Building a Strong Digital Foundation: Essential Website Tips

Kristina Stubblefield: [00:00:00] Is your website built on a shaky foundation? Not sure? Well, today you'll discover why your website is the cornerstone of your digital presence and learn essential tips to strengthen it for lasting success in today's digital landscape. 

 Welcome to Simplified Solutions, your go to resource for small business owners and entrepreneurs seeking practical advice, innovative strategies, and simple solutions for business, marketing, and technology. I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield. If you're eager to take your business to greater heights, then you're in the right place.

We're here to help you unleash your business's untapped potential. Boost your visibility and maximize your investments. Let's dive into the world of simplified solutions. Stay tuned and let's simplify success together.

 Over the years, I've [00:01:00] seen so many people, businesses and entrepreneurs focus heavily on their social media strategy and content, but pay little to no attention to their website. Now, I believe that your entire online presence is important, including social media, search engines, and your Google business profile.

However, I firmly believe that your website is the cornerstone of your digital presence without a solid foundation, everything else can crumble. 

Imagine meticulously building a house, you know, with all the latest gadgets and the sleek decor, but setting it all on a shaky foundation, no matter how impressive the interiors are, the house cannot stand firm if the foundation isn't solid. Similarly, You can invest in the best social media campaigns, SEO strategies, and content plan, but if your [00:02:00] website is neglected, your online marketing efforts, risk crumbling first, let's talk about reliable hosting for your website.

Your web hosting provider is like the land your house is built on. You need a reliable and secure hosting service to ensure your website is always accessible. Look for a provider with excellent uptime. Robust security measures and a big one, responsive customer support. Trust me on that one. Also, no matter if you design your own website or you work with a website developer or a marketing agency, you want to make sure you always.

Always have your login details to access your account. Now, since I just talked about hosting, next, let's talk about secure domain ownership. And this is really important. If you've never paid [00:03:00] attention to this, please take a moment to pay attention to it. Your domain name. Your www. blank. com. net. org dot there's so many different ones to choose from these days.

That's your domain name and it should be registered in your name, not your developers, not your friends or your family members that helped you set it up. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is because whoever's name it is in owns it. If something happens. And you cannot get a hold of that person for whatever reason or worse, they pass away.

Getting access to your domain can be a lot of work. If, It's even possible. Now I know you might be thinking, okay, that's over the top. It's not. I've done this for a long time and I have witnessed firsthand. This happened to businesses over and over and over again. And guess when they found out, when their website's not working.

So having control over your domain ensures you [00:04:00] can make necessary changes and prevent potential disputes.

While I'm at it, let me tell you a quick story. I had a business that came to us, it was a couple of years ago, believe it or not, their website developer had passed away. Now there's a big story to this. It took them months to even learn that the person had passed away. They just thought for some reason they weren't getting a return email.

They weren't getting a return call, but guess what their domain. Was not in their name. It was in that website developer's name. They had tried multiple, multiple times to get access with no luck. So they were referred to us and we worked with them for a little over six months. And the fortunate news is we were able to get them access to that domain.

Let me tell you, that's not always the case, but let me also share with you. What we had to do was we had to go and purchase a. net. So they at least had a website that could be found out there while the six, seven, eighth month period went [00:05:00] on until they could secure the. com back. And then we had to go through the process of transferring everything back over.

That is something that is very frustrating as a business owner or entrepreneur, when. Someone like me or an agency or a website developer that's trying to help, you feel like your hands are tied because there's only so much you can do because whoever's name that domain is in, is who owns it and who has the rights to it.

Now, another tip I will share with you, make sure you have the name of the domain and hosting company. Not always do people have the same domain company that is their hosting company. So make sure you have it documented in an easy to access place with your usernames and passwords, as well as any other security information that's needed to access those accounts.

Now, why do I share this tip? Because most of the time when you need it. It's an [00:06:00] emergency, an example, your website is down, and you don't know why. You will need that information, especially if you do not have someone that manages your domain and website for you. Since we're having the conversation about your website being the cornerstone of your online presence, then I need to mention a couple of essential website features.

I will share with you that over the next few episodes, I am going to do a deeper dive into different aspects of your website. So you will want to tune into those episodes as well. But for now, let me mention this. Your website should have clear navigation. Fast loading times. And it must be mobile responsive, not even an option anymore.

It has to be mobile responsive. So easy to use navigation helps the visitors find what they need quickly. Fast loading times, keep them from leaving your site and mobile [00:07:00] responsiveness ensures your website looks great on all devices. Remember, usually over 80 percent of your website traffic will be from a mobile device.

So it's important that you know how your website looks to your visitors. Now, over the years of doing this, a lot of people I worked with, they're like, they're just looking at what it looks like on desktop. Which is great, but you have to know what it looks like on a tablet or a smartphone because most of the time over 80 percent of traffic is coming in on a mobile device.

So you need to know what your website looks like across multiple platforms. So since I'm sharing stories today, I'll share another one with you. Now I've worked with several businesses and entrepreneurs and all different spaces, because I've been in the marketing space for over two decades, but I'm going to share this story with you.

We worked with a small service based business. They had an outdated website. It had [00:08:00] been over five years since they had the website built and they had not made any updates since. The website loaded slowly on desktop. And to say it was not mobile friendly, that's an understatement. Their website visitors struggled to find information.

They had a list of services that they offered, but no details. So what they had was like a bulleted list of services on their website. And they didn't even offer all of the services. that were listed on their website. It also contained all the stock images. So after building them a new website with a reliable host, we did a fresh design, made sure the navigation was very easy, and we assured not only was it mobile responsive, but that it looked good, and was easy to navigate on mobile.

Their traffic increased significantly and they begin to get more qualified leads. We [00:09:00] spent time getting to know their business, the services that they offered, who their target audience was, the pain points that they addressed. And the solutions that they provided. That way we could package all of this into their new website with a call to action that they wanted potential clients to take.

I have many stories from over the years, and this topic is near and dear to me because I know the time, energy, effort, and money that is spent on multiple platforms, social media, search engines, Google business profile, videos, content. I know what all goes into that. From working with clients, but also doing it myself.

And I see time and time again, that people don't review or keep up with their website. Some know it's there, but they don't take time to make [00:10:00] sure that it stays updated and that it gets the attention it deserves. All of this content and these online strategies, social media strategies, Which are really important.

Most of the time, they funnel people to your website. That's why I say it's the cornerstone of your online presence. 

Now, I want to share some actionable tips to strengthen your website foundation. The first one I'm going to talk about is a complete review. That means you need to review each page of your website in detail and make sure what is there is accurate and up to date.

Do you still offer all of the services, packages, or products that are listed on your website? Is your call to action correct? Make a list of any pictures, videos, wording, links, logos, or associations that need to be updated or [00:11:00] added. If you are managing your own website, what you could do is make a list of all of those changes or additions that are needed.

And then get a plan together to accomplish that list. If you're doing it yourself, maybe it's doing one page at a time. Now, if you have a website designer or a marketing agency, I encourage you to share a complete list of all of the updates or changes or additions that are needed. I don't recommend sending them one piece at different times.

Normally, it is easier for an agency or a company to make all the changes at one time. But, check with your agency or developer first. Just remember, your website is the cornerstone of your online presence. You need to address this. Any of these updates that are needed on your website in a timely fashion.

The next one is ongoing regular updates. Keep your website's content [00:12:00] updated. This includes pictures, videos, services, products, contact information. Anytime you make a change in your business, including what you offer. Make sure to update your website. Backups, make sure that you have regular backups for your website to prevent data loss.

Now you need to know, does this happen automatically? Don't assume it does make sure you ask. You just want to confirm that information. Next monitor performance. There are amazing tools out there, like Google Analytics, that's free to track your website's performance. This allows you to identify areas for improvement.

These small steps can make a big difference in maintaining a solid foundation for your website. Having that strong foundation. It involves reliable hosting, secure domain ownership, and essential features. On your website, like clear [00:13:00] navigation, fast loading times, mobile responsiveness, just to name a couple by focusing on these areas, you can ensure your website supports your business goals and enhances your online presence.

Don't forget to download our handout in regards to your website domain and hosting. 

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