Over the past few years, I’ve built a bunch of WordPress websites for clients, and honestly, I think I’m pretty good at it. Find a good domain, host it, find a good wordpress theme, add some plugins, and start creating some good content. Seems simple, right?
Well, it’s not THAT simple. Three months ago, I decided to re-vamp my website, and this time I asked my friend, Jim Spencer from JBS Partners, to run one of his reports on my website. I used the “Web Page Advisor” product from him, and boy, my website (this website) scored pretty low.
Here’s what Jim taught me along the way, and I thought I’d share with you. You’ll find his basic teachings below with my comments in orange
DUH, this one is a no-brainer but worth pointing out and noting that new search algorithms and products, Like “Google’s +1″ are placing more and more emphasis on user-generated content. You can’t trick Google with loads of tags, and keywords. They want to know what’s verified and liked by us humans.
Here is where I scored the lowest. I took the cheap route and decided to host with godaddy. Sure, it works, but you get what you pay for. New wordpress themes are now really “heavy” and take FOREVER to load using a cheap, Wal-mart-esque hosting service. Do yourself a favor, and pay more for a dedicated server. (Disclosure- I went ahead and did some private hosting with JBS Partners- load time of my site is dramatically faster.
Keep it simple, and easy to navigate. For example, I like the layout of Jim’s page www.webpageadvisor.com. It’s clear, simple and to the point. Not sure I need to keep coming back to THIS site, but I feel comfortable, and that’s half the battle.
Goes without saying. There are all sorts of widgets out there that keep your website socially optimized. For now, just stick with basics, Linkedin, Facebook,
and Twitter.
Ok, I won’t tell you how low I scored here….. :-) But there are lots of basics that you need to remember. It gets pretty technical, so I’ll simply refer you back to Jim
More Suggestions
- Lose the Flash- Can’t underscore this enough. It’s an ongoing joke how bad restaurant’s websites are- the reason? Most of them use flash. Click over here to see a very funny cartoon from the oatmeal on why restaurant websites are so bad… It’s another “heavy” app. and well, HTLM5 will take it’s place..
- Mobile, Mobile, Mobile- Test your website out on a bunch of different mobile devices. Chances are it looks bad.
- Think Tablet. I came across OnSwipe 2 days ago. This comes complimentary with any wordpress.com hosted website. It makes your website “tablet-friendly”. Right now, it’s only available to use with the iPad, but a year from now, assume that technologies like this will be out there for all kinds of tablets. So, as time goes on, more and more people will be looking at your website through a tablet. Are you ready yet?
So you don’t have time to read a full-fledged blog post today? That’s ok. I’ve teamed up (at least this one time) with the great folks over at Open View Ventures and Open View Labs and we shot a 90 second video recap of SXSW. [Big thanks to Corey and Amanda!]
Check it out. And go ahead and follow these guys over on Twitter. They actually walk the talk, and create, and curate some pretty compelling content…
In the marketing flurry that is SXSW, lots and lots of brands try different gimmicks to get your attention. It’s sensory and information overload: Lots of free food, schwag, t-shirts, drinks, BBQ, invite-only parties, you name it. Girls on Roller Stakes, Chipmunks Fighting Scantily Clad Men (yes you read that correctly) and soooo much more.
But what rose above the fray was Fedex. They parked a Truck a block from convention center and gave out some free lunch. Sure, lots of other companies gave you free lunch, but Fedex gave you the lunch experience. And, they didn’t ask for your email address, offer to give you a free iPad or anything else. They simple Delivered.
Here’s how.
Acknowledge that you’re “buying” us with a free lunch (no one else did that)
And very clever use of “we understand”
Fedex Truck- Actually it’s a food truck wrapped as a Fedex Truck
Changing Menu every day
Clever Packaging
It’s ALL in the Details
Ummm, hello, delicious….
