Tutorials Archives - Scout Design Co.

How to conduct a website audit

January 28, 2022 by caitlin Leave a Comment

A website audit is a wonderful way to evaluate the overall success of your website. I’m going to break down the important areas to look at and how you can improve them. You can perform a website audit yourself with my Website Audit Workbook.

What is a website audit?

A website audit is the process of analyzing your website to determine how well it’s performing. It allows you to see what’s working well and what areas could be changed or updated in order to work better. An audit dives deep into how your website looks and functions to viewers as well as what’s happening behind the scenes.

What can a website audit do for my business?

It’s important to do a website audit regularly to make sure your site is functioning properly and helping your business grow. You’ll usually just find some small tweaks that need to be made or it can help you come to the realization that it’s time to totally refresh your site. Some ways a website audit can help you:

rank better on Google.
book dream clients by connecting to the right people
raise your rates by looking more professional
increase your sales by making it super easy to buy

How to perform a website audit

There are 6 major areas I like to look at when when evaluating a website. Go through your website thoughtfully and consider:

The overall strategy and goal

Your website should have a primary goal and a secondary goal. Typically the primary goal is turning a visitor into a paying client. For example, booking your service, joining your course, buying your product, etc. Think of your secondary goal as the thing you’d like them to do if they don’t buy from you right now. Maybe you want them to sign up for your email list so you can continue to engage with them. With your goals in mind, make sure your website is allowing visitors to perform these actions – and easily.

Do you have a call to action on each page?
Do you have an opt-in form that’s impossible to miss?
Are you offering a free piece of valuable content as an incentive to join your email list?

If you’re a numbers person, check out your Google Analytics. Is your bounce rate (the percentage of people that leave after viewing only one page) over 70%? Is there a way you can keep people on your website longer? How many people are viewing your contact page vs actually sending in an inquiry? Are you happy with that conversion rate? If not, you may need to make easier and more obvious how to contact you.

Aesthetics

Despite the age-old advice, we all judge books by their covers. And potential clients will absolutely judge you and your business on how your website looks.

Your website is an extension of your brand and should look the part. Make sure you’re utilizing your brand colors and fonts and you have unique images that represent your business. The more you stand out the more likely you are to be remembered.

Nothing screams “outdated website” more than traditional formatting and too much text. (Remember when every website had paragraphs of left aligned text and a sidebar with tiny images you could barely make out. Woof.)

Make sure you’re using a clean layout with plenty of white space – let your content breath! Try avoiding super long paragraphs. People won’t read them anyway. Instead, break up your content with images, graphics and headlines.

Messaging

Perhaps the most important part of your website is that it’s actually speaking to the right people. Your website is the place you’re making sales. If your message is not crystal clear you could be loosing clients.

This is going a bit into brand strategy and copywriting, but in short messaging answers the questions: what are you selling? and who is it for? If a viewer can’t figure out what you sell in less than 3 seconds, you may want to rework your messaging.

I always recommend touching on the feelings of your ideal audience in order to truly resonate with them. Realize that you’re not actually selling a solution to an external problem but the solution to an internal problem.

Let’s use a health coach as an example. The thing they’re selling is a health and wellness program around exercise and nutrition. The external problem they’re solving is maybe weight loss and increased energy. But the internal problem they’re solving is a lack of confidence or not feeling like the best version of yourself. Make sure you explain the benefits of your service and not just the features. Leather seats may be a nice feature on a new car, but the feeling of luxury is the benefit the customer is actually looking for. Making that shift in your message can make a huge impact on your sales.

User experience

User experience is key in making your visitors happy as well as making Google happy. (And the happier Google is, the higher you may rank in search results.) Confirm everything on your website is functioning properly. Check your contact forms, opt-in forms and broken links and ensure they’re working and redirecting as they should.

Make sure your website is easy to use and content is easy to digest. I recommend having no more than 5 items in your main navigation menu and utilizing plenty of headings and lists to make text skim-able. Other things you can do to make using your website easy:

Have social media links in your header or footer so viewers can engage with you further
Use a plugin that allows viewers to share your blog posts directly from your site
Include an FAQ section that educates potential clients further and tackles common hesitations
Make your contact page one click away
Make your price no more than 2 clicks away (if you share pricing on your site)
Make purchasing no more than 2 clicks away

SEO

We all want to be on that first page of Google, am I right? It’s not an easy feat, but there are some technical things you can do and avoid to give yourself the best chance. Definitely, absolutely, undoubtedly make sure your website is responsive and mobile-friendly. I can’t believe I even have to say it, but the number of websites I come across that require pinching and zooming to read on my phone… I swear.

Fun fact, Google will actually punish you if your site is not mobile responsive. You can also get dinged if you site loads slowly or you don’t have an SSL certificate (this means your address starts with https instead of http).

Ensuring your images are optimized/compressed to the correct sizes and have specified alt text will also keep Google happy. Alt text is the text that will appear in place of your image in the case it doesn’t load and is helpful for visually impaired visitors so they know what the image contains.

Use descriptive key words in the title and alt text of every image on your website.Key words are a major aspect of SEO and should be used throughout your content intentionally. If you want to read more about keywords and SEO, check out this blog post here. Key words should also appear in your meta descriptions.

The easiest way to find out if you even have a meta description is to Google your own website. Is there a short paragraph underneath the title? If not, you aren’t using meta descriptions and can be hurting your ranking. The Yoast plugin for WordPress makes it super simple to add one to each page as well as offers other tips on how you can improve your SEO.

Legal

The legalities of operating a website may be boring, but they are necessary and, fortunately, easy to take care of. Your website needs to have a Privacy Policy if you are collecting any personal information via a contact or opt-in form. Many times a Privacy Policy will cover cookies but it’s not a bad idea to have a banner addressing cookies as well. You also want to include a copyright in the footer of your website so all of your content, images and design are protected and can’t be used by anyone else without your permission.

Download the Website Audit Workbook

I’ve made it super simple to perform your own website audit. Download my free workbook and evaluate the key factors in each area of your website. You’ll end up with a score that lets you know exactly where you stand and easy improvements you can make today. If you’re interested in a fresh, new site I’d love to hear from you! Contact me to get the conversation started.

Download the Free Workbook

How to Choose SEO Keywords

March 12, 2019 by caitlin Leave a Comment

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the number of visitors to your website through organic search results.

The goal with SEO is to be found by your ideal audience as they search the internet for what you offer.

Good SEO = High ranking on Google search results

Google’s mission is to provide the best results for any given search. And it defines what websites are best by their relevance and authority.

An SEO strategy involves making improvements (boosting relevance and authority) to each page and post on your website. These improvements then increase your ranking and hopefully bring more traffic to your site.

What is an SEO keyword?

There are several factors that contribute to a successful SEO strategy. Check out my blog post here to read about these factors and how to implement them into your site.

Authority can take time to establish. Google wants to see that you know what you’re talking about. This is typically determined by the quantity and quality of backlinks – other sites linking to yours – but relevance can be determined by you through the use of keywords.

An SEO keyword is the key word(s) and/or phrase(s) that define what your web content is about. Essentially, the words a user types into their google search bar. Keywords are important in building relevance because they connect you to your client’s need.

How to Choose SEO keywords?

When choosing SEO keywords, it’s important that you think like your ideal audience. Put yourself in their shoes. What exactly are they searching for?

Say you run an online jewelry boutique. Your audience probably isn’t searching for “jewelry boutique”. They’re searching for “gold earrings”, “silver bracelet”, “diamond necklace”.

The keyword “jewelry boutique” is also way too general. Chances are you’ll be lost in the sea of millions of websites Google matches with that term. The more specific you can be with your SEO keywords the better. You’ll improve your chances of ranking higher and get higher quality traffic to your site.

Don’t forget, each page and post on your website can have its own unique keyword(s). You’re not stuck with choosing just one! But how do you know if your choosing the right ones?

Step One: Brainstorm a master list

Think of every keyword that your audience may possibly search for. These can be general and more specific. Get it all out.

Consider words that relate to your service, your title and your location. Think about any specialities you offer that your audience may include in their search. Combine and alternate these phrases.

For example, if your a florist in West Hartford, Connecticut, some ideas would be “flowers”, “floral arrangements”, “florist, “West Hartford”, “CT”.

Step Two: Do Some Research

You can do some preliminary research to see what exactly people are searching for by what auto populates in the search field. Take one of your more general keywords, for example “florist”, and type it into the search bar in Google. You’ll see that “florist west hartford” comes up; it’s a popular keyword. Great!

Now search “west hartford florist” and you’ll get some good insight. The word “delivery” was added; it’s something a lot of people are searching for. If you offer delivery in your business, make sure you add this keyword to your list and use it often in your website content. You’ll also notice “flower nursery” and the zip code “06107” are popular alternative search terms for “florist” and “west hartford”. Make sure your using them in your website content as well.

We can take this a step further even. Try typing in “florist for” and see what comes up. The word “wedding” makes a frequent appearance. We also see “funeral” and “valentines day”. If these occasions match the services you offer, boom! Add these keywords to your list!

We can also use preliminary research to eliminate some keywords that may not work well in our favor. For example, if we type in “flowers” you’ll see a lot of search terms that are completely unrelated to your florist business. Cross this keyword off your list.

In addition to what auto populates in the search bar, use the “searches related to” feature at the bottom of the search results page. For “florist for wedding” we can see people are also searching for “wedding flowers ideas”, “affordable wedding florist” and so on. Include any new words you discover into your keyword list and try to think of how you can incorporate them into your content.

Pinterest is also a great resource to gain some insight into effective SEO keywords – if you use Pinterest in your marketing. The search suggestions can provide you with some great ideas for future blog posts.

Let’s say you write a blog about interior design. You’ll notice if you search “interior design” a list of additional keywords shows up. “Apartment” is the first, and most searched, term. When you click that and you’ll get another list. Keep going and you’ll see that a lot of Pinterest users are searching for how to decorate their apartment on a budget. By writing a blog post on that subject you can gain a lot of traffic to your website.

SEO keyword research example on Pinterst

Step Three: Get Specific

Now that you have a pretty solid list of SEO keywords, it’s time to make them as specific as you can. Really get in the head of your target audience and think like they would. What styles are they attracted to? How much are they willing to spend? What speciality are they interested in? Dig deep here to truly connect your dream client to you.

Some ideas for our florist example could be:

“farmhouse wedding flowers ct”

“rustic barn wedding floral arrangement”

“wedding flowers under $1000”

These phrases may not auto populate in Google, but that’s OK! That actually means you’re facing less competition in the search results. Ultimately, you want high quality traffic to your website. That means people that are likely to purchase from you. By narrowing down your keywords you will have a higher chance of ranking for exactly what your audience is looking for.

Step Four: Use your keywords

The only way for Google to know you want to rank for these keywords is for you to use them throughout your website. Decide which keyword(s) will be your focus for each page on your site. You’ll probably want to use several for your homepage. Make sure your chosen keyword(s) is used in all the right places including the page title, url, and image alt text. You’ll also want to use your keyword throughout the body text on the page. Be sure you use the word frequently but naturally. Google has gotten pretty smart over the years and can tell if your keyword “stuffing”, or over using the term in order to gain rank.

In my SEO Basics blog post I cover all the areas in which you should be inserting your keywords.

If your website is on WordPress I highly recommend installing the Yoast SEO plugin. The plugin grades each page of your site based on how well you are implementing your chosen keyword. It even offers suggestions for you to improve.

By strategically choosing effective keywords for your ideal audience you’ll establish relevance for what they are searching for. A keyword focused strategy is also helpful in gaining authority which will boost your ranking even higher. The more you show up in search results (with valuable content!) the more likely others are to share it. The more shares and backlinks you have the more credible you are in the eyes of Google.

How to Set Up Your Domain and Hosting

February 11, 2017 by caitlin Leave a Comment

Sign Up for Hosting

1. Begin by going to siteground.com and click Get Started under Web Hosting.

2. Next choose a plan. The “StartUp” plan is generally enough space for a small to medium sized business. If your website is rather large (more than 15 pages), you expect high traffic (more than 10,000 visitors a month), or you plan on hosting more than one site, then I would up to the “GrowBig” plan.

3. Next, register your domain. You can choose anything you’d like for your domain and choose its extension (.com, .net, etc.) If your domain is already taken, they will inform you and recommend something different and similar instead.

If you already have a domain purchased through someone else, choose the “I already have a domain name” button and enter your domain.

4. On the next page, you’ll set up your Site Ground account and enter your payment information.

5. Then review your Purchase Information. Keep in mind that although SiteGround lists their prices as a monthly expense, you will be paying upfront for the entirety of your plan. You can choose a longer plan for a cheaper rate. The Site Scanner extra service probably isn’t necessary. If you’re working with a web developer, they should be setting up security measures on their end. If they do recommend using Site Scanner, you can always add that to your account later.

6. Finally, click Pay Now and you’re hosted!

Install WordPress

If you’re using WordPress as your website platform, you’ll need to install it onto your site. SiteGround makes this super easy for you. After your purchase is completed, you should be redirected to your Account page.

1. In the top menu choose “Websites”.

2. Under here click the orange “cPanel” button.

3. Under AUTO INSTALLERS click the WordPress icon.

4. Then click blue “Install” tab.

5. Under Site Settings name your Site and enter a custom description if you wish. You can also leave this field as is, the “site description” is not usually visible anywhere on your website. Leave Enable Multisite unchecked.

6. Under Admin Account create a username and password and enter you email. When creating a username and password, remember that you’ll need to share it with your web designer. Once your project is complete, you’ll be able to change your password.

7. Under Admin Account create a username and password and enter you email. When creating a username and password, remember that you’ll need to share it with your web designer. Once your project is complete, you’ll be able to change your password.

8. Keep everything else as is and click Install.

9. Once installed, you’ll see an Administrative URL link to access the backend of your new site. In the future you can log in to your site at www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin.

You’re done!