Feb 11, 20183 min read

Creating a DYI website

Tips, tricks, and handy resources!!

One of our recent projects has been the creation of our new website.

Redeveloping our website was motivated by:

increasing engagement and upgrading our online presence,
improving SEO and the structure of the website,
the ability to add and update content freely.

Having identified our goals the first task was choosing a platform which was right for us.After researching and sourcing recommendations we couldn't go past WIX design, colours, fonts, imagery, user-friendly templates and literally how easy it was to implement the content. We were able to easily change our Leafcutter domain name with adding our unique tracking code to ensure we were still receiving google analytics data.

With a revamped and fresh look, we updated the content with the addition of two new pages Our Clients and a Blog. The Our Work page includes a list of clients, results achieved and testimonials and the Blog's include short, sharp, catchy information about specific projects with a reflection on the learning outcomes.

With expert skills in website maintenance, it has given us a lot of satisfaction to have created our new website ourselves. We hope that you enjoy looking around with learning about our business support and administration services we offer.

Tips and tricks used when creating our own website:

If you have a Google Analytics account make sure to add your Tracking Code to your new website then start learning about your website traffic.
Think of all of your pages as the front door to your website, not just your homepage. Ensure links, icons, and important information is offered.
Increase SEO and use page titles, descriptions (meta tags), keywords and make sure to title all pictures.
We used GTmetrix to test the site speed of our website as we have a video on the homepage. Aim for less than 6 seconds load time.
List your website and business on Google Local Listing and any other local directories.
Use Search Console. A free product that provides data and analytics to help improve your site's performance on Google Search.

Review and Refresh - make sure your website tickets all the boxes

The New Year is the perfect time to do a 'health check' on your website. It's often tricky to know where to start, this checklist will help you get underway:

Start with the basics

Catch up with your website company - Call or meet with your website company and ask what they think you should be doing to improve the website - they are the experts after all.
Check your Google Analytics - If you don't have access to these or don't know how to interpret the findings, ask your website company to produce a full report outlining your websites performance. Look for red flags that need to be fixed, and ask them about any key trends (where is traffic coming from, time on site, pages visited). These metrics can give you a good insight into how good, or bad, your site's user experience is. as well as inform your marketing activities moving forward.
Review you SEO - Do a search engine optimisation (SEO) review to make sure your website ranks highly when anyone searches for your business or sector. There is always room for SEO improvement but it can get a little technical. Xero have created a handy (and simple to follow list) of seven ways you can optimise your website for search engines.
Check your content - Content includes images, words and any video or audio housed on your site. Go through each page and ask yourself:

Is the content correct, still relevant and up to date?
Do we have new or better-quality images we can add or swap out?
What else do we have that we can add?
Where are the gaps? What is missing that we need to write or photograph?

Get Technical

Website mobile optimised - If not, it will be tricky to view and use on mobile device, and you will likely lose visitors. Check out https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly for a quick and free way to check if your site is mobile-friendly.
Website compels with relevant laws - There are a few things you need to do in NZ to make sure your site is legal, including having a Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Copyright information and legally obtained images.
Ensure your website is secure - This is especially important if you are collecting donations through your website, or any type of user information. Check to see if your website URL says "HTTPS" at the start of the address. This indicates your website has an SSL certificate. If not talk to your website company to get this sorted.

Note: Check out https://www.business.govt.nz/getting-started/building-a-brand/getting-an-online-presence/ for some more great tips, including a handy website self-assessment tool.