Websites are a necessity for businesses today. We all know this, yet how many of us take the time to fully understand and maximize the potential of our current sites? As the incumbent Technology Business of the Year for the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, we are in business to think about your website and lend expertise to make certain it is doing what it should—generating more business.
As owners of Gallop Web Services,http://www.gallopwebservices.coman award winning web design company located in Loudoun County, it is our number one priority to help you meet your Internet marketing goals and objectives. Our services are designed to drive more traffic to your site, period.
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For the next several weeks, we are bringing to you a 6-part Blog Series entitled, “Web Development – Simplified For Your Business Needs”.
Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Each blog posting will provide you with aspects about your website, and your business’ approach to developing and cultivating it, that will hopefully get you thinking about what you are doing well and perhaps some areas that deserve a closer look.
At any given time, there are trends affecting the web development business. We are well versed on what these trends are and would love to share them with you. And of course we are just a click away to meet to discuss your current site and explore ways in which it can become the business-generating tool it was meant to be.
The following are 5 current trends to consider with regard to your website and your overall on-line business presence.
1. Optimize your online presence as much as possible – perform a Google search on your business name to see if and how it is listed. Check to make sure where you are listed and that it is useful and relevant to your business. If you have a storefront, claim your local business listings and optimize the information with more details—business hours, logo, videos.
Keywords are important. Think about what people might type into a Google search to find your business. If your website is displayed in search results on the first page of the search results, then congratulations! Search engine rankings (where you appear in search results) are important as you want to be found quickly. If your business is listed on page two or beyond, then a strategy to improve the search engine rankings should be considered. Consult a professional to optimize your website for higher technical functionality, analyze keywords in the content, and increase visibility with the search engines.
2. Do you have a Responsive Website? – What is a responsive website you ask? A responsive website is designed to adjust itself to size when it is viewed on a wide screen monitor, iPad, laptop or smart phone. You can check to see if your own website fits the bill. How? View your website on your computer screen, click to minimize the screen and then click and drag the sides of your browser window to resize the website’s width. If the website still looks good, and is easy to read and understand, then it is probably adequate for today’s web design standards.
3. Consider Blogging – a blog is a great way to start a conversation. You are, after all, a content expert in your area of expertise. If you have ideas or knowledge to share with others why not put it on your own website to attract potential customers? You’ll build your online credibility with not only people, but with the search engines as well.
4. Use Social Media to connect potential customers to your website – If you own or manage a small business and are not using social media, then you are missing out on one of the most cost-effective tools available for promotion, branding and customer service. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, etc. are all free and user friendly. At the very least, every business should have a Facebook company page! After setting it up, link your website the Facebook page and/or use a widget to feed the posts to your website for viewing.
5. Get on LinkedIn – every businessman and woman should have a LinkedIn account. It’s free networking! In addition, you have the option to create a company page. It’s another place to talk about your business. If you use LinkedIn be sure to connect it to your website upon joining.
Look for our next Blog topic on October 18 in which we will focus on mobile responsive web design. And don’t forget that if you have immediate questions about your own company’s web presence, we would love to sit down and talk about ways in which we can help. http://www.gallopwebmarketing.com/contact-us-for-a-free-website-audit/ We have an overarching philosophy at Gallop Web Services to help organizations grow and succeed. We strive to provide personalized attention to meet our client’s needs and take pride in offering exemplary services while keeping costs down.
