work – Tech Warrior

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?

Judson Dawtrey — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

SEO explained

SEO or “Search Engine Optimisation” involves the processes used to increase the amount of quality unpaid traffic to your website through search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, et al. SEO is important if you want your website to succeed. If nobody is viewing your website, then people won’t see what your business provides and therefore you won’t get the sales and customers you deserve. SEO helps rectify this by helping Google, or whichever search engine is being used, to rank your website higher on searches so that your business pops up more frequently when people are searching for specific information or solutions to their problems.

Purchasing domain names carefully is a very important aspect of owning a website. Having a website is an important part of running a business. Make sure you are the rightful registered owner of your domain name.

Why is it important?

Search engines use clever apps or programs called bots which gather information about specific pages. These bots, also known as internet bots or web robots, are automated software applications that are linked to the search engine in question and they traverse the internet to gather information about websites. This information is analyzed by specific algorithms, another part of the search engine. These algorithms focus on special ranking factors and signals which work out and determine the context and relevance of order certain pages so the best ones show up in search results. Content quality and keywords are important factors for content optimisation. Crawlability is a search engine's ability to access and crawl content on a website. A website’s crawlability, content quality and mobile friendliness are all important so that search engines can provide people with the best user experience when searching for specific information.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
—Thomas Edison

Other ways to enhance SEO

Other important SEO actions include pagespeed, which is explained in the name. The speed at which your website loads is very important in SEO as it deals with user satisfaction. Search engines, specifically Google rate this very highly. If your website does not load fast enough, your customers will most likely leave and try another website which can have a negative impact on your website’s traffic.

There is also search intent which involves website owners pasting a topic into a keyword research tool to help find certain keywords and phrases that people search for often. These keywords and phrases can then be included in the website content. It is very important when doing this is to ensure the overall page content aligns with the search intent of the keyword or phrase.

There are other ways to enhance SEO for your website, however those mentioned stand out the most when it comes to Google’s ranking system. Not having SEO is not the end of the world, however, it will result in a lot less traffic moving through your website and your main aim for a website is to elevate your professionalism and get as much business as possible.

How to build a successful website in 5 easy steps

Matthew Green — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

A website is the most all-round effective way to attract customers, build trust and solve problems. In this article I’ll break down the 5 steps you need to follow in order to successfully build a website. It doesn’t matter whether you are building a website from scratch or starting out with a redesign on your current website, these are the five steps to success.

I am going to assume that you will be using a professional web development company to build your website. If you are choosing to build your website yourself or are getting a family or friend to build your website for you, there may be some overlap in the steps but overall they are the same. I am also going to assume you have sorted out how much you want to spend on the website. If you are unsure, read through the article: I need a website for my small business. Where do I start?

A consistent and heart-filled effort to completion is the foundation of excellent work.
—Benjamin Watson

Step one: Gather the content

The biggest hurdle in getting any website project completed and over the finish line is content. This content is usually in the form of text, images and videos. As the business or organisation owner, you know your business best. This is why it’s important that you put the right amount of time, energy and effort into deciding what problems you are solving, what image you want to portray, what you are about and how you want to convey this message.

Gather and collate as much of the content for your website project upfront as you can. Make a folder on your computer and store relevant documents, images and so on in it. At Tech Warrior we have a content process document that we use. It is online and we collaborate with our customer to ensure we get the right content for the site.

Who does this step (1)

The business owner gathers the content

Step two: Decide on branding, colours and domain name

Do you have a logo? If not you will need one. Any decent website design process shouldn’t continue unless you have a logo. The colour scheme or colour palette for the website is derived from the logo. This ensures consistency when it comes to your business and brand identity. If you don’t have one, you will need to get one designed. Tech Warrior can design a logo but you can use any decent graphic designer to get one. The main thing is, you need one!

In this step a domain name is also required. It can be registered new or updated by the web developer. If you are starting from scratch a good web developer will advise and guide you on the best domain to choose for your business. They will also register and maintain it on your behalf.

Who does this step (2)

The business owner provides the logo
The web development company creates the colour palette for the website from the logo
The web development company will advise and register the right domain for your business

Step three: Develop and build the website

Once the content has been gathered, the logo designed and the colours chosen, it’s time to build the website. Depending on the size and complexity of the website, this can take from two weeks to a month or more. At Tech Warrior our most popular website product is Small Business Websites Standard version. It’s a 5 page website that takes two weeks to complete.

Once the site is completed it goes through an internal review before being handed to the customer for review and proofing. Any small changes are completed and then the site can go live.

Who does this step (3)

The web development company will build the site and do the internal review
The business owner will check that he/she is happy with the site

Step four: Make the website live

Once everyone is happy that the website has been built according to spec, it is time to make it live. This means linking the website to the domain name. Another term for this is hosting. This is where the website will live. You can think of this like the online address of the business or organisation. The website developer will manage any migration or take over processes needed in this step.

Who does this step (4)

The web development company makes the website live

Step five: Marketing the website

Now that the website has been built and made live, it is time to market it. There are a number of things you can do in this step, some paid and some for free. Some also involve the use of a dedicated marketing professional, whether an individual or a company.

Some of the ways you can market the website include buying adverts on Facebook or Google, creating a social media presence, building a mailing list and telling your existing customers and friends.

Who does this step (5)

The business owner will do some of these and together with either the web development company or a specialised digital marketing company a marketing plan to promote the website will be created

Building a website is not difficult. Almost anyone can build a website with the many tools and platforms available today. Building a website on time and to spec is more challenging. By following these five steps you will be well on your way to a successful website.

What if I hate what you have done?

Tristan Green — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

Everyone wants something different

Everyone has their own preferences, we may not share the same affiliation to a genre of music, type of food, political party or world view. This is what makes everyone and everything unique, our desire to have something different and to be different.

When it comes to Tech Warrior’s Small Business Websites, we offer a product which is unique in terms of colours and content used, but in terms of overall structure it follows the same framework or theme. It is a mould which we use to replicate a well oiled, taken care of machine (website). If you absolutely hate what we have created for you we’ll do what we can to rectify what you dislike, within reason.

We follow a process which is tried and tested and we’ll work in tandem with you, our client, to create the best possible website for you. We usually get a sense that things are not going to work out very well, very early on in the relationship and we are prepared to part company (and refund any relevant monies due) if we feel that there is not a good match.

Expectation vs reality

Everyone has expectations, whether people like to admit to that or not is a different story. As a small business, Tech Warrior does something which is incredibly audacious when it omes to the way we build websites, but our approach to doing it is the same as any other company or service provider out there. We ask our clients for their money and in return deliver a service or product which a customer should be proud of and show off to the world, like a new pair of Adidas or Nike sneakers.

If we don’t deliver the advertised service, our customer’s expectations won’t be met and that will leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouths. We do our best to mitigate this by clarifying upfront what is our responsibility and what is the onus of the client. Content is non-negotiable. No content, no website.

We can’t be responsible for compiling content on behalf of the client but we do make it easier by providing a scope and content document that is filled out online with the guidance of a Tech Warrior team member. The content which appears on their site is the content they’ve provided to Tech Warrior.

All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA.
—Reid Hoffman

Sometimes it’s best to say goodbye

If there are minor adjustments which need to be made, like changing images or shuffling some text around that’s easily remedied and often take a client from vaguely okay to super satisfied. If there are drastic changes like altering the format of the website we may need to recontract, reprice or have that “parting company” conversation.

That said, if you absolutely, wholeheartedly cannot stand the look and feel of your website after the development team has done their utmost to meet your expectations, then unfortunately this means Tech Warrior is not the web development company for you. Having agreed to separate we help with a hand over process as well as referrals to other development companies. We aren’t in the business of making enemies, and we can’t be all things to everybody. We like to help those who need it most, small business owners and medium sized enterprises, and when we are a good fit, we build strong and long term relationships.

work – Tech Warrior

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?

SEO explained

Why is it important?

Other ways to enhance SEO

Further reading

How to build a successful website in 5 easy steps

Step one: Gather the content

Who does this step (1)

Step two: Decide on branding, colours and domain name

Who does this step (2)

Step three: Develop and build the website

Who does this step (3)

Step four: Make the website live

Who does this step (4)

Step five: Marketing the website

Who does this step (5)

Further reading

What if I hate what you have done?

Everyone wants something different

Expectation vs reality

Sometimes it’s best to say goodbye

Further reading