When most companies hire a web design firm, they take it for granted that the design firm will give them a website with all aspects of the site built to correct standards. Unfortunately, many design firms either neglect to take care of certain items in the creation of their websites or these items simply get overlooked.

Here is a list of items you should check in your website.

Q: Can you get to your website by typing into your browser’s address bar “www.your-website-name.com” as well as “your-website-name.com (omit the www.)”?

A: Believe it or not, many websites cannot be reached unless you type the “www.” before the domain name. If you cannot get to your website by simply typing “your-website-name.com (omit the www.)”, there is a very good chance that you are losing potential customers.

Q: Does each page in your website have a “unique page title”?

A: Each and every page in your website needs to have a unique page title to differentiate each page in the search engines. How do you check this? When you go to your website, as you click and go to the different pages, look at the very top of your browser’s page. In Internet Explorer, for example, there is a blue frame at the very top of it and if you look in the upper left corner, you will see some text. This text is the page title.

Q: Does each page in your website have a “unique Meta description”?

A: Meta descriptions are used by Google and the other search engines to provide a description in search results. Search results are made up of a page title and either a Meta description or the first bit of text that the search engine can read. To check this, in Internet Explorer, go to any page in your website. There are two ways to check this. Look for the text at the top of Internet Explorer that reads “View”. Click this and then click “Source”. You can also look for the text which should appear in the upper right corner that reads “Page”. Click this and then click “View Source”. In either case, in the window that appears, look at the top of the page and look for the words “meta name=”description”. You should find a unique sentence or two there. If you do not, it is possible that your pages are not showing proper descriptions in the search engines. Without proper descriptions, how can someone know what is in your website?

Q: Does each URL (web page address) in your site have a short and concise address?

A: Google loves short and concise URLs. A URL such as www.your –domain-name.com/gold-engagement-rings.html is much preferred over www.your–domain-name.com/ jewelry.aspx?dep=1&cat=26&prod=9999.

If you find that any of these items have not been addressed by either your current website design firm, or they were never taken care of by the design firm that created your site, please contact Websites for Jewelers and we will be happy to immediately take care of these.