When choosing a new car, we focus a lot on finding the paint color we like and seat covers that fit our style. Everyone just assumes that the car is going to come with a functioning engine, air bags, suspension, onboard entertainment system etc. The same philosophy is often applied to building a new website – upload nice looking images, write convincing paragraph, publish, done. Unfortunately, a site that consists only of nice images and convincing paragraphs is not going to “carry you” very far on the internet. Here are some aspects of the WordPress website often get overlooked.
Responsive design
About 50% of the visitors to your site are going to browse on a mobile device. Having pages that display well on a small screen is no longer an afterthought. All your content needs to display well on mobile and the navigation needs to be easy to use if you do not want to turn away half of your customer base.
Search Engine Optimizations
Google and other search engines are looking for specific content on your page to find out how to categorize it and how high to rank it. Page title, headings, metadata, alternate text, external and internal links are all part of this process. If your page is not structured in a way that is friendly to search engines it is not going to be promoted to its full potential.
User experience
Designing your site for an engaging user experience will help you turn the visitors into customers. This process may involve showing your site to potential users for feedback. They can help you spot areas that are unclear, difficult to navigate, help you identify the most relevant information and the best way to communicate it.
Performance
The speed at which your pages load is critical both for the user experience and for search engine rankings. The performance can also change after each time you update the content or a plugin. You should ensure that the critical parts of your site load in about 1 second or less.
Email delivery
Most website rely on email. Emails are being sent to customers, admin notifications when someone fills out a form or places an order. Unfortunately, if not properly configured, emails sent from a WordPress site can end up in spam or never be delivered. You want to be sure your emails are not being lost along the way.
Personally Identifiable Information
If you are collecting any information about your customers on the site you are required to post a privacy policy and ensure that the information is kept secure.
Software updates and Security
Keeping the WordPress Core software, the Plugins and the Theme up to date is one of the key ways you can protect your site from malware attacks. The attacks can be damaging to your site but also put your customers at risk if any of their personal data is stored.
Server Health and Backups
Another key factor in ensuring the security of your site is making sure that the server that is hosting the site is well maintained and protected. Look for hosting services that have a track record and experience in keeping their sites secure. Your site also needs to be backed up frequently enough to provide you with a recourse if something goes wrong.
Accessibility
Making your site accessible to people with disabilities is another important aspect of a WordPress site that does not automatically happen. To comply with ADA your site needs to be easy to navigate by screen readers that speak the text that appears on the screen or by voice recognition systems that navigate the mouse for a user with motor challenges.
All that sounds like a lot? If you feel like your site might be missing some of the aspects described above let us know. We will be happy to assist you in brining your site its full potential.