This is a continuation of a series we are working on here at Minerva. We are constantly trying to make sure that people have access to quality information for their website
The installation brings some slightly advanced elements are commonly overlooked or misunderstood into focus. Being mindful of these elements are just some of the ways that you can improve your website.
Bad SEO
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an essential part of visibility for any website. This is something that needs to be worked on from day 1 of any website. Understanding SEO takes time, research, and constant work to implement in an optimal fashion. Understanding the indexing practices and rules of the major search engines.
The other thing to watch out for is misinformed “specialists” that seem to be everywhere these days. It is one thing to claim to be able to implement SEO and to have it work in any kind of preferential fashion on one, or all, search engines. It is a complete other to claim that you are a specialist. A misinformed, or misnomered, specialist will only hurt your website and your bottom line. Do your research, ask questions, and weigh your options before rushing to any hasty decisions.
Page optimization
CONNECTION SPEEDS MATTER PEOPLE! It is 2019 and connection speeds are still constantly going up. People are being connected at extremely fast speeds and that is an amazing thing. However, some people are aware of, or able to get these speeds. That is why monitoring the amount of data your pages contain is so important.
Yes, people with gigabit connections have no problems with loading anything. However, there are still people that may only top out at 5mbps or a 3G connection based on their area. Never assume it doesn’t happen in your area, because those assumptions can be deadly. So if there are many large images, videos, or miscellaneous elements on your page, there will be people that have a hard time connecting. Using proper file types, and know what content to display at what time is the easiest way to avoid this. Those problems will drive traffic away from your site, which will only hurt you.
Not accounting for different browsers
While many people tend to use the same small pool of browsers to access the internet, not every browser is built the same. It is common practice to find that a website or web application was developed using one browser, and therefore only works properly when accessing it from that browser.
Some browsers have code specific to them, which are obviously to be avoided whenever possible. Avoid statistics that may “justify” not developing for compatibility. Statistics are easily skewed and accounting for outliers is extremely important. Finally, a manual check of compatibility with the major browsers is a small time investment during the testing phase to make sure that every element works properly in every eventuality. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
Not accounting for future growth potential
Like any product, people want to launch their websites as soon as they are viably usable. This could mean that it isn’t completed, properly tested, or completely integrated to necessary databases. While an early launch or quick time table are things that people think are reasonable options, it isn’t even close to the reality. Good development takes time.
If a website or application is rushed through development, every eventuality may not be taken into consideration. What if your business gets big, or your application is widely used? Have you taken the time to contemplate what could happen? You may need to migrate databases or find a supplemental one to store or access all the data necessary to use a site or application.
In another case, what about your shop site that you’re using purely as an informational landing? Have you developed or planned properly to allow for ecommerce access and expansion later? Answering these simple questions can be the difference between a smooth rollout of any product, or massive amounts of downtime and crashes.
Mobile incompatibility
Around half of all web traffic today is accessed through mobile devices. So proper mobile integration is essential to the success of a website. If your website doesn’t have a mobile-friendly design, you could be losing web traffic, or hurting your own brand by not having visitors being able to find essential information. Making sure you at least have a proprietary site that can be scaled down easily, and that your content sizes are conducive to any shrinkage is extremely important to make sure that visitors have the best possible experience on your website. A bad experience is the easiest way to lose web traffic and that only hurts your visibility and your brand.
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