We’d like to wish our WildWeb customers a happy new year and wish you all the best for 2019.
2018 was a great year for us, working on some really creative websites, clever web applications, and exciting digital marketing campaigns. So thank you for being a part of our journey, and we look forward to working with you into this new year. We thought we’d start the year off with some helpful tips for getting the most out of your online presence, and some new developments in the digital space.
Website Refresh
One of the most common questions we get asked by our long-standing customers is “how often should I redo my website?”. This really depends on a number of factors, but as a general rule, we recommend every 3-5 years. With advances in new technologies and a competitive online space, it’s easy to fall behind.
Digital Marketing
So you’ve got the awesome website, with all the bells, whistles and optimisations in place. Now what? You need a customized and conversion-focused marketing plan in place, and a team to drive it. That’s where we come in.
We can design a marketing solution to help reach your ideal audience and potential customers on the web. Using tools like social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, partnerships, and organic exposure, we help you connect with potential customers online.
Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is the placing of tags within the code of each page of your website, which Google and other Search Engines utilize for ranking purposes. These tags contain keywords and information that help search engines to determine what the content of your website is relevant to. We choose key phrases with high search volume and low competitiveness to ensure your site gets the best organic search results. Some agencies recommend reviewing your site’s current SEO on a monthly basis. At WildWeb we think it’s good practice to refresh this at least every six months.
New Technologies
Open Graph tags are similar to the tags we use for SEO, except instead of being used by search engines they are used by social media sites. Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp use these tags to optimise the way your site is shared online. It’s helpful to have these installed if your marketing includes a social media strategy.
Google Analytics E-Commerce Conversions are a great technology that allows you to track “conversion metrics” on your site. Whether it’s filling in an enquiry form, purchasing products, or creating an account, we can measure how many of those conversions are made, and where those users came from so that you can optimise your marketing spend.
Some Important Warnings
There are three issues we need to bring up with our customers who have older websites:
- MySQL has been depreciated in the latest version of PHP. This means that if you have a content management system which is pretty old, it will stop functioning in the next few months. We can’t stress how important this is, so if you have a suspicion your site may be affected, please contact Jono asap.
- SSL encryption is now a factor that Google uses for SEO performance. If your website doesn’t start with https, then you’re being penalized in your search rankings. It’s a simple update, so it’s worth doing.
- Another factor Google is asking us to enforce is mobile compatibility. Over 58% of web traffic is now on a mobile device, so if your site isn’t optimised for phones, you’re throwing away over half of your potential customers and being penalized by Google for failing to keep up to date. If you’re unsure whether or not you’re affected, you can use this link to see how your site rates.
