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SEO Decisions You Should Make Before Building a Website

Long gone are the days when building a website was all about using the right colours. Nowadays, most professionals have realised the importance of Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is much more than the business tactics that are performed after a site is built. As marketing practices have changed, there are primary components that will play…
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Long gone are the days when building a website was all about using the right colours. Nowadays, most professionals have realised the importance of Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is much more than the business tactics that are performed after a site is built. As marketing practices have changed, there are primary components that will play a role before a website goes live. Therefore, important SEO decisions should always be made beforehand.

Some of the questions that are significant in making these decisions include:

1. What is the Purpose of the Website?

Websites are built for a variety of reasons. They may be created for selling products, increasing brand awareness or educating potential customers about the company’s products and services. As such, understanding your purpose ahead of time will help you hire the services of an ecommerce designer who will appropriately design and layout the website in order to meet your SEO needs.

2. What is Your Market Segment?

If the website is built for the purposes of making sales or creating brand awareness then it is important to first identify your customer demographic and create a niche market for the business. That way, you can settle for a definite web page structure and keyword intent that will get your marketing messages across. This should always be done before designing the site.

3. Should the Website be Responsive?

The answer to this question is always yes. In order for SEO to be effective, website pages should be compatible with multiple devices and platforms. If the website responds on computers and mobile devices, then it can have a multitude of visitors. This will ensure that your link equity remains undiluted. It will also make your website highly accessible at all times.

4. How Will You Effectively Communicate Your Mission and Vision Statements?

It is important to determine the value of your mission and vision statements in traditional marketing before incorporating them into the online world. If these statements make an impact in the traditional world then it will certainly have a value proposition online. This will enable you to associate your brand with customer needs and make them appear on search results. Long-tail keywords should be used for this purpose.

5. Who Are Your Digital Competitors?

Identifying your search, business and cross-industry competitors will help you in finding out where they stand, how well they are doing and the strategies that you need to put in place in order to be on the same level with them. It is important to ensure that you know:

  • The size and performance of their business
  • The marketing differences among all your competitors
  • The strength of their brand building
  • The design of their link profiles

This information will allow you to either improve on their strategies and will also give you detailed information on where their links come from, all essential aspects when creating an SEO strategy.

Conclusion

These choices will enable you to keep a tab on development and optimise the website accordingly before it is built. You will benefit both your users and your business by determining how SEO will be beneficial before the ground work even starts. So, before you even start building your website, make sure that you are clear on your mobile approach, check what your competitors are doing, have a clear mission statement in mind and clearly understand the purpose of your website so you understand which approach will be best depending on your niche.

Image courtesy of: optimagroupinc.com

James Owen, Co-Founder & Head Of Search

James has been involved in SEO and digital marketing projects since 2007. James has led many SEO projects for well-known brands in Travel, Gaming and Retail such as Jackpotjoy, Marriott, Intercontinental Hotels, Hotels.com, Expedia, Betway, Gumtree, 888, Ax Paris, Ebyuer, Ebay, Hotels combined, Smyths toys, love honey and Pearson to name a few. James has also been a speaker at SEO and digital marketing conferences and events such as Brighton SEO.

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