Web Hosting Blog

1. Optimise your site speed

If you have a content-rich index page or feature multiple hi-res images, make sure they’re optimised for the web. There are also various browser plugins and online tools you can use to test your page loading speeds. Social media plugins can slow down your site a lot, so make sure you only include buttons visitors actually use.

Bonus tip: Try to host scripts and images on your own site. Otherwise, if an external site is slow or down, it will impact your page speed times. It helps to keep the number of plugins, hacks and add-ons you use to a minimum.

2. Pay attention to tone

Visitors will get their first impression of you and your website in a few seconds, so if the first thing they see is a cheesy photo of you or a clichéd tagline, they’re going to be put off.

Bonus tip: Talk directly to your visitors to avoid coming across as cold – use ‘you’ and ‘your’ to make it more personal, and ask questions where appropriate.

3. Avoid excessive advertising

…especially pop ups. In particular, avoid running ads with sound and monitor them closely to ensure they don’t crash browsers or break your website. Too many ads can affect your search engine positions as Google factors into account the ratio of ads to other content on your page.

Bonus tip: Integrating your ads into your content effectively can add that element of trust and lead to a higher CTR (click through rate), so avoid having them float around your sidebar if you can.

4. Keep your site clean

Even if you’re not the best web designer in the world, keeping your design clean and avoiding attention-seeking animations will give visitors a good first impression. It’s important to get the balance right and inject a little personality into your homepage design too though; you don’t want your website to look abandoned or boring.

Bonus tip: Keeping your site simple will also help optimise its speed.

5. Check your spelling and grammar

Spelling and grammar aren’t everyone’s strong point, so proof read your content in an editing program, glance over it once it’s live on your website, and then get a friend to check it over for good measure.

Bonus tip: It helps if you know what your weaknesses are so you can look out for those whenever you write something.

6. Keep it simple

Giving your visitors too many options can be a bad thing, especially on the homepage. Make it clear what your website is about and what you offer at a glance. Even if you have lots of links, make sure they’re clearly laid out and follow a theme or purpose, for example directing visitors to relevant blog posts or sales pages.

Bonus tip: Avoid eye-catching links to other sites from the homepage if you can, because visitors are more likely to leave your website without investigating further.

7. Keep an eye out for broken links

Make sure all your links are correct. You can monitor these in Google’s Webmaster Tools, or if you’re running WordPress try the Broken Link Checker plugin.

Bonus tip: Make sure you create an attractive 404 page with a clear call to action so if your visitor does end up on a broken page, they will know where to go/be able to find something else of interest on your site rather than just closing it.