Since the dawn of the internet era, people have been developing websites to share information and build an online presence. Over time, ideas have changed about why a business needs a website and how a business should go about having one developed. We’re about to debunk four myths surrounding the web development market. Read on!
A myth is defined as a widely held, but false belief or idea.
Website developers have encountered a number of myths about how websites work, are created and how they appear online. While the process seems magical, I assure you, good sites are built on a solid foundation of knowledge and experience. The web will continue to evolve and your online presence will be more important than ever as more and more features of business will integrate through online means.
Myth 1: I should hire a marketing professional to build my website.
Marketing professionals are great at marketing, but not all marketing pros are well versed in web development. Myths state that because the marketing pros are proficient in marketing, that they will increase the results of your website. Many of these marketing pros use WordPress with costly premium themes to create websites for clients. Unfortunately, these premium themes are often created to have more bells and whistles than are needed and can slow down your site or increase the effort needed to manage it.
Web developers have been trained to build your site from the bottom up, meaning that, while they may still use the WordPress platform, they won’t give you what you don’t need. Well versed web devs can build you a site in many cases using free resources adding customized code to meet your needs. Their coding knowledge gives you an eye-catching website that engages your customers and results in a higher ROI for your business.
Finding a web developer with a marketing background (BONUS if they understand other technologies too!) is a great way to get the best value for your budget. Ask your potential web developer questions on how they specifically plan to build your website to meet your needs.
Myth 2: WordPress is not a good CMS (Content Management System) platform to use for my business website because it’s not secure.
WordPress is the CMS platform of choice for multi-million dollar businesses the likes of Time, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, and Mercedes-Benz. Additionally, nearly 30% of the entire internet is using WordPress. If this many people trust WordPress, then it’s more than likely that it’s not the platform which is causing security issues.
Technology research has shown that security breaches are often caused when programs and software have not installed released updates. WordPress and its plugins regularly release updates that not only improve their functionality, but also close security vulnerabilities. Any website or software will never be 100% secure from being hacked, but, like locking the front door to your house when you’re away, it makes it more difficult for someone to break in.
JCD Promotions offers Managed WordPress Services to do these updates for you and also includes multiple security plugins to offer enhanced security for your site.
Myth 3: My website should include ALL my business information and what I have to offer because that’s what my customers want.
Humans have an attention span of …. HEY! Are you still with me? It can take just that long for someone to lose interest and leave your site. Ask yourself, or better yet, ask your customers what they are looking for on your website. Your site should connect with them and ultimately drive them to contact you for more information.
A great way to determine if your site is relevant to your clients is by looking at your analytics bounce rate. It’s a common misconception that the bounce rate is based on the length of time a visitor spends on your site. A high bounce rate indicates your visitors aren’t making it past the entrance page for your site. (infographic) If visitors are reaching your home page, but not digging in further, you may have a problem. You should consider revising your content. Think of it as not giving away the farm, but enticing visitors to come back with samples of some great cheese curds.
Also – don’t forget to give your visitors an easy way to connect with you to learn more about your business, like a call to action and a contact form.
Myth 4: SEO is magic that only experts can take care of for me.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about a high ranking for your site on search engines like Google, Bing and others. It is a widely held belief that in order to reach the coveted spot of top listing on these sites, that you need to have an expert work their magic within the code and back end programming of your website. Unfortunately, search engines are continuously updating their algorithms, so more is needed to maintain your king of the hill status.
SEO is not a one-and-done process. It’s much more like curating content for social media. It’s not all about keywords, search terms, meta data, dragons, and fairy dust. SEO does include these things (well, not so much of the dragons and fairy dust…), but there’s also factors like outside links to your site from other reputable sites, including a sitemap for search engine crawlers, including alternate text for images and links, and more.
Your website should never be complete. If you’re not using a blog, it’s a great way to update your site. (Check out Business Blogging in Five Easy Steps for ideas!) Making use of an SEO plugin to give you pointers is also a great resource to make sure all your pages and posts are getting the highest ranking possible.
If you’re not sure your site is getting the rankings you should, JCD Promotions now offers Practical SEO Packages to provide a solid basis for your ongoing website SEO.
While only touching on four of the web development myths here, there are many more. What web development myths have you debunked in your experience?
