25 ways to improve your site

This short article will help beginners (and not only) to evaluate the convenience of their own site and will indicate the main shortcomings inherent in many sites. Your users will thank you =)

Usability / Availability

1. Use the logo: put a link to the main page. It sounds simple, but it’s a great time saver for your visitors.
2. Make the links explicit: it's easy to change the links and make them visible on the background of the site.
3. Make the text readable: do not bother yourself with how to cram the entire text into the visible part of the page, thereby saving the visitors from the need to use scrolling - allow the text to breathe freely, increase the line spacing and add empty space. And do not hesitate to increase the font size.
4. Create a clear 404 error page: explain what the error means and give a link to the site map, home page or search.
5. Add the ability to contact you: a seemingly simple thing, but if visitors do not have the opportunity to contact you, they probably will not be able to inform you about the problems on the site.

SEO

1. Add the title attribute : add this attribute to the main menu links. This small operation will increase the SEO appeal of the page.
2. Create a sitemap for search engines: there are many sitemap generators that will create it in minutes. With this you can very quickly increase the visibility of your site to search engines.
3. Optimize meta tags: check if they match the theme of your pages and correct them where necessary.
4. Check the headers: make sure the headers inside the H1, H2 and H3 tags are used correctly. They should contain the main keywords. In addition, the presence of keywords in the headlines helps visitors to navigate the site.
5. Refer to the internal pages: this is often forgotten, but it is worthwhile to put links from the main pages to the internal pages, which are located on the lower levels.

Design / Web Development

1. Feedback: it is great if every visitor has the opportunity to offer you his ideas on how to improve the resource. It's easy to turn a blind eye to mistakes on your own website.
2. Browsers: check the functionality of your site in all popular browsers. Be sure to correct all errors.
3. Specify the direction: it is not necessary to lay out all the information on the main page of the site at once. Give visitors the opportunity to wander through the site. Just point the way to them by posting noticeable “pointers” to the menu.
4. Do not decide for the user: avoid pop-up and resizing windows and other similar things. Remember - the browser belongs to the user, not you.
5. Animation: I'm not opposed to using animation, but don't let the pictures change constantly while the visitor is trying to read the content or looking at the product. This is the same as trying to sell a car, annoyingly dancing around a buyer in a huge banana costume. Well, almost the same.

Content

1. Price: re-read the main texts of the site. If they are not interested in you - rewrite them.
2. Simplify: try not to use too many special words and expressions, replace them if possible with more simple and understandable ones.
3. RSS : make the RSS subscription as convenient and accessible as possible.
4. Do not overdo it: people will not hang around your site all day. Try to concisely provide visitors with basic information. Chatter is not for websites.
5. Accessibility: Imagine yourself as the person who first walked into your site and see if you can find the way to all key pages the first time. Perhaps you will need helpers in this.

Off site

1. Visibility: check how high you are in the search engines for your company name. If low, just post a few links with your company name as a keyword.
2. Be responsive: answer questions and help people in forums whose topics intersect with your field of activity. You will have new friends and you will earn a certain weight in these communities. Remember authority = traffic.
3. Do not stand aside: if you have not registered in popular social networks, do not pull! People can search for services that your resource provides through such sites.
4. Stay informed: read the news feeds, pay attention to everything related to your range of activities - you can learn a lot of useful things.
5. Always one step ahead: try to constantly monitor everything new in web technologies. Probably, you can use them for your own benefit and become the first, occupying your own niche.