, in Squarespace the Cart and Checkout page are blocked from being crawled by default - it makes no sense and is a privacy issue if there were to be.
If there are others in the list, work through them as above and then request that Google revalidated them in Google Search Console.
Lastly, if you notice pages that are consistently not being indexed over a long period, this could mean that they are low quality, i in which case improve the content or remove and redirect them.
3. Google isn’t perfect
Sometimes no matter what you do these errors don't go away. Some you can’t fix very easily or they simply disappear on there own.
Often it's not a deal breaker (apart from the couple I mentioned above) so don't stress about it. Keep an eye on Google Search Console at least once a month, work through the lists it produces and revalidate fixes you’ve made when you're done.
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There comes a point in your small business journey at which you need to engage seriously with stats on your site, if you want to get the most out of it.
You can certainly bumble along without looking at them, but you'll never really know if what you're doing is helping, hindering or just unhinged.
Here’s where to start:
1. Google Search Console
Google Search Console helps you understand and improve how people get onto your site (it’s primarily a SEO tool, and a very good one at that).
It's free, generally intuitive and has excellent bitesized insights that you can use to make incremental changes on your site.
We tend to use GSC the most because it helps us write new content, develop existing pages and drive organic search traffic to our site.
2. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is another free tool from Google which tells you what people do once they're on your site. (Note the difference with GSC).
it's good for improving the user journey around your site and optimising your site for sales, so particularly handy for online shops that need to get much more granular with this aspect.
it's very data heavy so can be quite overwhelming at first glance.
Try to dip into it regularly and build up your knowledge rather than trying to get on top of it in one go.
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It can be tricky to know when it's time to redesign your website, as it is a big and costly undertaking.
However, there are definitely some right and wrong moments which we cover below!
Overall, my main criteria for redesign a website is - do you or are you going to use it? If you’ve never touched your website since you last got it done, realistically, are you going to get to grips with it this time?
To get the most out of your website, you need to see it as a tool, and that means using it. The best websites are the ones that are constantly evolving with new blog articles, fresh portfolio pieces and serving the marketing goals of the business in general.
That aside, let’s start with good reasons for redesigning your website:
Your visuals & layout are outdated - sadly websites don’t have an indefinite shelf life. Three or four years is about average after which they start to look quite tired and outdated (fashions, trends and businesses change very quick these days)
You've changed your business goals or rebranded - this is a very good reason for redesigning your site, as what it says simply doesn’t match what you do any more or who you are
It's not performing satisfactorily - this is often the case if you did your site yourself but have subsequently grown and developed as a business; you’ve realised that you need expert skills to get the right aesthetic, message and impact
There are also some big red flags that signal when it’s best not to redesign a website or leave it to another time.
When not to do it...
1. Because you're bored or 'just feel like it' - you need to have a legitimate reason for a redesign otherwise it’s a big waste of time and energy. If you’re constantly twiddling with it, ask yourself why, and whether there are underlying reasons - for example, lack of clarity about an area of your business (that a business coach can help with)
2. When you're unsure of your audience or services/products - this is a critical one: redesigning your website with out sorting out fundamentals won’t solve your business woes. You need to have clarity and a direction before a redesign, otherwise it just won’t get the impact you want
3. Because someone else has and you feel jittery - I’m afraid this is life, but it’s still not a good reason for a redesign. The first thing you need to ask is whether you are attracting and engaging your ideal clients. Are you winning sales? If so that’s a good sign. If not, you need to understand why. Launching into a website redesign with those insights won’t automatically help.
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This is a very pertinent question.
Before I get into the specifics, in order to attract clients, your website needs to appear in organic search results on Google. This requires plenty of high quality, relevant content that answers the questions people put in Google. If people are not finding your site in search results first, the type of pages on your website is irrelevant - see the section below on SEO for more on this aspect.
Aside from content, here are a few of the key pages:
1. Homepage
It may seem obvious, but is your homepage being as effective as possible? The best ones will have gorgeous, unique branding that catches the eye and give a helpful overview of all the important things a client needs to see and read
2. Services page or pages
Again, this needs to be orientated towards your visitors not an exhaustive list of all the things you do and what’s included.
It needs to be all about the client, solving their problems and offering transformation (not blowing your trumpet).
Also, less is definitely more - if you throw the kitchen sink at your service pages, all you will do is cause decision paralysis and put people off with thje sheer volume of information.
Remember that clients only need to know enough information to take the next step - other details can come later in the process. Don’t give in to the temptation to overload your pages!
3. A attractive, curated portfolio
A portfolio is a key part of a good website, as it demonstrates how you've achieved great results for similar clients.
The adage with portfolios is ‘like attracts like’ so the more you have of one type of work, the more similar work you will attract.
If you don’t want to do a certain type of work, don’t put it in your portfolio - even that means showing less overall.
4. About page
Believe it or not, an about page is often the most popular page on the whole website.
It’s a key way to help people connect with you and build trust. In the digital, online environment, people want to know with whom they’re engaging.
As above, don’t fall into the trap of making the about page all about you and self indulgent. Frame it to show how you help potential clients.
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Designing your website on a desktop without checking it for mobile or tablets is a DIY and rookie mistake.
More visitors than ever these days view websites on small screens, so you need to ensure that your designs look right.
Here are some tips to ensure your content looks good on mobile.
1. Use a website builder platform
Website builder platforms like Squarespace automatically adjust your pages for viewing on mobile screens.
By using one as your starting place, you’ll take away a lot of the headaches, as it will adjust most elements, sections and blocks for small screens.
2. Toggle and test the mobile view
Use your site's in-built tools to toggle views so that you can see the layout, spacing etc. on mobile screens.
In Squarespace (version 7.1) this is the small arrow in the top right hand corner of the screen. If you’re using the older 7.0 version, it’s on the left-hand side.
As you do this, adjust your design and layout accordingly and repeat the process.
There will come a point where you need custom code to get everything just so. If that's not an option, keep things simple for the time being.
3. Approach a professional designer
If the tweaks for mobile screens are beyond you, approach a designer to see what can be done.
The way to get the most out of this and most value for your money is to see what can be done per hour, half day or full day.
You’ll need to give a website designer a clear brief and list of what you want, so have this all written down so that they can give you an accurate estimate.
If you are using Squarespace, make sure that you look for a specific Squarespace designer, as not all platforms are the same.
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Every small business owner wants their website to look and feel professional and trustworthy. As you can imagine, there are a number of things that go into this.
Some of the big things first that will help you achieve a professional and trustworthy feel:
Beautiful, visually-coherent branding - this really sets the tenor for the whole customer experience and will give you the confidence to put your brand into the market
Brand messaging that speaks to clients' specific problems & offer impact - don’t make it about you! Demonstrate that you can help solve people’s issues; that’s all they care about: are you the one who can help?
Loads of personality though branded photography & a sense of what it's like to work with you - this excites, inspires and helps people imagine themselves going through the process with you and getting a great outcome
Helpful tips, advice and information on a regularly updated blog - chronically overlooked, blog content shows that you know what you’re talking about; are trustworthy as you are not afraid to give away some value; plus there’s something going on (a very quiet website can be offputting)
Small things that also make contribution and shouldn’t be overlooked in the quest:
No broken links - such a basic step with a website - like turning up for work on time - so there’s no excuse for dud links
Buttons that work - as above, there’s simply no excuse plus you’re squandering opportunities to lead people further on their journey around your website
A confirmation note when you enquire - this is one of my favourites; it’s very helpful to get an e-mail confirmation so you’ve got something to refer back to and the confidence that your enquiry has got to the right place
No placeholder text, images or template bumpf - as above, no excuse for seeing these things when a website goes live; it makes you look lazy and slapdash
Easy to find in Google and loads quickly
Read more: 5 tips for a more professional & less DIY website
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It's important that your website pulls its weight in your business, as it's a key marketing and sales tool. Bringing in enquiries or generating sales is one of the key tasks of your website, so if it’s not doing this, it’s important to understand why and then rectify that.
A few common problems that we see include:
No or weak branding - if your business is forgettable or off-putting visually, this will turn people off immediately, stopping them in their tracks; they’ll probably bounce back to Google and look for someone else who looks like they can fulfil their expectations
Your messaging is not strong enough - your website needs to speak the language of your ideal customers, get across that you understand what' they’re going through and then offer solutions. If all you do is talk about yourself and how great you are, it won’t get impact
There's no customer journey - it’s vital that your website takes people on a journey; don’t assume they know everything and have all the answers; assume people need to discover more about their challenges and then insights into how you can help
No calls to action or examples of work - to be effective, a website needs to offer concrete action at the end of the user journey; give people a springboard to achieve the next step quickly and easily
You never update it or biog - if you want people to arrive on your website, you need to be visible; blogging about common questions your ideal customers are asking helps you get found via organic search results
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This is an important question to consider when it comes to improving your website ,as you need to balance what you spend against the impact you need.
If you have the insights and know what needs attention on yoru site, then I would say improve what you've got every time.
There is a time and a place for redesigning your website from the ground up, but my top caveat is only if your business is bringing in sales and revenue already.
If you haven’t attended to important areas like your messaging, service offerings or pricing, redoing your website won't automatically solve all your problems.
You’ve got to have your ducks in a row before undertaking a redesign, so be careful.
Read more: 5 tips to build trust with your About Us website page
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As a rule of thumb:
Clear messaging and copy that says what you do, where you’re based and how it helps people
Evidence to back up your claims in a well-curated portfolio with your ideal work - like attracts like, so you should only advertise the type of work you want to do more of, otherwise it becomes a vicious cycle
A biog with helpful articles that show you know what you're talking about - this acts as the evidence for the services you offer, helping to build trust with potential clients
On-brand messaging and imagery - great images and text working together is incredibly powerful
A clear process of how people can work with you plus an obvious way to enquire - make it easy for people to imagine undertaking the process with you and a way to help them make the decision
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A fast loading website is important for SEO and user experience. The number one way to make it faster is to optimise your images.
> 1MB is far too big.
Aim for between 250 and 400KB.
The context and location of the image will impact this. Big landscape header and hero images may need to bend the rule a bit so that you don’t lose resolution on screen.
If 99% of your images are optimised for size then that will certainly help with load speeds.
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There is no 'best' platform! The best website is the one that is updated most often - i.e., you get the most out of it as a tool and it serves the needs of your business.
Also, any website can rank well on Google if managed properly. SEO is about content first and technicalities second. Google is 'platform agnostic' - it cares more about the quality of your content.
That said, certain platforms have specialisms. Shopify is good for big online shops; WordPress is highly customisable; WebFlow & Squarespace make editing & updating easier.
First ask what you need a website to do and then match it as best you can to the platform.
Read more: How to choose the perfect website platform that works for your business
2. General website questions
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Haha, yes, these can be annoying!
There's a couple: (a) the cookie notice and (b) lead magnets.
The cookie notice is basically a legal requirement, so you can't get rid of that, although there are a few ways to make them less obstructive and bland.
Lead magnets, signup boxes and the like are a very effective way of building your maillist. HOWEVER, you need to be careful how you use and design them.
(1) Try to offer something that's obviously of value.
(2) Don't make them so massive and persistent that people click away.
(3) Consider static, embedded ones on page that are less annoying as they don’t disrupt what people are trying to do and for them to actively click to get rid of it.
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No, you shouldn’t be worrying unduly, but there are a few essentials you need, whether you’re a big or small website. Once you’ve sorted these out you can get on with all the other important things!
1. Privacy policy
This is an essential legal item and covers things like cookies and GDPR among other things.
It’s a pain, we know, but it doesn’t need to be overly long and detailed. just ensure that you cover the key things then you can put it to bed.
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has helpful documentation and templates for privacy and cookie policies. Overall, you simply have to justify why or not you put particular things in your policies etc. or leave them out.
2. Terms & Conditions, Disclaimer & registered company information
Your registered company information is definitely a legal requirement if you are a limited company. Even if you are not, it’s good to publish your trading address, if you can.
A disclaimer is a short declaration, so quick and easy to put together - you can find templates online like the privacy policy.
It’s up to you whether you publish your T&Cs, but we would certainly recommend ensuring that you highlight key items at key points with customers so that they are aware of important factors.
3. Online shop policies
These certainly are essential as if you are an e-commerce business, customers will actively be looking for information on delivery, returns and refunds.
Make sure these are highly visible as they protect both customers and you if things go wrong or customers want further interventions.
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This this going to sun silly in a way, but it's your attitude first, and then the rest will follow in due course.
So many business owners bury their head in the sand when it comes to their website: it goes from being an effective tool to an expensive artefact
If there’s one thing you would fix first I would say simplify.
Here are some examples of how you can simply your website to make it more effective:
Got 15 pages in your dropdown navigation at the top of your website? it needs to be five to six ideally. Too much choice paralyses people and makes it hard to judge what you’re good at doing.
Crammed all the information under the sun into your service page? Strip it out and include only what's most important for a client to read. You can communicate the other bits at key stages, such as when you arrange a discovery call, onboard a client or reach certain milestones in a project.
Got 10 separate services? That's overwhelming. As above, it makes it harder to tease out how you can help and dilutes your messaging. How can you condense that into three or four? You can always mention other things at other times when it’s relevant.
Using five to six different colours, fonts, textures or you name it? Pare it all back and allow your branding and aesthetic a chance to breathe and shine!
3. Website content & copywriting questions
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OK, so the first thing is that websites work on content, so, as a general rule, having stuff on your website is better than having no stuff. By content we mean webpages about what you do, blog articles with advice, images that show your business and general information about your business.
Overall, content helps people find the information and answers they need, plus it feeds into getting found in organic search results.
Keeping old stuff tends to apply more to your blog, in which you may have shared advice or tips about what you do. That content could still contain plenty of value, so you don’t want to throw it out. If it’s good, it will continue to help people find you via Google and organic search results.
However, if the advice you wrote is completely out of date and no longer relevant, than I would recommend either updating or refreshing it or removing it and creating a redirect for the page to a different page on your site.
in terms of other content such as on your services page or homepage, yes, I would definitely recommend that you keep these pages up to date and remove old content.
If you leave old content on these mission-critical pages you will harm your business; people will assume that you’re not good at what you do or not worth bothering with.
To summarise, keep old stuff or content if it’s still helpful and relevant. Update and refresh it if not. Or as a last resort get it of it, but create a redirect so you don’t get a ‘page not found’ (404) error.
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If you’re asking yourself about content that converts, you’re definitely on the right lines.
Focussing on getting results and conversions with your website is key, as it’s a tool at the end of the day and needs to pull its weight for your business.
Overall, text content and copy matters on your website, as it works alongside the visuals and photos; the two should complement and reinforce each other for the best results.
Here are a few tips to help you focus on high converting text content.
1. Brand messaging
Brand messaging is the first thing to sort out. By brand messaging we mean the words you put on page that help your ideal clients understand the value that you offer (i.e., why you’re products or services are useful) and what you believe in as a business (i.e., the values that guide how you work).
In a nutshell your brand messaging should make it crystal clear what your offer is, the impact it creates, the benefits people gain - and for whom.
Note that this is very different from a long list of what you do or features, or just blowing your trumpet about how great you are. Great brand messaging helps people gravitate to you because it’s obvious that you can solve their problems in an attractive way.
2. Use a copywriter
In an ideal world, use a copywriter who can craft your brand messaging. This is an expert who can take all those details above (what you offer, impact, benefits, value and ideal audience) and synthetise them into really engaging copy or content.
A good copywriter is worth its weight in gold and although it requires you to invest, it pays off particular if paired with great photographs.
3. If a copywriter is not an option
If you’re not in a position to take on a copywriter, don’t worry - there’s a time and a place.
In this case, you’ll have to DIY your copy, which can be done and not be a disaster, but think about working towards a time when you can get your copy done by a professional.
Focus on your ideal client's problems, how you solve them and what the transformation is.
Do it once, get it on your website and then get on with other things. Don’t constantly fiddle with it, but create a schedule to review it every six months or so and update it accordingly before you can replace it with professional copy.
P.S. Do NOT run this question through ChatGPT and use what it churns out verbatim!
4. SEO & organic search visibility questions
Getting found online is one of the biggest challenges small business owners face—but it’s also one of the most powerful ways to attract the right clients. In this section of the FAQs, we give tips on how to improve your search visibility (without resorting to jargon or quick fixes). From understanding what Google values, to creating content that actually brings people to your site, there’s pointers on how your website can show up and perform better in search results—especially for the kinds of queries your ideal clients are already typing into Google.
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Indeed - it can be a bit of a mystery, but generally there are two ways that people find or get to your website:
Direct
Indirect
Direct (or direct traffic) means that people already have your website address or know about you from elsewhere. They either type your website address in a browser or click on it via a bookmark etc. and hey presto! they arrive on your site.
Direct traffic to your website means that you’ve probably built awareness or a connection with those people already. It’s probably fair to consider them as part of your current audience.
Indirect (or indirect traffic) means that people find you in a more roundabout way. This tends to be via social media channels, organic search results in Google or perhaps an AI chatbot like ChatGPT.
The difference with indirect traffic is that it is a potentially colossal audience (not it’s not guaranteed), which is why improving your website SEO can be really valuable.
By doing this you can expose your business or sell products to 10s or 100s thousands of people compared with your direct audience.
Overall, the thing to remember here is that people don’t necessarily find you by magic; you have to be active in driving traffic or getting more visible in search results.
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For the uninitiated, AI Overview is the summary at the top of a Google search. It's based on the best webpages and includes links to those pages to find out more. Overall, you'll get more traffic if you're in the Overview.
As to how, it's simple but not easy. The No.1 thing to do is “create helpful, reliable, people first content” (Source: Google - yes, that’s right; Google is very forthcoming with straightforward SEO advice!). For me, that translates as ‘answer the question your ideal client puts in a search’.
Where do I do this? On your blog. Write well-structured & -balanced articles that tackle common questions, providing expert, trustworthy advice. Then repeat and give Google time to index the new pages.
There are a number of other subsidiary steps, but this is an overview which should give you the gist - it’s 99% about really good content that people find helpful!
Read more: Keywords: how to make your website more searchable
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This is important, but it's very easy to get completely bamboozled by analytics. Let's break it down ...
First, pay attention to Impressions on Google. Your site needs to be visible in searches to stand any chance of getting impact elsewhere. An impression means that a user saw a link to your site in a search result - i.e., the result with your webpage was scrolled into view.
Second, Clicks: you want to see the total rising over time - this means people are actually landing on your website! They saw one of your pages in a search result and then acted on that to visit it.
Third, Click Through Rate (CTR): as Impressions go up, Clicks should follow. This tells us that our content is
performing well in Searches. CTR is the ratio between impressions and clicks.
Fourth, Position: ideally, your ranking on Google should be going up. This tells you that you are becoming more relevant to your ideal clients.
Read more: Google Search Console: use free insights for better SEO
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First of all you need a plan, otherwise it’s impossible to know whether or not you're getting any impact or not, or if what you do is making a difference in completely the wrong area.
In brief, this plan needs to tell you succinctly who your ideal customers are and what they are looking for.
Then it's a case of answering these customer questions that people put in Google in your blog.
If you don't have this quality, relevant and people focussed content, no amount of fiddling with technical SEO will help your website get found online.
Even if you shell out for paid adverts, if your core website content is weak or non-existent, you may find it doesn’t convert that traffic into solid enquiries.
Read more: 10 fundamentals of SEO: our comprehensive list for a tremendous Google-friendly website
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5. Website cost, security & maintenance questions
Your website should be a reliable asset, not a source of stress. These FAQs cover the essentials of keeping your site secure and functioning, plus questions on investment (avoid overspending or getting confused by all the technical details). From understanding what you’re really paying for in a professional website, to avoiding security slip-ups, this should give you a bit more peace of mind. Whether you manage your site yourself or rely on others, the tips here will help you stay in control and make informed decisions that protect both your business and your budget.
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Sadly, no, although that would be nice!
If you want to get the most out your website you're going to have to keep it updated. By that we mean keeping your business information up to date and writing regular blogs.
If you don't do the two of these things, (a) people will think that there's nothing going on with your business as it’s a ghost town and (b) you'll start to lose visibility in organic search results.
People and Google are both attracted by what’s new, fresh and relevant. Your activity needs to follow suit if you want your website to be any good or work for you.
If you get your website done and never touch it, that's a real shame, as you're basically wasting one of the biggest investments you make in your business.
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1. Keep it updated
The best way to keep your website secure and running smoothly is to keep it updated and add content regularly.
The reason for this is because you're more likely to catch issues early. Most website problems happen when business owners never login to their website and simply leave it to fester.
If you don’t like the experience of accessing the backend of your website and that stops you from ever engaging with it, now would be a good time to consider how to resolve that.
Plus the more refresh content you add to your site the more it will help your organic search results (SEO).
2. Keep your domain safe
You should keep your domain under lock and key - literally! Make sure you're the owner and keep 2 factor authentication on at all times.
Problems arise when you discover you don’t own your domain or don’t know who was the last person who was able to access it.
Sadly there are instances where developers turn nasty if you want to take your website elsewhere and will literally hold your domain ransom.
3. Check your hosting package covers the critical bases
Make sure that your hosting package includes updates to plugins, themes and any extensions - these are areas that hackers will target.
If you opt to use Squarespace, this is all taken care of you so you don’t need to worry about scheduling backups and checking whether plugins are still supported by their developers.
It means you can get on with other important things in your business. If you do need a standalone hosting package, be sure to check that it covers all the essentials and you know what will happen in an emergency.
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This is good to know, as you want bang for your buck, but it is a bit dependent.
Overall, the bulk of what you are paying for is design expertise and your designer's time & input.
More specifically, a strong customer journey that leads people from discovering you & your brand to making an enquiry - i.e., not a pretty page, but a tool that works for you.
You're paying for someone to create the best possible shop window and experience for your business, ensuring your branding shines, brims with personality and says all the most important things that potential customers need to know.
In terms of what it should cost, think about what you want first and how valuable that is to you.
As a guide, for a service-based business, a healthy budget is around 6k. Online shops will cost significantly more plus anything large or more technical/customised.
Read more: What’s the best way to get a professional website? (part 1)
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1. Your domain
Your website domain (e.g., yoursite.co.uk) is basically your front door key.
It enables you to publish your site by connecting up your hosting; it feeds into your e-mail setup; and allows you to authenticate or verify a whole bunch of things like e-mail marketing platforms.
Lose access to your domain and you're in a world of pain.
Ensure you own your domain (not your developer!) via the registrar you used to purchase it and have Two Factor Authentication (2FA) turned on.
2. Plugins & themes
Out of date or unsupported add-ons are one of the biggest areas of vulnerability.
What often happens is that a small business adds one or several to their site, but then the original plugin developer disappears or stops supporting them. When this happens, the plugin can become a weak point for a hacker to exploit. In worse case scenarios, you could completely lose your website, all your data and very sensitive information.
Ensure you keep all themes, plugins and extensions up to date (if relevant - not such an issue if you use Squarespace as your website platform, but it is a very big weakness of WordPress sites).
6. Workshop, course & Learning Management System questions
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The key question here is understanding the difference between marketing and delivery platforms, which is to say ‘what do you need to achieve?’ and ‘what’s the best tool to do so?’.
The reality is that you may not be able to do everything with one tool or accept certain compromises.
Your website is basically your brand’s digital shop window, so tends to be more of a marketing tool. As such, it will generally be better for marketing your courses and workshops - getting people’s attention and getting them signed up.
As such, a website is better at things like: sales copy, Call To Action buttons, FAQs, maillist segment signups, and boosting your organic search traffic through long form content.
For example, if you want to rank on Google for a workshop keyword, you'll get more traction by creating blog content on your website (but point people to sign up via a button that leads to the particular platform).
A Learning Management System (LMS) is more of a specialist platform for hosting and running courses and workshops.
They tend to have extra features like enrolment, resource areas, curriculum management and more. An LMS like Kajabi may be able to do certain things a website can do, but it’s more geared up for delivering courses & workshops
You won't tend to get the same flexibility as a website to modify every aspect.
Some websites now have built in LMS features; likewise some LMS could act as a small standalone website.
The thing to consider here is how are you going to market your courses and workshops and then how are you going to deliver them. What do you need for both activities? Once you’ve resolved these questions you can then look at a website or LMS and decide to what extent it can achieve your aims.
Read more: 5 must-have features that will boost engagement on your website
7. Website & AI questions
8. Website-related questions
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This is more of a branding question to begin with, namely: how do you bring two quite diverse services together under one umbrella?
It’s certainly possible but the challenge is finding the common thread that connects the two. Once you have that common entity you can convey the overriding value and impact of both, ensuring there is consistency in coherence between them.
What you want to avoid is two competing services that don’t make sense to customers and are only there because you’re passionate about them.
Once you've found the common thread that unites all your offerings or services ( we call this your brand strategy) it becomes more obvious how to communicate it on your site.
Without the underlying brand strategy, things can become very disparate and struggle to gain impact beyond the sum of their parts.
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Yes, we definitely give Adobe Express the thumbs up.
Adobe Express is a user-friendly design tool that lets anyone create attractive (depending on your skills) social media posts and videos quickly and easily. You get a range of templates, drag-and-drop functionality, fonts, stock images and brand kits, making it useful for small businesses who want professional-looking results without needing advanced design skills.
Things we like about Adobe Express include:
Easy to use (it’s similar to Canva, so if you get on with Canva, Express won’t be too much of a leap)
Helpful drag & drop interface plus layers so you can mesh text, video, animations and audio
Free version, so your not necessarily locked into a paid Adobe subscription
Off the shelf templates to get you started quickly
Stylish animations for dynamic content that gets attention and engagement (very important on social media at the moment as markets are so saturated)
Setup your brand colours & fonts for brand consistency (meaning you can apply your brand colours with one click rather than hunting around for them every time)
Things to consider when choosing Adobe Express:
You’ll probably get more value out of it if you integrate it with the other Adobe apps that come with a Creative Cloud subscription such as Photoshop, so that you can share content across apps without leaving them
The Instagram Reel canvas is out of date - it’s no longer a square, so watch out! Your Instagram posts will not perform if you use the wrong orientations and aspect ratios
For lots of helpful Adobe Express tips & inspiration, check out Theresa Dinh on Instagram @theresa.notes
Read more: Best size for your website images, how to do it & why it’s important
9. DIY & template website questions
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1. Make use of the global styles settings area so your branding is site-wide for consistency
2. Set up & use saved sections (platform dependent) - avoids having to create from scratch every time
3. Don't go overboard with too many colours/fonts - less is more
4. Don't forget to style your footer and other low-key areas for consistency
5. Try to replace any placeholder or generic images/styling where possible so it's all aligned
Read more: How content adjacent blogging can revolutionise your SEO
