Is a new website on the top of your business' to-do list in 2020? Or maybe you're just looking to refresh and revamp your existing site.
The web design and SEO playbooks have changed a lot over the last couple of years. So, if you built your last site in 2015 or 2016, you need to know a few things about today's online marketing landscape.
Here are a few things to keep in mind for your new website.
Mobile-First Indexing is the Norm
If you created a website a few years ago, you likely designed and planned your desktop site first, and then checked to make sure it looked/worked OK on a mobile device. That's not how things should work in 2020.
Google has switched to mobile-first indexing. This means you need mobile-first design, not responsive design.
Your site needs to do more than just look "OK" on a mobile device. You need it to be fully optimized for mobile CRO and SEO. Even if you don't think that your users will look at your mobile site, you need to remember that Google will.
Load Times are Massive
Speed has never been more crucial on the web, particularly in the mobile-first world. Google's speed update made your mobile site's load time a crucial component in your SEO value.
The faster your site is, the more you're setting it up to succeed in ranking with Google, as well as producing leads and sales. This means you should keep running lean at the top of the list of design considerations. Also, don't choose a cheap web host. Spend a little bit more money to host your WordPress site with a trusted and reputable host to ensure maximum speed and uptime. 5G networks and fast connections is one of the most important tech trends this year, so you want to make sure you can take advantage of this, especially on mobile.
Audit Your Link Profile
It's also important to know that your previous website's link building sins will be passed on to the new one if you're using the same URLs. Your link profile will follow you to the new site, and could doom the new site to fail before you even hit 'Publish.'
The quantity and quality of links pointing towards your domain can make or break your website. You need to know who's linking to you and why. If you have bad links out there, you're being punished for them as we speak.
Ensure this new site can rank well by auditing your link footprint with a tool like ahrefs or SEMRush. See who's linking to you and address any undesirable or spammy links right now before the new site goes live.
You can also use this tool to see what links are pointing at your competitors' sites. If one of these sites has posted a guest blog from a competitor, they may be open to publishing something from you.
It's hard to guarantee a website's success. However, you can just about guarantee a site's failure if you're not thinking about your mobile site, your load times, or your link profile. However, if you're mindful of those 3 things, you're giving your new site a rock-solid chance of performing well.
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