We all know how fast the technological world moves, there’s always a new gadget/ phone/ must have gizmo on the horizon and it almost makes your head spin trying to keep up with it all. But it’s important to remember to ensure your website can cope with these changes.

Your website needs to be accessible on all the devices, especially mobile phones. Our mobile phones are no longer just for making calls and are now an important asset for our everyday lives.

This doesn’t have to be a big headache for you, although if you don’t keep up with your website maintenance it can get more tricky! Here are some top tips to help make sure your website is mobile friendly:

1. Check how Google views your website Use this Google Mobile Friendly Test page to see if your web page is mobile friendly.
2. Don’t build a second website specifically for mobile Google does not like duplicate content so a second website with the same content could affect your Google ranking.
3. Test your website on all market-leading phones or tablets don’t assume that because your site works fine on your iPhone that it also works on an android too.
4. Make sure all the important content is above the fold. This is where first impressions count. You want to make sure your visitors see full images and get the whole message or they might not read on.
5. Make sure text is readable. Users don’t want to have to zoom in to read the content on your site. Consider a larger font size if the content is difficult to read on mobile devices.
6. Use high resolution images If you want your website to look professional the last thing you need is for the images to appear blurry or pixelated when viewed on a high resolution device.
7. Responsive Web Design is where your website is designed in a way that allows you to change the layout so it will automatically adapt to a mobile device. This means it won’t matter what device your website is viewed on as it will always adjust to the correct resolution and size.

What steps have you taken to ensure your website is working well on all mobile devices?

• What does http mean? http (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is basically the protocol computers use to transfer information that form a website.
• What does https mean? Https in simple terms is the secure version of http, the ‘S’ standing for secure. It means that all the communications between your browser and the website are encrypted. This is especially important when dealing with ecommerce or submitting contact forms for example.
• July 2018 is when Google Chrome will start warning users when they visit a site that is not secure (http). It is estimated that around 50% of internet users have Chrome as their browser so the effect of these messages could be massive.
• How will this affect your business? If you don’t change your website protocol to https your business could suffer as a result.  Visitors could be put off by a security message popping up when they visit your website and this could in turn lead to reduced site traffic, a fall in online sales, reduced number of enquiries etc.
• Why does Google want businesses to change to https? https will protect your site and it’s users and uphold the integrity of your website. Google are working hard to ensure everyone has a safer online experience.
• Do you need to upgrade your site to https? It makes sense to think about upgrading to https if your site is currently http especially If you have a contact form or any data is transmitted through your website. Google Chrome can start to have an impact on your website and business from July.

Whether you choose to change your site to https is obviously a decision for you and your business. Ultimately Google set the rules and want to help us be more secure in our online activities. In the long run it will pay dividend to follow these rules to get the best results for your business. And given that such large number of users will be accessing your site via Google Chrome.

If your website is hosted by Creative Remedy on a CMS system, be sure to contact Sara for a chat about making your website secure.

1. Know Why You Need a Website
It sounds like a ridiculous question but if you know the real reason why you need a website (other than… well its just silly not to have one these days!), this will help you get the most out of your online presence. You will find it easier to focus your attention and get the right website functionality for your business needs.

2. Portal to Drive Traffic
Your website or blog is your main portal for sharing information to social media not the other way around! In most marketing, the main aim is to drive traffic to your website where potential customers can find out what you do and how to buy your products and services. How you keep them there and get them to purchase it the next step…

3. Building & Maintaining Your Online Brand
Does everything you publish online reflect your current brand? Check now… is your logo consistent, does your social media match your website brand, does your email signature match your website design? When you see something out of place on someone else’s website what does this make you think? If you see a strange comment on someone’s business social media post, does it change your perception of that company?

4. Mobile Friendly or Responsive
A good website is one that is mobile friendly or has a responsive design (RWD). A mobile friendly or responsive website is one where the design fits the device you are viewing it on (you don’t have to zoom in and the navigation buttons are easy to click on).

5. Measure Your Success
There are many tools out there for measuring the success of your marketing from Facebook insights, Hootsuite Analytics to Google Analytics. If you put content out there it is good practice to measure your success, so you know you are delivering the right content at the right time.

Have a launch story
This will include key info about how it all started and what you have to offer, the more personal the better. Keep it short, engaging and leave something out so people have an opportunity to ask you questions.

Add SEO
If this wasn’t already included in your website build… add a title and description to every website page, including adding image alt tags. This will help potential customers find you easier and looks great when someone shares it on social media.

Create content
Create good, engaging and regular content. Add a blog or news section to your website. Customers need a reason to return, give them one!

Register
Register with free online directories. And... register with free online industry specific directories. Help customers find you easily. You can start with Yell.com, Scoot, Thompson Local and Freeindex.

Put your pin in the map
Set-up a free Google Maps Business Listing, there are a host of other free Google tools to help your get your website established and monitor and manage traffic.

Get social
Set-up social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Share your news and publish content from your website or blog. There is a great tool out there called Hootsuite which keeps you organised and lets you schedule content.

Build your database
Start building your database of contacts by adding a newsletter or offers sign-up to your website. You may only have a few customers now but start building an audience you can communicate to. There are lots of software options out there like MailChimp, Constant Contact and we offer our own called Email Marketing Remedy. Your selection will boil down to cost and ease of use.

Good luck! Don't forget if you have any burning questions, we are happy to help.