January marks the 10th anniversary of the official start of Annette Riley Web Design. As I go into my 11th year, I am taking a moment to reflect back on some of the changes in the last 10 years.
1. Aside from the obvious fact that more people than ever are making the Web part of their daily lives, they are viewing it in many new and different ways. There are larger, wide-screen monitors, as well as the smaller iPads, tablets and mobile devices. Add to this new browsers that don't play nice with each other, and you can see how this presents challenges. Clean, simple designs make it is easier to adapt, however it is something to keep in mind at all times when creating or updating a website.
2. The technology and rules used in building web pages are constantly changing and developing. This is very exciting because it provides better and more efficient ways to build websites, creates pages that display more consistently in most web browsers and are easier for search engines to index.
3. Search Engines have become very sophisticated, in part I think to weed out those individuals who use cheap tricks to be found or rank higher. Also gone are the days when you had to religiously submit and re-submit your website to search engines. Now the search engines crawl the Web constantly and will find and index your updated content. It is necessary to keep up with the ever changing rules and algorithms used to rank web pages because it gives a well-built website with quality content an advantage over those just using tricks or poor search engine optimization.
4. Just when we start getting comfortable with all this technology, along comes Social Media. It is not enough to have a website, you must also market your website, and Social Media is the way of the day. I'll admit it may be confusing, even overwhelming at times, but it cannot be ignored. Social Media provides opportunities to take an active role in marketing your business. The new marketing venues give you a better chance to reach your target audience where they really are (and chances are they are on Facebook) and have them help you spread the word.
What does all this mean for you?
- You need a website. If you don't have one by now, get started today.
- If you have a website, is it up-to-date? An out-of-date website is a useless website. Remember, a website that looks amateurish and unprofessional is out-of-date because it does not reflect a true picture of your business.
- If you have an up-to-date website, you need to do something to market it. You don't have to do everything, just start with what makes sense for your business and your target audience.
- Remember, even with these rapid changes, quality counts, the basics stay the same and common sense needs to rule the day.
Whether creating or updating a website for your business, or marketing with Social Media, sometimes taking the first step is the hardest part. I can help make the process as painless as possible for you. Call me, let's talk!
