Why does your website need to keep getting better? Part 2

In the previous post, the emphasis was on tracking customer response and making modifications after studying them. There is another important aspect that you must improve at the foundational level. This is to ensure that your website comes up prominently when people search for the category of keywords defining the market you are in.

Discoverability is the first step. And that has become far more complex with the choices that people have today and the aggressive SEO tactics that ecommerce and high traffic websites deploy. So, it’s not just ranking for the right keywords but making sure that technically, all aspects of the website work.

Earlier, not having image tags and descriptions for a few of the pages may not have been a deal breaker. But today, that is evaluated as a sign of neglect. The speed with which a website loads, the mobile friendly design and relevance have combined to make website management a high priority.

You cannot afford to take your eye off the ball. But the other aspect is that automated maintenance cuts down the time required to keep websites humming along, especially with HubSpot’s advanced options.

Going beyond keywords in SEO

Make sure that all aspects of the website load – images and CSS stylesheets. HubSpot scans your website and gives you recommendations of the possible improvements and what should be implemented on priority.

Most new websites will not face the problem because it would have been tested extensively before a handover. The problem is when content changes, page extensions and structure alters over time. The problems may not be apparent immediately but the little faults add up.

Frequent layout changes without an overall structure are a bad idea. The objective should be to provide information in a logical flow that people are able to navigate with ease.

Building a better website involves development along twin tracks – along with content, improve discoverability. And finding out what works over time

Now assume that videos and audio podcasts are added to a site intermittently, without planning how they should be placed or using the right tags as well as titles. Google is not going to automatically index these changes unless they have been properly thought through.

If you have a website that goes to a global audience, find a way to keep tabs locally and test the average page load times locally in that geography. Do not assume that because the site loads quickly in your office, because it is cached, it will be the case everywhere. 

Look at where your customers are located and ensure that you have ways of finding how good the website experience is locally.

Image management has become crucial

Today, high traffic ecommerce websites have outsourced sophisticated image management services. They serve the right sized images based on the device from which the website is being accessed.

These sites not only adjust the delivery based on the device but the speed of the connection. On a site which has thousands of images, it can quickly become a nightmare to resize and place the right images within seconds.

So, it is not just image tags and descriptions. The complexity of removing images that have become outdated, or products that are out of stock is another aspect that can quickly overwhelm the team managing the site, if there isn’t a proper policy and workflows in place.

D2C sites typically face this problem when they scale. Initially, the number of orders per day could be small but as more customers make purchases, the site performance can be affected – which again drives sales down. Customers are impatient and apart from seeking a good deal, they expect a seamless experience all the way to the shopping cart and payment.

As search has evolved and changed, the way websites are built and structured has changed as well. And competition is only going to get tougher

Abandoned carts have become a headache for ecommerce sites. In some cases, there could be a genuine problem. But customers have also wised up and wait for the website to come up with a discount to complete the purchase, especially if they are not in a hurry.

How to find relevant SEO topics for your website

Once you have optimised the website with all the recommendations that HubSpot suggested, there will be a marked improvement. But the process must be repeated periodically to ensure that you do not lose the advantage.

HubSpot can make topic suggestions that get traction in your industry sector. That should be the next focus area. See how many gaps you need to fill and then systematically keep improving content. 

The way people search has changed and search engines have adapted as well. Instead of fragmented keywords, people are asking complex questions and they expect accurate answers.

Algorithms now understand the topical context behind search intent. They parse out phrases rather than focus solely on keywords.

That is one of the reasons why it helps to structure content on your website in topic clusters. Basically, it ensures that visitors can find related topics easily and the deeper they go into a topic, the more you can determine the level of interest.

The more interlinked your topics are, the better the experience for visitors. Again, it is important to keep in mind that the overall structure does not change. There should be a logical connection to drill down deeper into subjects and topics

Blueoshan can help define the structure and the way your website should evolve. HubSpot’s recommendations should be well implemented to gain maximum benefits over time. We have the experience of having built complex websites for multi million dollar companies. In each of them, there is a core trunk and branches for the information within.

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Blueoshan is a HubSpot Diamond -Tier Solutions Partner. Delivering worldwide from India.