After managing hundreds of WordPress websites in the last five years, I have discovered seven secrets that can help you navigate the complexities of managing your first website.
Maybe you already know that a website can expose your talent and products to a wider audience, establish your credibility, and boost your bottom line.
However, owning a website is not as black and white as most designers would want you to think. These are the designers who will leave you with a website that you don’t even know how to use.
In this article, I will teach you how to spot and avoid these first-time website ownership challenges by revealing seven critical secrets.
Are you ready?
Learn more: How to Boost Your Business with Hyperlocal Social Media Marketing
Top Secrets to Consider Before Owning Your Website
Here are the seven essentials;
1. Your goals
Every day, thousands of websites expire.
Imagine a website like Facebook.com or Netflix.com expiring. What do you think could be the reason? That’s right. It is the lack of a clear goal. That is the number one reason why many new owners give up on their websites.
You should note what you’d like your website to be about.
Some guiding principles are your passion and the profitability of the niche.
A website that reflects your passions and interests will make management more fun than work. You should also focus on a niche with a high traffic potential in order to get the most out of your website.
According to some digital marketing experts, the most profitable niches are health and nutrition, fashion, travel, technology, and fitness.
2. Familiarize yourself with these keywords
Most digital marketers agree that they had to grasp some terminologies before building their first websites. They attribute their success to knowing keywords such as domain name, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), traffic, WordPress, and plugins.
Although you can learn some of these after establishing your site, the point here is that you will know what questions to ask your designer during the development process.
Familiarizing yourself with these keywords can also increase your participation in the design process. For instance, you might suggest a domain name by yourself or you can ask the developer to research and use one that is aligned with your goals.
You may also ask for specific plugins. These are like apps that you can install in WordPress sites to extend the website’s functionalities. There are so many plugins.
If your goal is an e-commerce site, you may request the developer to install a specific plugin such as WooCommerce.
3. Know your target audience
Another common mistake that new website owners make is failing to define their ideal buyer persona. Your ideal buyer persona is the characteristics of the person who is most likely to engage with your brand, content, and products.
For instance, if you are passionate about cooking and trying out new recipes, your target audience is more likely to be females, chefs, and like-minded individuals.
Knowing your target audience can help you tailor your messages and enjoy a massive following.
You may also target your audience based on their geographical location. If you are in the fashion industry, you can target your local population or reach international markets like China, the USA, India, and the United Kingdom.
4. SEO considerations
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
During the website development process, technical improvements can be made to make your website and its contents appear at the top of search engines. These are what digital marketers call SEO.
For example, if you sell baby shoes around my area and I use Google to search “baby shoes near me,” then I should be able to see your shoe website on the first page.
Most website developers claim to design websites with this capability, but they don’t. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the significance of SEO and ask them to show you concrete results.
If you already have a website, consult your digital marketing experts.
5. Website design
Competent digital marketing experts and website designers will ask you how you would like your website to look like.
If they don’t ask you this critical question, you should hear alarm bells ringing.
Before you own a website, you should do some random research online. Visit as many websites online as you can while paying special attention to the site’s attractiveness and layout.
Compile the ones you like and share them with your website designer.
This will give you a vivid picture of what to expect from your website even when the development is still underway. Also pay close attention to the main pages of a website such as the About Us page, the Contact Us page, and the Services page.
Check out this form I created to help you contribute to our website design process.
6. Content quality
Content is King
Bill Gates
It is important to note that a website is not the end. A website is like a vehicle. You must oil, update, and keep it moving with fresh content.
However, Google has something called E-E-A-T Content Guidelines that define the level of content quality they can tolerate.
In other words, your website can be penalized if you are creating content that lacks expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
Google can deny you organic traffic. They can also not recommend your site to other visitors.
Although content is king, content quality is queen. Be ready to give your audience original, valuable, and authentic content.
Although you can use AI to produce content for your new website, marketing experts like Neil Patel and Seth Godin argue that AI does not have a human nuance.
7. Website maintenance
Contrary to popular opinion, a website is not a one-time project. It is an investment that pays off in direct proportion to the maintenance you give it.
If you leave it unattended for a long time, it will develop broken links and bugs. Even worse, your domain can expire and you might lose your brand name to someone else.
Therefore, regular maintenance of your website is crucial for it to run smoothly and efficiently. Maintainance should focus on updating content, repairing broken links, monitoring site speed, and optimizing for SEO.
This is the most hidden secret because it is the most costly. Site maintenance involves a lot of financial commitments. You may need to hire or consult digital marketing experts to help with site maintenance.
Get Your First Website Today
Having a website is a good idea if you want to position yourself as a brand or take your company online. However, there are several things that website developers may not reveal to you.
They do not know your goals or the design you like. They may also not reveal to you the secrets of search engine optimization.
You are now ready to get your first website.
Please feel free to contact us with any of your website development questions.
