Online Marketing: Why Does My Website Need It?

Does a website really need online marketing?

Surely once it’s made, and up on the old worldwide web, the world can see it, so why do you need to do anything else?

Well, the problem lies in the way people find your website. Your website is worth nothing if it’s not getting visitors, but how can those visitors even get to your website in the first place?

Source: Levelwing Infographic

In 2013, Levelwing created an infographic showing that 82% of all internet users use search engines and in reality the percentage is probably a lot higher by now. This highlights that the vast majority of people online are turning to Google & co. for answers. And it’s mainly Google, as they remain the largest of all search engines, with a 65%share of all searches online in December 2012; the rest of the searches were spread across more than five other search engines, with the second highest share being a meagre 8.2%.

So if everyone is on Google, your website better be on there too! It’s worth noting that search engines aren’t the only way your website can be found, but they are the main way.

What is a Dedicated Mobile Website?

Recently, more and more businesses are moving into the mobile website game, meaning a lot of people are faced with the decision; dedicated mobile website, or responsive website design?

These are currently the two options when it comes to creating a mobile website, and there is no clear favourite. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. We spoke about responsive website design previously, so it’s only fair that we introduce you to dedicated mobile websites before you have to make your decision! So without further ado…

What is a Dedicated Mobile Website?

If you’re opting for a dedicated mobile website to run alongside your main desktop website, then essentially, your main website is your suit and the mobile website is your tie pin. It’s an accessory to your main outfit, more of an add-on than an entirely separate website. You’re going to be funnelling most of your time and effort towards your main, classic website, whilst the dedicated mobile website will have a very trimmed down version of your content, and is really just so you can have some sort of presence in the mobile game.

Stand-alone mobile websites typically look different to their desktop counterparts, because they’re created separately. So instead of designing your main website responsively, allowing it to rearrange everything onscreen when it pops up on a mobile phone, you’re designing and creating 2 separate websites; one is just a lot smaller!

What are Meta Descriptions?

Today we’re looking at meta descriptions, also referred to as meta tags, which come into play when optimising your website (SEO).

Ever wondered where those little descriptions of websites come from in the Google search results?

Well, they’ve typically been written by the person that made the website in the first place! They’re written up in the code at the back-end of the website, so you might not even be aware of them, but we’re writing up meta descriptions quite a lot here at Vital Hike! Creating compelling meta description content is part of our SEO package.

So let us shed a little light on the subject for you…

What are Meta Descriptions?

Basically, they’re the blurb for each page of your website. They provide a general idea on the content

of the page. You, or your SEO web team, will write one up for each webpage of your website, making each one unique!

What is a Responsive Website Design?

Some of you may feel like ‘responsive website design’ has come out of nowhere, making website creation even more complicated, so don't worry, we’re going to break it down for you. We'll start with a quick outline: 

Responsive Websites detect the device you're using and shift their contents around.

Non-responsive websites just get squeezed onto the screen.

Responsive design has only really emerged as a viable new way of creating websites in the last 4 years. Ethan Marcotte is credited with the actual phrase ‘responsive web design’ in a May 2010 article in A List Apart magazine. He started off his article by quoting John Allsop, author of “A Dao of Web Design”, who said that

“… the web doesn’t have the same constraints [as print media], 

and [we need to] design for this flexibility.”

And flexibility is a key benefit of responsive designs.

Think of responsive websites as the yoga masters of the internet, compared to a desktop-only website… which is more like your great-uncle Michael with the bad back.

"I'm responsively designed!"