Back in the day, building a website meant getting your hands dirty in code, figuring out hosting, and maybe even hiring a webmaster. You can now create a site in minutes; no HTML or CSS experience is necessary.
Maybe this site is only for certain eyes. Follow these steps to create a private website to share family updates, photos, or anything you want through Squarespace.
But it’s more likely that you want as many people as possible on your website. Make sure that once there, they are not disappointed. Tap or click to discover 10 ways to improve your website.
Now let’s look at some smart and useful resources that every website owner should use. Trust me. You will want to bookmark them.
Start with Google Search Console
When it comes to search, Google reigns supreme. If you want more traffic, start here. Google provides a free tool to help you monitor, manage, and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google search results..
There are several reasons to connect your site to the console, but most importantly, it tells you how the search engine finds and crawls your site. You’ll be able to see if there are any indexing issues with the pages, and you can request re-indexing if new content has been added that isn’t showing up in search results.
Search Console also provides information about your visitors’ browsing habits, such as the search terms they used to find you or how often your site appears in search results. Useful.
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Check your links
You can have great design and stellar content, but broken links are annoying enough to drive visitors away. link checker of WC3 analyzes the links of websites and gives you a summary of their health.
It provides more information on 200 errors (“Some of the links to this resource point to broken URI fragments”), 404 errors (“The link is broken. Check that you have not made a mistake typing or error”), and Suite.
It’s easy to see if all your content and links are pointing in the right direction. Pro tip: Broken links can impact your place in Google search results, which means less traffic.
Make sure your website is mobile friendly
How frustrating is it to open a website that is impossible to navigate on your phone? Most browsers can turn web content into a mobile version, but something is bound to look out of place, broken, or just plain weird.
Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test does exactly what the name suggests: it checks your website for mobile compatibility. Simply enter your site URL and click Test URL.
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See your site’s score
Looking for a more comprehensive overview of your site’s health? Nibbler scans your site and gives you a score from 1 to 10 across multiple categories.
The results are broken down by section. Nibble will give you areas for improvement. The accessibility score, for example, takes into account internal links, page titles, headers and mobile compatibility. The technology analyzes the quality of your site’s design. Experiences focus on how happy the website is likely to be for users.
The test is free, but note that you will be limited to three reports.
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Improve your search results and content
How does your site compare to competitors? By verifying your domain or the keywords associated with it, Ubersuggest will show you the top-ranking pages of competitors, suggested keywords to help your webpage rank higher in search results, and even some handy content ideas to drive more traffic.
Grow your technological intelligence. Also listen to my podcasts!
PODCAST CHOICE: Laptop for your face, smart screws, spot PC snoopers
Has someone spied on your PC? Here’s how to see what they were doing. In addition, special glasses can help deaf people and smart screws that know when they are loose. Oh, and these luxury New York apartments can keep an eye on your health. I will also tell you about a new virtual reality headset that will be “a laptop for your face”.
Check out my “Kim Komando Today” podcast on Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotifyor your favorite podcast player.
Listen to the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for my last name, “Komando”.
Discover all the latest technologies on the Kim Komando show, the nation’s largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For his daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit his website at Komando.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.
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