3 Things to Know When Building Websites

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3 Things to Know When Building Websites

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Keyword research. Many agencies and firms buy keyword research software or outsource it to a professional, to get an early indication of demand for a website. A keyword research tool can give you data on demand, but the real work is in understanding the market, finding the right keywords, phrases and combinations, and implementing them for maximum optimization. There are many tools to help with this: Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool; Wordtracker Free, an AdWords keyword tracking tool; Overture Keyword Intelligence; The Lucidchart software system; WebPro Technologies Keyword Research Tool; and Freeview URL Builder.

SEO. The first step in website build is a thorough SEO audit of your existing site. Search engine optimization is a critical component of website development. You want to ensure that your meta tags, title, header tags, descriptions, keywords and formats are relevant to the audience you intend to reach. In addition to doing proper SEO audit, do thorough competitor analysis, conduct market research on your industry, and plan out SEO strategy based on your goals and business model.

Domain name. It is usually required that you secure a domain name before embarking on website build. If your existing hosting services do not offer ssl certificate hosting services, or if you want to take advantage of the extra SEO benefits provided by an ssl certificate, then you need to purchase a domain name from a provider offering these extras.

Building and hosting services. There are a number of ecommerce website builders offered by many hosting services. The best hosting services provide all-inclusive web solutions, including analytics, design, and maintenance. These website builders help you build the entire site, create the content, manage the incoming and outgoing links, as well as providing technical support. Some ecommerce hosting services include shopping carts, SEO tracking, analytics, and custom domain names.

WordPress. WordPress is one of the most popular CMS (Content Management Systems) used today. Most ecommerce website builders feature WordPress installation as well as extensive SEO and analytics options. Most WordPress users prefer to install their own themes and plugins to customize the look and functionality of the platform.

Bounce Rate. Some website builders like WordPress also include an option to calculate your bounce rate, a percentage of visitors who leave your site within a certain period of time without purchasing. Bounce rate is a useful tool to evaluate traffic trends, especially when you are evaluating a specific niche market. By tracking bounce rate, you can see which keywords and content lead users to your site, and what percentage of those visitors leave your site within a certain time frame.

Drag-and-drop website builders. WordPress and other CMS like WordPress allow you to easily create a basic site with few, if any, graphics and text. To build websites with more functionality, however, it is often necessary to use third-party add-ons and plug-ins. Extensions for WordPress such as the All in One SEO plugin and the All in One SEO plug-in allow you to easily add various different types of Meta tags, title tags, and image tags for high-search optimization. You can also use third-party themes to customize your website’s look and feel.