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# 5 Common Mistakes When Making a Website
5 Common Mistakes when Making a Website
!Whether you are building a website for the first time or working on your hundredth site, it’s important to follow best practices. As creators design, develop, and write for new websites, they focus on the main content and eye-catching page layouts. However, they can fall victim to a few common mistakes that entrap many website creators.
##### **Here are 5 mistakes that website builders tend to make:**
### **1. You Make It Too Complex**
When creating a new website, it’s important to find the balance between complex and simple designs. New businesses often sway too far to the complex side and present an interface that fails to meet consumers’ demands. Users want an easy experience and to find what they are looking for quickly. You should focus on clearly displaying your offerings and your contact information without overcomplicating the user interface.
#### **What are some examples of complex designs?**
All in all, complexity can present itself in many ways. While it’s easy to spot a page that is obviously trying too hard, there are times when designs follow best practices and are still not user-friendly. For example, you want your hero to show your offerings and the reason customers should be drawn to you; but, a hero that shows five different services with multiple descriptions may overwhelm potential customers. Instead, you can strategically utilize whitespace to draw readers to specific text or images without putting too much on the page. Ultimately, you need to remember that your readers can only process so much at once. Keeping your layout efficient while still eye-catching will lead to more reader retention and higher conversion rates.
### **2. You Overlook SEO**
 Search engines want to give users the most up-to-date and accurate information, so providing consistent, useful content is crucial for developing a trustworthy brand. From a consumer outlook, you are building your credibility by displaying your expertise. Most importantly, your efforts are quantifiable and relatively cheap compared to other ways to boost traffic.
#### **What SEO-driven content should you create?**
You should use your expertise to drive the value behind your content. If you can explain complex ideas within your industry, you can draw in customers who are looking for more clarity.
Many new brands turn to paid ads before optimizing their own pages. Even though ads play a role in driving traffic, any user who clicks on an ad will leave quickly if they do not have additional content to access. Before you spend money on advertising your offerings, make sure your customers can find the information they need on your site.
### **3. You Ignore Call-to-Actions**
Users need direction on your site. Without knowing where to go, they will leave without giving you any information or exploring other pages. Many businesses use their top navigation effectively, but overlook the importance of the other ways they can guide consumers.
#### **Strategically placed call-to-actions can push users to make the decisions that you want them to.**
You should build a pathway for readers by using call-to-actions and internal linking. Both of these tools encourage your users to explore the pages that you specifically want them to see as well as convince them to stay on your website for a longer period of time. Meaningful text within your CTAs is equally important. If you constantly use terms like “learn more,” your reader may become accustomed to the phrase and begin to scan past the CTA.
Whether it’s to contact you, make a purchase, or read more, you can use these approaches to increase user duration on the site and decrease your bounce rate.
### **4. You Ignore Mobile Users**
With , it’s important to have a mobile-friendly, responsive website. Research has shown that mobile devices also produce higher bounce rates compared to desktops, so it’s crucial that your design retains users. If they cannot get their information easily, they will leave your site.
Does this mean you simply need to resize your desktop layout to fit on a phone? Not necessarily. While it is ideal to keep your branding and structure consistent as you transition from desktop to mobile, you don’t necessarily need to bring all design elements to each screen size. If an image will not be clear on a smaller screen or if one of your modules is not adaptive, then you can adjust your layout as needed. Your goal should be to create a seamless experience that still covers the necessities while being able to adapt to the different platforms consumers may use.
### **5. You Wait to Secure Your Site**
Most browsers warn users of unsecured sites, as hackers or misleading organizations can collect your data from unprotected sites.  is a simple solution to protect yourself and your users. Search engines will also ignore sites that aren’t secured, because they do not want to put their users in harm’s way either. Securing your site will give you a fair chance at retaining traffic and ensure your users feel comfortable on your site.
Launching a new website is one of the most exciting things you can do for marketing your products or services. By avoiding common mistakes, you can create a digital experience that draws in new customers and drives your business forward.
#### **Explore Our Branding Services**
Your branding should go beyond your logo and colors. It is your ultimate message to your potential customers; it tells them who you are and what you stand for. Find out how Tiergether can help you build a strong brand.
#### **Get Started with a New Website Design**
Whether your website is your main driver of sales or is an information hub for your customers, you need a site that connects and informs. Find out how Tiergether can create a digital experience that will take your business to the next level.
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# Why SEO Matters and Where to Begin
Why SEO Matters and Where to Begin
!Figuring out why SEO matters starts with understanding how search engines work. Whenever you type an inquiry into Google, there are over 200 factors playing a role in determining what pages will display on your screen. Google scans entire websites – both their content and their structure. While these scans look at everything from keyword usage to interstitial pop-ups, it’s important to focus on the factors that play the biggest role in determining your rankings.
##### **Improving your rankings is an evergreen practice. Start with optimizing a few key factors.**
When ranking your site, Google gives preference to responsive design, a fast page speed, internal and external links, desirable content, an accessible website, and a high amount of traffic. Improving these factors will boost your rankings on Google.
### **Where to Begin With Your SEO**
Making sure your website design is responsive to different platforms, including screen sizes such as mobile, tablet, and desktop, is a good first step. You can evaluate your mobile responsiveness by simply going to your website on your phone. Are there things that are hard to click? Is it taking you too long to find something?  Over 58% of website traffic is mobile. Nowadays, people have smaller devices and want to find things quickly.
This leads us to the next factor: speed. Speed is crucial to your site’s ranking and conversions. Ever been on a site that just doesn’t load? It is likely you considered leaving before being able to scan all of the information available.You can greatly improve your page speed simply by optimizing the size of the images you use and the interactive elements on your site. You can use Google Page Insights to test your page speed and the optimization of your site.
### **What else can you do to improve your site?**
As you enhance your design and structure, you can also focus on your content. This goes beyond just providing valuable information for readers. Google is looking at related keywords to the topic you are writing about, links to internal and external pages, and even when other sites reference yours.
Here are some of the factors that go into evaluating content:
* Keyword use
* Title tag optimization
* Originality and usefulness
* Linkage
* Multimedia accessibility
**Keyword Use**
##### By targeting popular keywords in your industry, you can attract potential customers through Google and other search engines.
**Title Tag Optimization**
##### Properly structured content can improve your rankings on Google. Use title tags to separate sections of your posts and pages.
**Originality and Usefulness**
##### You should create content that uniquely answers specific questions that readers are asking about your offerings.
**Linkage**
##### Google bots scan for both external and internal links. Focus on developing content that links to other sites and that outside creators will want to reference.
**Multimedia Accessibility**
##### Your images and videos should have descriptions that explain what the multimedia shows and is accessible to those who may not be able to view the media in its entirety.
While it would be nice to produce a brand new assortment of high-ranking content over night, it’s not a feasible option for improving your SEO. It is often good practice to revisit existing content and blogs. By reworking text or paying close attention to content hierarchy via organization of your headers, you can make the text more scannable by both search bots and readers. Here’s a quick 101 on headers:
* The title of the entire page with related keywords should be an H1.
* Subsections of the page should use H2 tags.
* You should use H3 tags to highlight sub-points within your sections.
The optimization of your site shouldn’t end with content and structure but should extend into enhancing your intake forms, expanding your offerings, and finding new ways to connect with your customers. However, if you can boost the time your consumers spend on your site, you are more likely to convert them into customers.
### **Does SEO really matter?**
In short, yes. It’s estimated Google receives about 40,000 searches every second, which results in about 5 billion searches per day and about 2 trillion global searches per year. Therefore, finding your way to the top of these searches can drive your business exponentially. If you think users will find you regardless of your ranking, you may be disappointed. The first five organic results account for 67.60% of all the clicks from searches.
Improving the factors that increase Google rankings combined with following best practices for design will lead to having a site that users will not only find but also want to stay on. Google values websites that serve as subject matter experts. As you develop that reputation with both search engines and your users, you will build your customer base and your ranking.
Ultimately, moving up on Google’s results means more users will see your site. This can have an exponential effect on your business. Increased exposure leads to more potential customers looking at the site. As more people view the site, Google gives you more preference and your rankings improve even more.
Even though it can be tedious to adjust the structure of every page, it will be beneficial in the long run to meet Google’s everchanging standards. It’s not possible to bring all your pages to the forefront of every Google search. However, you can continuously improve your rankings by optimizing individual pieces of your site. Search engines will drive your business, and with Tiergether’s help, you can optimize your pages to best improve your rankings.
# Don’t Launch Your Site Before Doing This
Don’t Launch Your Site Before Doing This
!Launching a new website is an exciting step in the process of elevating your business. While you are probably eager to launch it as quickly as possible, it’s important to make sure your site meets a handful of criteria before presenting it to your potential customers.
Make sure your site:
* Clearly defines who you are and what you offer
* Gives users a way to contact you
* Is organized and guides users
* Is secured with an SSL certificate
* Has valuable keywords, meta descriptions, and content for SEO
* Is visually appealing for your target consumers
### **Define Your Brand**
As you go throughout the website creation process, your design will likely become increasingly complex. While this isn’t an issue, your main information may get lost in the shuffle. If you want to attract and retain new clients, it’s important to clearly define your brand name and your main offerings.
Your top navigation and hero section of the homepage are perfect initial areas to cover this core info. Your navigation should display your logo, brand name, and main pages organized in a way that connects with your potential customers. In your hero, you should use language that defines your purpose and attracts further action.
Of course, branding shouldn’t only be confined to these areas. Other notable places to showcase your branding include the footer, multimedia shown on pages, and even the stylistic choices you make.
### **Give a Way to Communicate**
Your site is the ideal connection between yourself and your consumers. By providing a link and form to get in touch with you or your contact information for users to reach you, you can facilitate that communication. Whether you are directly selling a product, pushing customers to your sales team, or building a subscription list, your pages should provide adequate ways to take action. Depending on what you hope to gain, you may need to adjust your forms or gear them to specific pages, but at the minimum, you should try to collect email addresses to continue the conversation away from your site.
Many modern brands are utilizing chatbots to expedite this communication onsite and give consumers a sense that they are a top priority. If you have the team to manage this communication or are using an automated bot like  or , great. However, if you have a chatbot that is not responding quickly or optimized to guide users correctly, your potential clients may be deterred from communicating in other forms as well. Regardless of how you communicate, make sure you are doing it efficiently and in a way that makes your customers feel valued.
### **Guide Your User**
Whenever someone visits your site, they should be given some guidance. Of course, they are usually looking for specific information; however, you can impact their journey with links, call-to-actions, and an optimized navigation menu.
Internal links should connect the reader with related content that provides additional value and furthers them along their buyer’s journey. While you shouldn’t add a link to every word you type, connecting pages to existing content will increase your SEO ranking and encourage consumers to stay on your site longer.
You can include  to ensure they are taking the next steps you desire, whether that is contacting you directly or providing their information for a subscription. An enticing call-to-action can encourage readers to view specific pages, connect with sales, or even purchase products directly.
Finally, it’s important that your navigation menus are organized and allow users to explore without getting frustrated. Additionally, you can add a sticky navigation that always provides access to your library of pages. If your potential customers are unable to find what they are looking for, they will seek out a competitor that gives them exactly what they want.
### **Secure Your Site**
If you’ve ever been greeted by “This Site is Not Secure” or “Your Connection Is Not Private,” you understand the desire to click away as quickly as possible. The good news is there is a simple solution for removing that message and ensuring your consumers feel comfortable using your site. Installing an SSL certificate will guarantee your users that their information is protected, and it can even improve search engine ranking.
There are additional measures you can take to safeguard private data. With any webpage, you need to adhere to local cookie policies and laws. If you are collecting form submissions, using a form validation, whether it’s a checkbox or choosing which images have a stoplight, can ensure your clients that their accounts will be protected. And finally if you are creating an ecommerce shop, encrypting and removing credit card information will deter hackers from trying to steal customer data after someone makes a purchase.
### **Understand Your Keywords and Content**
Knowing what search terms are leading people to your site can reveal the keyword and content opportunities available to you. When creating blog posts or new pages, you will want to use and target the keywords that potential clients are searching for. Especially if you are an unknown brand, your best bet to get in front of users is utilizing proper SEO terms to improve search ranking and drive traffic. This doesn’t mean stuffing pages with keywords. It is important to incorporate key target words naturally within the text of your pages.
##### **Your content should display your expertise and answer the questions your customers are asking.**
Before you create content, you should utilize the data you have available. If you are creating from scratch, you can see what pages competitors are ranking for. If you are re-doing your own site, you can look at past data to see what search terms are driving people to your site. By understanding what questions they are asking and what they are searching for, you can curate content that directly answers them and improves your ranking on Google.
Beyond creating pages and posts that show your understanding of your industry, it’s also important to include explanatory alt titles and meta descriptions. Both of these elements can help Google crawl your pages as well as improve your site’s ADA compliance practices. By perfecting alt titles and meta descriptions, both web crawlers and users will get a better understanding of your business, which will improve user experience as well as increase your exposure through search engines.
### **Make Sure Your Site Is Visually-Appealing**
Though it may seem obvious, designing for your targeted consumer is the best way to encourage your users to stay on your site longer. For example, if you are running a direct-to-consumer ecommerce shop, it doesn’t make sense to bury your products below introductory material. On the other hand, if you are designing to drive newsletter subscriptions, you will want to display your expertise and writing style.
Order of content is only one element that needs to be taken into consideration. The colors and images that you choose can also help retain readers. By choosing consistent colors and engaging images, you are increasing your chances of having more pages viewed within your site.
##### **If your website is not captivating, you will lose potential customers who are drawn to sites that are more likely to catch their eye.**
Your website is the bridge between your consumers and your offerings, and you’ll want to have it up as soon as possible. Still, you need to prepare before launching it. By refining the user experience, securing the site, and optimizing it for search engines, you are giving yourself the best chance to succeed.