30+ Ways to Improve, Secure, and Optimize Your Website
You have a web presence.
You launched a website and created few social media accounts.
You’re all set…. right?
The answer probably isn’t what you want to hear.
There are dozens of things you should be doing to improve, secure, and optimize your web presence. Some of those actions items are a one-time fix while others are a continual process.
And, all of the items are essential for getting the most out of your online presence.
To make sure you don’t miss any chances to improve and upgrade your appearance online, I’ve created this checklist of items every business needs to execute, check, and use.
Your payment method for hosting and domain is valid. Don’t risk losing your site due to non-payment. Ensure that you have a valid payment on file for both your hosting and domain service.
You have admin access to all of your accounts. Make sure you are in control of your online accounts. Perform an audit to verify that you have the correct admin login for all accounts.
You limit and monitor admin access to your accounts. Don’t let admin access fall into the wrong hands. Review your account permissions to verify that the only people who have admin access are the ones who need it.
Your passwords are secure. Prevent malicious login attempts to your accounts by updating passwords to secure formats. Use a mix of numbers and letters, and include at least one special character.
Your software is updated to the most current version. Further prevent website hacking (and incurring additional costs to fix problems) by keeping your website software up-to-date. Install framework updates that keep your business website secure and functioning properly.
You have a schedule for regular updates. Updates aren’t a one-time activity. Create a schedule to remind you to regularly make necessary updates.
You’re regularly creating backups of your website. Further protect your online assets by creating a backup for your website. Set up a system to regularly generate back-ups so if something happens to your site, you can quickly get back up and running.
You have an SSL certificate. Secure your site and the information that users enter on your website by getting an SSL Certificate.
Your website is mobile responsive. Please search engines and readers by using a mobile responsive design that makes your website look good on all devices including Amazon Kindles. Verify that during website development, your site was created with a responsive design.
You have an email address that is the same as your domain name. Develop a cohesive online presence by launching an email address that uses the same domain as your website address.
You have email marketing software. To manage your business’s email, don’t rely on a single, standard email account. Set up a professional email marketing system so you can properly manage contacts and send mass emails.
You have an opt-in form on your website. Use your website to build your email list. Include an opt-in form on your website that encourages audiences to share their contact information with you.
Your website forms work properly. Test your opt-in form to ensure that it’s working. Also, test contact forms on your website to ensure that they are working, sending entries to the proper email accounts, and not send inquiries to spam folders.
You’re using a plugin to assist with SEO. Help people find your website by using a plugin like Yoast SEO to optimize your site and pages for search crawlers.
Each page on your website has a target keyword. To appeal to search engines and improve the ranking of your website, assign a keyword to each page and post on your website.
Each page on your website has a Meta Description. Once you assign a keyword to a page, use it in the meta description for the page so search engines can properly analyze it.
Each page on your website has a Meta Title. Also add each page and post’s assigned keyword to the meta title tag of the page/post to increase on-page SEO.
You’re properly using ALT tags for SEO purposes. Optimize images on pages and posts by using their assigned keyword in the ALT tags of each image.
Images on your site are the proper size. Don’t bog down your site’s loading time by using images that are oversized and take a long time to load.
You’re using structured data and AMP pages. Further support SEO efforts by adding structured data and creating AMP pages that appeal to search engines and help your site show higher in search rankings.
Google Webmasters is set up. Let Google know that your website exists (and increase your search rankings) by creating a Google Webmasters account and submitting your site index.
You have a Google My Business Page. Further catch Google and searcher attention by creating a Google My Business page. Optimize your profile with photos, hours, and content linked to your website to drive traffic to your site through search.
Your business is included in other relevant online directories. Don’t stop at Google directories. Create profiles on other directories (like Yelp, Bing, FourSquare, and Angie’s list) to increase your online visibility and search rankings even more.
Google Analytics is installed on your website. Make sure you know what users are doing once they get to your website. Install Google Analytics so you can see and track user trends that will help you adjust your digital marketing strategies.
Your social media profiles link to your website. Use your social media accounts to drive traffic back to your website by linking to your site on each of your profiles.
Your website links to your social media profiles. Encourage website visitors to find you on social networks too, by adding links to your social profile using branded icons.
Links that point to third-party websites are set to open in a new window. While you want to encourage viewers to connect with you on other platforms, you don’t want to drive them off your site completely. Set all links on your website that point to third-party websites to open in a new window, so your site remains open in the user’s browser.
Each page on your website includes a call-to-action. To further keep users on your website, include call-to-actions at the end of each page that tell audiences what they should do next. Create a roadmap that leads website visitors to an intended conversion.
You’re regularly adding fresh content to your website. Give users a reason to visit your website and give search engines what they want by regularly adding content to your site. Fresh content both informs and engages audiences while sending positive ranking signals to search engines.
You’re linking back to internal webpages. When you add new content to your website, link between each of your pages. Adding internal links sends good signals to search engines and also helps users navigate your site.
You’re linking out to external webpages. Also occasionally link to pages of content that existing outside of your website. Links are what connect online content so by linking to other third-party websites you insert your site into that web, which is something search engines like to see.
As you can see, there are dozens and dozens of things you can do to improve, secure, and optimize your online presence.
And, this list only includes the essential action items you need to get the biggest reach and use out of your website.
There are many other tactics and strategies you can use to leverage your online presence to create an even bigger impact for your business.
Don't try to do it all on your own.
Contact Betwixt today to see how we can help you execute all of this and more.