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Paul Wheeler

Hi, I’m Paul and I run a web design company that helped me learn the ins and outs of web hosting and design. I’m a fan of anything DIY– from woodworking to building and scaling successful websites.

Latest posts by Paul Wheeler (see all)

• Ways To Make Your Website ADA-Compliant – January 27, 2023
• Cybersecurity Trends and Threats to Watch Out for in 2023 – January 16, 2023
• 8 Common Reasons For Website Downtime (And How To Avoid Them) – November 30, 2022

Every sustainable business needs to have a sustainable website.

Recycling programs, ridesharing, and eco-friendly packaging are common ways to reduce your brand’s carbon footprint, but those efforts only go so far. When you need to make a difference, it’s time to dig a little deeper and consider shifting your focus to building a sustainable website.

It’s easy to gloss over websites, the cloud, and the internet as ways to address sustainability. These concepts seem amorphous or imaginary to many people. It’s not easy to imagine how a website could impact your carbon footprint, let alone a negative one.

Unfortunately, our current use of digital technologies is not sustainable. According to a recent study on global trends, our use of digital technologies contributed to 3.7% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. Even more concerning, this trend marks a rise of more than one-half in less than five years.

That percentage seems relatively small, but when compared to other segments, it provides a shocking picture. Greenhouse gas emissions from digital technologies are higher than the 3.2% from waste and the 2.2% attributed to deforestation.

The best part is that creating a sustainable website is easier and less messy than starting a company compost pile. You might be surprised at how easy it is to make a lasting impact.

What Is a Sustainable Website?

A sustainable website puts the planet first with a focus on using minimal, renewable energy in the most efficient, ethical way possible. It’s a unique approach that focuses on optimization to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using eco-friendly, cost-effective components.

An intergovernmental panel reported that altering how we use digital technologies could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 20%. By changing the types of materials we use to the energy sources, we can have a lasting impact on the environment, and our future.

Why Creating a Sustainable Website Matters

Digital technologies represented a way to reduce paper use and deforestation. However, it created a new problem between excessive power consumption and frequent replacement of outdated parts.

The sharp uptick in internet usage led to ever-growing power needs. Aside from powering servers, the machines required a cool environment to function. Those cooling systems also required power, escalating the power consumption yet again.

Further, physical components simply could not keep up with technological growth, leading to obsolete parts. With few recyclable materials, the parts ended up in the junk pile.

Top Practices in Creating a Sustainable Website

You don’t have to do a complete overhaul overnight to make an impact. Start small and work one step at a time, knowing that some best practices may be easier to implement than others.

1. Choose Quality Web Hosting

Start at the beginning with the firm that hosts your site. Even if it means shifting to a new firm, choose a quality web hosting service that embraces the sustainability movement and relies on eco-friendly energy and physical components.

Look for web hosting providers that offer sustainable cloud options and use green web servers.

2. Create a Sustainable Ecommerce Setup

E-commerce is a cornerstone of many websites, but not all providers offer the same options.

When it comes to sustainability, your eCommerce provider can have a notable impact on your carbon footprint. Research your options and ask questions about the key factors.

• Does the provider offset carbon emissions from transportation?
• Is the provider carbon-neutral?
• Is the provider transparent about their practices?

Additionally, take a hard look at your policies and practices. Are there places where you could trim out a little to

• Instead of having customers ship back broken or damaged items for a return, consider accepting a picture of the item.
• Use shipping agents and distributors committed to carbon neutral practices.
• Choose eco-friendly mailing materials.

Though third-party tools can slow your website down, consider using Stripe Climate. It’s easy to enroll and lets you donate a percentage of your revenue to carbon removal.

3. Reduce Load Time

Not only does load time impact website traffic and your user experience, but it also affects your power usage. Cutting your page load time isn’t always easy, but many of the steps on this list can contribute to those efforts. Addressing your images, caching data, and streamlining your navigation can speed things up.

You can also minify some codes, especially CSS and HTML, for smoother operation and increased page load speed.

If you want to dial things up a bit, consider a content delivery network (CDN). It stores your website content on a global server network. Every time a user requests your website, the information travels from the nearest server, reducing the amount of traffic and data travel time.

4. Limit Images

High-res images look amazing and capture an audience’s attention, but they also use more energy. While you don’t have to delete all of those awesome images, you might need to be more judicious about which ones you can’t part with.

Once you narrow the list of images, take things a step further. Reducing image resolution and quality can increase load time.

5. Effective Video Usage

Videos are worse than images in terms of page load speed and energy consumption. However, low-resolution videos can replace several images and have a positive impact on your audience. If you absolutely need the content and can’t figure out a better way to present it, consider embedding the video and disabling the autoplay function.

6. Limit Use of Third-Party Tools

Third-party tools can work wonders for the user experience, and support teams behind the scenes. However, those tools contribute to hefty energy usage and slower load times.

Discuss existing third-party tools to decide what you actually need, starting with tracking.

Analytics are useful, but maybe you don’t need to track as much as you think. Teams tend to overdo it on the tracking front without actually using all the information. Plus, several of these tools overlap some features. How many ways do you actually need to track visitor behavior?

Bonus tip: you only need to use social media tracking during campaigns. Otherwise, it doesn’t help much.

7. Refine Marketing Efforts

After addressing your tracking system, it’s time to dig deeper into your existing marketing practices. While you don’t have to cease all marketing efforts to go green, some minor changes can have a major impact.

Start with your automated systems publishing tools. They seem to make your life easier because you can set it and work on other things, but those tools use a lot of energy with limited yield. How much engagement do you actually get from those tools?

Bypass Google Adsense and other display ad programs and jump on the affiliate marketing bandwagon. You might be surprised by the results in terms of website performance, carbon footprint, and bottom line.

Skip the clickbait. Polls and surveys seem fun and engaging, but they don’t always provide value to your bottom line. Plus, they use power and slow up your website.

8. Refine Site Navigation

Creating simple, concise navigation improves the user experience and makes your site more sustainable. Complicated pages use far more energy because users have to click around to find the information they need.

Reduce redirects and minimize the menus to make information quick and easy to find. Tidy navigation bars make your website look and function better while improving the user experience.

9. Caching Can Help

Caching loads website content on servers prior so it’s ready when visitors call it up. It’s ideal if you want a dynamic site but doesn’t make frequent changes. Keep in mind that you don’t have to do the full page, you can choose to cache bits and pieces, like images.

10. Consider a Static Website

Static websites might be simpler in some ways, but they use substantially less energy than dynamic websites. That’s because the static website remains on the server and sends the HTML version to the users as requested. Dynamic websites load everything when a user requests the page.

Characteristics of a Sustainable Website

What does a sustainable website look like? Consider the following characteristics and how they make a website eco-friendly.

1. Green Web Design and Development

If you want a gorgeous website, it starts with web designers. An attractive website has little to do with images and videos, even though it can make a statement.

Some of the simplest, cleanest websites attract the most attention and happen to be eco-friendly. Consider a site that’s easy to navigate, simplistic instead of overstimulating, and provides the exact information your audience needs.

Sustainable web design may implement a combination of several factors:

• Caching to reduce file sizes and load time.
• Minimal navigation with search bars and limited menus.
• Eliminate pop-ups and pointless ads.
• Use fewer images and videos, and embed those you keep.
• Make the website mobile-responsive to provide users with an exceptional experience. Your mobile version is typically simpler, so it uses less energy.
• Minify scripts, like HTML and JavaScript.
• Remove autoplay features from videos.
• Choose an eco-friendly website hosting provider.

Additionally, pay careful attention to fonts and colors because they can make a difference. It’s easier to understand how fancy, custom fonts with complex codes can alter load time and energy usage, but colors also play a role. Dark mode uses the least energy because it takes more to deliver bright colors.

2. Embrace Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a key strategy for many marketing teams, and it’s one of the key ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Investing in SEO is a solid step toward operating a user-friendly, sustainable website.

• Use long-tail keywords instead of keyword stuffing.
• Update or remove content that doesn’t add value or perform well.
• Focus on the user experience, including page load speeds and navigation.
• Limit redirects as much as possible.
• Don’t overdo it with crawling or tracking.
• Work those HTTP header tags to reduce crawling without altering rankings.

Don’t forget to practice what you preach. Some brands claim to follow green practices and do just enough to make things look legitimate, but in reality, it’s little more than smoke and mirrors. When the truth comes out, and it always does, the company’s credibility takes a massive hit.

3. Sustainable Content Strategy

Content is king across the board, and it’s one of the key ways to make a site more sustainable. Aside from following the SEO tips above, content creators can share valuable content without the background noise that bogs down the servers and draws excess energy.

• Get to the point and answer the headline and eliminate the clickbait titles.
• Write evergreen content and rework old posts before writing new pieces. It saves your website and reduces the time you spend creating content.
• Mind the images and videos by adhering to the above advice and guidelines.
• Speaking of images, skip the stock photos and GIFs that don’t add value to your piece.

Valuable information attracts the right audience, so focus on giving your customers what they want and need. Every page and post you add to your website generates carbon emissions, so it’s worthwhile to consider what you can condense or rework. Be brutally honest about your content and remove unnecessary, invaluable information to reduce pages and energy usage.

Conclusion

Internet usage results in more greenhouse gas emissions than landfills and wastewater combined. There’s no question we need to change how we use the internet to prepare for the future.

Thankfully, there are many ways to improve your website to reduce your carbon footprint. It doesn’t require changing things overnight but every small step is a move in the right direction, and a shift toward a more sustainable world. An eco-friendly website is about working smarter and more efficiently.

You can take key steps by working with other sustainable companies, including your web host and web design. The right partners will answer your questions and remain transparent about their practices.

Wondering where to start with web hosting? Check out our website hosting reviews with some write-ups on the top options in the industry.

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Paul Wheeler

Hi, I’m Paul and I run a web design company that helped me learn the ins and outs of web hosting and design. I’m a fan of anything DIY– from woodworking to building and scaling successful websites.

Latest posts by Paul Wheeler (see all)

• Ways To Make Your Website ADA-Compliant – January 27, 2023
• Cybersecurity Trends and Threats to Watch Out for in 2023 – January 16, 2023
• 8 Common Reasons For Website Downtime (And How To Avoid Them) – November 30, 2022

For business owners and entrepreneurs, building a quality website should be a top priority.

In today’s technology-driven world, a reliable business website is one of the things you should have in able to build a scalable small business.

Running a business is one, but creating a website to run your business with is another. While it can be a handful, building your business online will bring you better opportunities, promote scalability, and improve profitability for your success.

The best thing you can do is start today. This article will help make your journey a tad easier through these online business ideas. Here’s a quick guide on how to get your winning website idea started.

15 Online Business Ideas You Can Try

If you haven’t started a business yet, deciding on a small business website can often be the most troublesome part. There are endless industries to explore, all with different website necessities and demographics to consider.

To help inspire you, I have compiled these 15 top small business website content ideas and how they’ve become successful.

1. Tech Products

The technology industry is rapidly growing and encompasses many niches such as medical supplies, entertainment, home, and vehicle technologies. You can almost always find a need in the market for a specific technology, and you can advance your business quickly as technology advances.

However, it is necessary to keep in mind that this industry is almost completely online, making the competition hard and the design of your website crucial. If you are interested in selling technology-related products, your website must reflect a working knowledge of the technology you are selling and it must look professional, too.

2. Skincare

One of the most consistently successful website businesses, skincare sites are appealing alternatives to in-person stores because of their ease of use and 24/7 availability. Many people prefer shopping for skincare products online rather than in a traditional store because it is easier to compare both the products and reviews in one place.

Skincare products are also great because they are used routinely, which keeps people coming back to your site, and provides a great opportunity for referral incentives or email marketing.

This small business website idea is great for new business owners due to the low startup costs and high gross margins associated with online skincare businesses.

7. Education

Educational businesses can include tutoring, teaching, or course-driven sites. These small business websites have become more popular as many families are turning to work-from-home environments and want their education to be conducted remotely, too.

These educational websites also let students learn at their own pace and set their hours, a feature that makes these businesses more successful every year.

An easy way to start your own educational website business is to upload a walkthrough of a niche topic of which you are knowledgeable. These can be mini-lectures or detailed courses and will provide ongoing (and passive) income as more people enroll.

4. Women’s Fashion

When it comes to online stores, the women’s fashion industry is one of the most profitable businesses to own and ranks amongst the highest-earning industries today.

Because of the steady demand for women’s clothing, these business websites are also a reliable source of income, and they have the potential to expand quickly as long as they are updated regularly to keep up with current trends.

Many women now prefer shopping for apparel online because of the large selection and convenience of shopping from home. The wide range of popular styles and trends also make this an easy industry to break into and stay into, whether you are creating your clothing line or selling name-brand pieces.

5. Cosmetics

A cosmetic business can be a relatively safe and reliable business model for a new business website.

This industry is pretty competitive, with many opportunities for marketing and expansion of the online store. There are also opportunities to sell your products wholesale to other businesses. This boils down to a profitable market for new business owners and experienced entrepreneurs alike.

Being a small cosmetics business, you can easily choose a more niche target audience and promote cosmetics you prefer or cosmetics designed for a particular purpose. There is a lot of freedom in this industry to incorporate your unique style and personality.

6. Pets

The pet industry is unlike many others- pet products don’t change much from season to season. The typical trend fluctuations don’t apply to pet businesses as much, so this website could be run more passively and require less maintenance.

Even though the trends don’t change much over the years, pet products are still gaining popularity. Everyone loves their pets! Online pet businesses specializing in pet sitting, pet food, and pet supplies are some of the most profitable in the industry due to their lower startup costs.

7. Consulting

Online consulting can be a great industry to start in because of the minimal startup costs and high-income potential, as long as you have substantial expertise within a given field. Online consulting business sites also allow you to choose your clients and contracts, so you’re never stuck with work you can’t fulfill and you can personalize your portfolio.

Consulting continues to be a valued job as work processes get more complicated and companies begin to expand. Consultants can specialize in various areas such as HR, technology, performance analysis, marketing, or accounting. If you have experience in any of these fields or others like them, you should consider creating an online consulting business.

8. Men’s Fashion

While not quite as popular as the women’s fashion industry, men’s apparel websites are quickly catching up in demand. Menswear also includes a wide variety of products such as formal wear, accessories, casual wear, shoes, and more, allowing for the potential expansion of your business in the future.

The variety of brands, products, and demographics in menswear make this a profitable market to start an online business in, regardless of your startup funds or previous knowledge of the industry.

9. Home Decor

If you love interior design, have an eye for detail, or have extensive knowledge of renovation work, this online business idea might be the perfect fit for you. This business focuses on home renovation or design but can also include selling decor products from manufacturers to customers.

This business has lots of room for growth and can even become passive income once you can hire other personnel. The startup costs can be higher because of the product inventory, but it depends on the products sold.

10. Travel Agency

Starting your travel agency might take some more hands-on work, but this online business website can be a good option for those with minimal startup money and wanting to have a high-profit margin. As long as you have the time and dedication required to plan travel accommodations, no previous experience is needed.

Most travel agencies start operating within a specific niche, such as overseas travel or backpacking trips, but you would have the opportunity to grow your company once you get established.

11. Jewelry

One of the most lucrative online businesses for new business owners, jewelry businesses are known for their high-profit margin and ability to be managed more passively. Selling jewelry online can even be better than selling in-store because of the added capabilities for marketing and a wider audience.

The jewelry industry has been booming since the pandemic, and it is projected to only continue growing. Some jewelry online can even be sold at a 100% profit margin, so the earning potential is unlimited. However, the startup costs can be higher depending upon the quality of jewelry sold.

12. Children’s Products

An online business for children’s products could sell anything from clothing or furniture to stroller rentals. There is almost always a need for kids’ products, so this is a growing business for new business owners seeking guaranteed income but also those looking for passive secondary income.

Baby product sales tend to be seasonal, though they are steadily increasing in popularity year after year. This could affect you if you have a low startup budget or are inexperienced in marketing, as the income will be less steady.

13. Food Products

Starting your own food product business online can be profitable for those willing to learn the local food laws and maintain good working relationships with food suppliers.

Distributing food from suppliers tends to be an easier route than selling homemade food products due to the legal requirements associated with food safety, but if you are passionate about selling your homemade food items, there is a market for locally sourced food as well.

This online business can require some extra work behind the scenes, but there is something uniquely rewarding about providing food to people across the world, and there is always the potential for your business to grow.

14. Outdoor Products

Like many other industries, the outdoor business covers many products and services that allow you to personalize your business. You could manage outdoor activities, promote gardening tools, or sell outdoor camping gear, for example.

Many people prefer shopping for outdoor gear online as it provides a more comprehensive list of options than shopping inside a store would. For this reason, an outdoor business website should include many options and be updated regularly to keep up with the market trends.

15. Workout Gears

While the startup costs may be higher for this online business, the activewear and workout gear market is growing exponentially and provides plenty of opportunities for growth or expansion. Many activewear brands use the same materials, so your success largely depends on your marketing skills and your website design.

This online business is a popular choice for new business owners because of the reliable income and the edge that being a business owner gives you in the activewear industry.

So you’ve chosen your website business idea- now what?

Once you’ve decided on a business model, you have to put your idea into action by creating a website that is both easy to navigate and pleasing to look at. Creating a quality website can include choosing a web-hosting service, conducting market research, and designing the individual pages of your website.

5 Steps To Get Your Website Off The Ground

Follow our step-by-step guide to creating a quality website for your business.

Step 1 – Choose a Web Hosting Provider

Luckily, you don’t have to start from scratch or learn to code to make your business website.

Web hosting providers can help you with the behind-the-scenes coding involved in creating a website so you can focus on your business. These providers give you all the resources needed to build and maintain your business website, so it is crucial to choose a web hoster that fits your specific business needs.

One of the most popular web hosting providers, BlueHost, allows for customization based on your site traffic. This provider would be great for an up-and-coming business owner that is unsure of the traffic their site will receive, as you won’t have to pay for any unnecessary features.

For more experienced business owners, InterServer has remained a reliable and affordable option since 1999. Along with its great track record, InterServer is known for its wide array of customization tools for business websites.

Customization is essential for businesses needing additional features or specific orientations and can make navigation of your site easier.

Another feature of your business site to keep in mind is the social media marketing required for online traffic.

Some web hosting providers, such as BuildYourSite, are one-stop-shops that include marketing and design services within their plans. These providers would be ideal for newer entrepreneurs with little to no marketing experience or business owners that are pressed for time.

Related article: Choosing A Web Host Service: 5 Website Hosting Tips You Should Know

Step 2. Create a Domain Name

While often overlooked as a minor detail, your website’s domain name is surprisingly a very important factor in your business’s success. Often, your domain name is the first thing seen by the customer, and you want the first impression to be memorable, professional, and easy to understand.

Domain names can be included in the service your web hosting provides, or you can purchase your domain name from a domain name registrar. Most of the time, buying your domain name from your web host is the cheaper (and most convenient) option, but it is always a good idea to shop around first.

When creating your domain name, you should consider using your brand name or stating your provided service within the domain.

You want the domain name to be simple and short so that customers can quickly glance at your domain and understand what you are selling. Try to steer clear of adding any special characters or punctuation, as this could make your website harder to find. Domain names with added characters or punctuation could also seem less trustworthy.

Related article: How to Transfer Domain Names Between Web Hosting Companies

Step 3. Brainstorming and Research

Starting an online business website requires a lot of research, no matter what you’re selling. Before you can even start designing your website, you have to know the basics of the market and your product or service.

The first thing you have to know is if there is a market for your product or service. It helps to be sure you won’t lose money designing a site for a product that no one wants. Often, you can determine a need in the market by conducting a quick google search.

Once you have a needed service in mind, you should also research your target audience or the people that you are designing the business to serve. What do they like? What styles and designs would they want to see? These insights are essential when designing your product and web pages.

Another key factor to your business’s success is the traffic it receives. You can increase the traffic to your site by researching “keywords,” or popular phrases searched online. This can be done using a search engine optimization tool, or by using a search engine yourself. Including multiple keywords on your business website is an easy way to generate more traffic.

This research only continues after your business has been established. Product trends can fluctuate as the seasons change and you may need to conduct more research to keep your business relevant and competitive.

Step 4. Branding and Design

Keeping in mind your potential clients and visitors, you can now begin to design your online business website. This is the face of your business and should be designed with your audience in mind. You want a website that is easy to navigate, easy to understand, and aesthetically pleasing.

Here are some tips to consider when designing your website:

• Keep your fonts and colors consistent throughout each page.
• Make your homepage simple and minimalistic.
• Menus should be easily accessible.
• Avoid the use of jargon- use simple words to explain your products.
• Use keywords to drive more traffic to your site.
• Avoid the use of stock images.

Step 5. Publishing and Management

Before publishing your site, always proofread it first and check for both navigability and security. Remember to check for your site’s speed and functionality, as well, and always back up your site just in case!

Once you have published your online business website, you will need to continue to manage your business over the next few years to ensure your site stays up to date. This involves the marketing of your business on social media, the upselling of your products, and the follow-up of previous customers to receive reviews and/or insights.

Key Takeaways

It takes a lot of time and effort to gain exposure for any business website. You will have to dedicate even more time to research the market and the trends as your business grows, too. But if you are willing to put in the work, you can make your online business website profitable enough to become passive income or to even expand your business further.

There are many different industries to start your online business in, all with differing startup costs and growth potentials to explore. And with online businesses becoming increasingly popular, there is no better time to start an online business website.

You don’t have to do it alone, though. There are many useful resources available to new business owners, such as web-hosting providers and search engine optimization tools. And if you follow our step-by-guide for creating an online business website, you can now join the millions of other business owners taking control of their careers.

For a complete list of our reviewed web hosting providers, click here.

• Author
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Paul Wheeler

Hi, I’m Paul and I run a web design company that helped me learn the ins and outs of web hosting and design. I’m a fan of anything DIY– from woodworking to building and scaling successful websites.

Latest posts by Paul Wheeler (see all)

• Ways To Make Your Website ADA-Compliant – January 27, 2023
• Cybersecurity Trends and Threats to Watch Out for in 2023 – January 16, 2023
• 8 Common Reasons For Website Downtime (And How To Avoid Them) – November 30, 2022

Went through extensive keyword research but Google still seems unimpressed?

Unfortunately, with all the time and effort that comes with search engine optimization (SEO), it’s just as easy to make mistakes when you don’t know what to do. This guide is intended to help you sol=ve some of the most common mistakes. For complex issues, it is best to consult with an SEO Agency.

In this guide, we’ll help you spot the top SEO mistakes so you can avoid them in the future. We will also provide you with a practical checklist to help you out when publishing new content and diagnosing underperforming past content. But first, let’s briefly answer why potential problems with your SEO are essential to catch.

Like any digital marketing tactic, SEO success has a significant impact on today’s businesses, in whatever industry you are in. However, you will need significant knowledge when dealing with it. If you’re not careful, you might lose ranking and traffic, which will lead to a loss of revenue. Therefore, it is vital to catch these common SEO mistakes so you can avoid their consequences this early.

1. Using Unsecure or Slow Web Hosting

Web hosting is a crucial part of any website. It is the place where your website files are stored, and it’s also the place where your website gets its speed. However, if your web host cannot handle a high volume of traffic on a website, then it will take an extended period for your site to load properly.

With the help of technically optimized content, search engines can easily crawl your site and index it. However, if your site is slow, it will make it difficult for search engine crawlers to index your pages.

The solution to bad web hosting is to use an SSL certificate that encrypts all of the data that goes through it. This way, no one can see what you’re doing on your site without having access to the private key, which only you have access to.

2. No Clear Goals

SEO is a complicated process that requires a lot of time and effort. But it’s important to note that there is no perfect SEO strategy. However, SEO success comes to those who consistently analyze, learn, and take action on it.

The problem with unclear goals is that it can lead to frustration, confusion, and an inability to analyze and diagnose past efforts. This can result in poor performance on the website, ultimately leading to low rankings.

The solution to this problem is to plan and set crystal clear goals. Clear goals are defined by what you want your website to do, how you want it to do it, and when you want it done. The following are some excellent SEO goals that can help you start:

1. Define monthly website traffic goals: This is the most crucial goal of all. You need the traffic to rank for any keyword or phrase. The more traffic you have, the better chance you will rank for a keyword or phrase.
2. Identify KPIs/ KPMs for your conversion rate: Conversion rate is defined by the number of people who visit your website that convert into customers or leads. Many first-time business owners categorize conversion rates as purely sales-focused. While this is ideal, know that if you follow this route, you might be setting your goals too high.

3. Outdated SEO practices

Another SEO mistake happens when people are not analyzing the changing patterns and algorithms of search engines in their industry or in the overall digital arena. This can take a big toll on their website.

Common SEO mistakes can ensue without proper guidance. Being unaware of how search engines are currently working is one. Following constantly changing updates and algorithms is another. Search engines are discerning and smart, you need to keep up.

For example, The consequences of outdated SEO practices can be seen in the drop in organic traffic and the increase in paid traffic. This is because Google is now prioritizing high-quality content over low-quality content.

Solutions to this problem include:

• Updating your website with new and relevant content.
• Use social media platforms to share your content.
• Implementing a mobile-friendly website design.
• Putting focus keywords in your meta description

The most important thing to remember when updating your website for SEO purposes is to ensure that you are not creating duplicate content. This will help you avoid penalties from search engines like Google and Bing.

4. Not Determining Search Intent

Search intent is a term that refers to the user’s intention to find information on a given topic. It is important for search engines to determine the user’s intent because it helps them provide relevant results. The importance of search intent can be seen in Google’s recent update, which has been designed to help users find what they are looking for more quickly.

A common mistake made by SEOs is not determining what type of search intent their users are performing. This can lead to poor results and low conversion rates for their website because Google considers your content to be irrelevant to the keywords used.

The solution to wrong search intent is to use a keyword research tool like SEMrush or Google Keyword Planner. These tools will help you determine what your target audience is searching for and what they are looking for in your content.

5. Ignoring EAT

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trust. It’s an acronym used to convey Google’s preference for content that comes from professional experts and popular authorities and it satisfies several trust factors.

As a result, Google’s algorithm is not only a powerful tool that can help you rank higher in search results. It is also a powerful tool that can punish you if you make mistakes.

The consequences of ignoring Google’s algorithm are not just limited to the ranking of your website. It can also affect your brand reputation and lead to a loss of revenue.

The solution to these problems requires you to address all three facets of EAT separately, which means promoting engaging content through social media, creating original or “thought leadership” content, and focusing on the customer experience and not just on the search engine rankings.

6. Only Using Text

SEO requires more than just text. It involves a variety of content that includes images, videos, and other forms of content. The reason this causes issues is that Google looks at more than just what you publish. It also takes into account the behavior of your audience.

Additionally, engaging content will also have a higher potential for increased traffic. This can be achieved by including calls to action, such as at the beginning of an article or blog post. You can also re-use this high-engaging content for other digital marketing efforts.

Every business has a different way of talking to its audience, but there is an ideal way to communicate with your target customer no matter what type of SEO content you create. Whether through email, social media, or blog posts, understanding who they are and what they need will help you produce the best quality content relevant to their needs.

The growing prominence of multimedia content has made it imperative for marketers to produce high-quality content. One way to do this is by repurposing text into other formats such as video, podcasts, or infographics. This strategy can be used in a variety of different ways for different marketing purposes.

7. Website is Not Mobile-friendly

SEO content must be mobile-friendly to ensure that your website ranks well in search engines and gets more traffic from people who use their phones to access the internet.

Google has been penalizing websites that don’t have a responsive design for quite some time now. However, it’s not enough to just have a website. You need to ensure that it’s easy and accessible for all devices. This means you should use a mobile-friendly design and CSS3.

There are many ways to optimize your website for mobile devices. For example, you can use responsive design, which adjusts the layout of the website based on the size of the screen. You can also use CSS media queries to adjust the layout of your site based on screen size and orientation.

8. Forgetting to Optimize for Local Search

Local search is a powerful tool for businesses to reach out to their target audience. Therefore, companies need to optimize their website and content for local search.

The consequences of not optimizing for local search can be severe. First, if you are not optimizing for local search, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to reach your target audience and generate leads.

Local SEO is an extensive process. If you want to make sure that your website is optimized for local search, you must use a tool like SEMrush or Ahrefs.

9. Purchasing Backlinks Directly

Backlinks provide your site with engaged visitors when linked or ‘referred by’ other websites. Backlinks are one of the most important strategies for getting more traffic and ranking higher in search engines. They also help you build trust with your audience, which is important for any business as well as for satisfying EAT for Google.

Backlinks can be obtained through social media, blog posts, guest posts, and other types of content marketing.

Google has been penalizing websites that purchase backlinks. This is because the links are not organic, and they can be seen as spammy.

The consequences of purchasing backlinks can be severe, but there are ways to mitigate the risk. One way to get quality links is to use a link-building service. These services create the right content for your website and ensure that the links in your content are relevant and high-authority.

10. Using Generic Keywords

Keywords are important for SEO. They are the foundation of any website’s content. However, using generic keywords can have negative consequences on your website’s SEO.

Generic keywords are words that have little to no meaning to the audience, and they don’t provide any value to the reader. Additionally, generic keywords used in a sentence without providing any context or meaning to it can be viewed as “keyword stuffing,” which is a known tactic that Google penalizes.

The use of generic keywords can decrease organic traffic and increased bounce rate, which is not good for your website’s SEO.

The solution to this problem is to use more targeted, relevant, and long-tail keywords that have low competition and high conversion rates.

11. Not choosing the right web hosting

Web hosting is a crucial part of SEO. It is the first step in the process of getting your website ranked on search engines.

Web hosting providers are also crucial for SEO because they provide a lot of information about your website that can be used to improve its ranking.

Below we’ll cover some web hosting issues that impact SEO.

Malware

Web Hosting providers have a lot of responsibilities that they need to take care of to provide quality services to their customers. They need to make sure that their servers are secure and malware-free so that they can provide a safe environment for their customers’ websites.

Malware is a type of software that is designed to disrupt computer operations and cause damage. It can be used for malicious purposes such as stealing personal information, destroying data, or disrupting the normal operation of a computer system.

Malware is one of the most common types of cyber-attacks that hackers and cybercriminals are using.

The use of malware in SEO has been found to significantly impact search engine rankings, with some studies suggesting that up to 70% of all websites may be affected by malware in some way.

Google Blacklisting

Google Blacklisting is a list of websites that Google has decided to block from its search engine. The list is updated periodically and contains websites that are spammy, deceptive, or otherwise harmful.

The reasons for blacklisting vary, but the most common reason for blacklisting is when the website violates Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If your site is hacked, it may contain malware that may violate Google’s standards and result in a Google Blacklisting.

The best way to avoid Google blacklisting is by using a backup site. However, even if you are hacked, provide a backup. You will need someone with technical ability to clean up a hacked site and remove it from Google’s blacklist.

Site Downtime

Website downtime is a common problem for many businesses. It can be caused by various reasons, such as server crashes, power outages, and hardware failures.

Website downtime can have a significant impact on your SEO rankings. If you are not able to keep your website up and running, it will be harder for you to rank in search engines because Google’s algorithms flag sites whenever they go down. When choosing web hosting for a site you plan to optimize for search engines, be sure that it has an uptime guarantee of some kind.

Internal Server Error/Database Connection Failed

Database connection failure is a common error message that appears when you try to connect to a database. This error message can be caused by many reasons, such as the database being unavailable, the network connection being unavailable, or the database not being configured correctly.

These error messages appear to people who are trying to access your site when it has crashed due to a high traffic load. While this does not affect your SEO ranking directly, it will significantly increase your bounce rate.

Whenever Google notices that people are visiting or attempting to visit your site, then immediately leaving, they assume that your site was not a suitable match for their search query and lower your site’s ranking.

Shared Hosting With Disreputable Sites

With the rise of content-sharing sites like blog spam and article spam, more and more websites are being infected with bad links. If a website has too many spammy links, its ranking on Google may drop.

Search engines penalize websites that show signs of spam, and they penalize every single site that has that IP address, which if not careful enough, could be your site as well. That is if you’re using a shared hosting service.

Not only can this lower your SEO ranking, but the same logic should be applied to using backlinks. Relevant high authority domains naturally improve your ranking, while lower quality or irrelevant sites will lower it.

Wrong TLD

TLDs are the last part of a domain name. For example, if you type in www.example.com, then “com” is the TLD.

The TLD is an essential part of a website’s URL because it tells people what kind of website they visit.

Using an incorrect TLD, such as using a country-specific TLD like .co, you’ve made your site harder to find without realizing it.

How Can Good Web Hosting Help SEO

Your web hosting is where your website files are stored, and it is also where your website gets its IP address. It can help improve SEO by providing a stable platform for websites to be hosted on. It also helps with speed and security.

In conclusion, web hosting is a crucial part of any website. It is where your website lives, and it is the first thing that people see when they visit your site. Web hosting can help with

SEO by providing a better user experience, faster loading times, and more reliable uptime. The list of reasons you should choose a good web hosting provider is long. Factors, directly and indirectly, affect your SEO. The benefits of effective web hosting include:

• Higher search engine rankings can improve revenue.
• Reduced bounce rates and improved conversion rates.
• More reliable uptime.
• Faster loading times.
• Increased traffic and revenue.
• Quicker and better customer service.
• Safer online business.
• Increase in customer satisfaction.
• Ease of doing business.

Starting your online business begins with choosing the best web hosting for your needs. To that end, we invite you to see our full review of web hosting services here.

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Paul Wheeler

Hi, I’m Paul and I run a web design company that helped me learn the ins and outs of web hosting and design. I’m a fan of anything DIY– from woodworking to building and scaling successful websites.

Latest posts by Paul Wheeler (see all)

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• 8 Common Reasons For Website Downtime (And How To Avoid Them) – November 30, 2022

Are you sure your site is still keeping up?

Are you scaling your business internationally? Is your UX/UI a little outdated? Do you need to change your hosting? Whatever the reason may be, a website or hosting upgrade can be one of the best things you need to do to improve your site and overall business. But while a new website can be fun and exciting, the nitty-gritty of website migration comes with a lot of risks.

Sure, upgrading to a better hosting service and updating your site’s interface can boost your business, but it always comes with a price. Website migration process can be tedious. Delays and downtimes can also happen which might lose you website visits and valuable customers.

But is migrating your website with no downtime even possible? Here’s what I can tell you:

With The Right Planning, Your Website Migration Can Have Minimal to Zero Downtime

A website migration that isn’t planned right can only lead to a lot of problems-anxious testing, frantic troubleshooting, and repeated (or probably longer) downtimes. If you own a business that runs purely online, it can suffer great losses.

Your website is your business. It is important to plan everything out before executing anything on your site- from design to back end.

It does not have to be like that. If you plan it correctly, you can make that website migration seamlessly without losing a database, sacrificing potential revenue, or causing managers’ and employees’ blood pressure to skyrocket.

What Is Website Migration?

First, starting with the basics is a great idea to help lay the foundation for a smooth migration. It can also help those who do not have migration experience get a sense of what they are facing and why they do not need to panic, even when they go through the inevitable challenges that every website migration experiences.

In the simplest terms, website migration is changing your website from an old to a new host to another or implementing system-wide changes to your website that dramatically affect one of three characteristics of your website:

• How your website looks
• How your old site functions (database(s,) website files, old hosting provider, domain names, etc.)
• The customer experience on your website

Website migration to a new hosting provider closely follows the process of moving to a new home or renovating the home you live in now. To be successful, a new model must be adopted, the migration planned, and then the plan executed.

If the migration is to a new host, that means moving files, updating DNS records, alerting clients, and making the transfer with minimal disruption.

If the site migration includes changing the look or feel of the website, it means coming up with a new look. The new look is in addition to adopting a switchover plan, running parallel systems until the new system is flawless, and minimizing customer downtime.

Two Types of Migration

In either case, the fundamental building block to any successful migration is to have a plan. That plan will map out one of two ways to manage the migration.

White-Glove

A white-glove migration is the simplest form of website migration. It involves you handing the migration job from your old hosting provider to your new web hosting company and letting them do the dirty work with any associated database, interface, IP address, etc. Your role is to help map out a schedule, pick a transfer date and stipulate what you can and will not sacrifice.

For example, you might want to stipulate that front-end operations are mandatory, but you can forego some operability on the fulfillment side if needed.

Or, you might stipulate to your new web hosting company that the website must be fully functional during work hours, but there is some time off hours for downtime or that it can be brought down for troubleshooting and maintenance on the weekend.

The benefit of a white-glove approach is that pros in web hosting handle the migration. Your role is to test it once it is migrated and help troubleshoot it if there are issues.

Manual Migration

With a manual migration, you do it all yourself. You handle the actual transfer of files, testing, and troubleshooting. With this method, you are responsible for figuring out a new web host, hardware, database migration and protection, uptime, and how to test and troubleshoot the website once it gets migrated.

Why Move?

Performing a website migration is rarely something a company or individual does without good reasons. The reason it is not done flippantly is that no matter how planned you are and how many contingencies you have, there is always a possibility that migration will break your website.

There might be software or hardware compatibility issues, security problems, user interface conflicts, etc.

That reality makes most website managers reluctant to make any changes that are not absolutely necessary. There are four major reasons why migrating your website might make sense.

1. Server Speed

On the back end, a slow server affects processing speed, slowing workers, fulfillment, data entry, and updating and processing time. A slow server can render a website useless if those issues pile up. If your host server is too slow, your customers suffer, or if it is really slow, your customers look elsewhere.

You can optimize where possible and work to control volume, but if a server is too slow, the only choice is to make a migration.

2. Performance Issues

Some hosts are up no matter what, some hosts are always down, it seems, and most hosts are random in their downtime. If your server experiences frequent outages or disruptions, it affects how your customers see you. Migration, in this case, is done solely to ensure uninterrupted uptime. One solution is to improve hardware, but the best choice is frequently new hardware.

3. Scalability

Not all web hosts can handle rapid growth. If your company or organization is growing rapidly, chances are pretty good your website is growing as well, both in its demands and its capabilities. If you are stuck with a server host that cannot scale to the size you need, it is time to look at alternatives.

4. Poor Customer Service

Poor customer service applies to website hosts that reside externally in your operations.

If you are treated like a second-class client or the old or new web host personnel are unprofessional, it can reflect poorly on you if their lack of professionalism leads to erratic website uptime. If this is the case, the sooner you make a switch, the better off you and your customers will be.

Top 3 Benefits Of Upgrading To A New Website

Migrating a website is so involved that no one does it without first understanding the risks and the rewards. The largest risk is that your website goes down and is not easily brought back up. The rewards are as simple.

Better Performance

A website server is a finite piece of hardware. Eventually, it will decrease in performance or capabilities. If your website is an evolving entity, either one of these scenarios gets remedied by a new server upgrade. Better performance means happier employees that use the website and happier customers.

Increased Reliability

Just like a server can age or your capabilities can exceed its own, replacing a server or migrating a website to a new server can make your website more stable and reliable. In this case, reliability means fewer interruptions in service and processing times. As mentioned above, both benefit anyone that interacts with your website.

Another area that benefits from greater reliability is data backup systems. A new server will help ensure that your data is backed up regularly and that it is easily retrievable if you experience a catastrophic failure.

More Robust Security

Some web hosts neglect security for the sake of expediency. For example, they might not have the firewalls or processes in place to restrict access to the server to only authorized personnel. You can select a new hosting security software as part of your website migration plan, ensuring that your data and website are as protected as possible.

Tips In Migrating Your Website With No Downtime

Migrating your website with no downtime depends on the website you are moving and what software you use to manage it. Some are more oriented towards migration than others. Some require extensive front-end work, while others demand back-end testing and troubleshooting.

Regardless, there is a basic framework that every website migration should follow.

1. Plan For The Migration

Before you migrate a single file, you need to map out your move. Identify why you want to move, find a new hosting company for your domain name and IP address that meets those needs, coordinate with all components affected by the migration, develop a budget and schedule, and put contingencies into place if all goes poorly.

You should not have a schedule for your planning unless you face a hard deadline. Take your time and map out every aspect of the migration, from migrating the domain name to how you will test and troubleshoot the IP address once the website has been migrated.

You should still plan for scheduled downtime, testing, and troubleshooting even if you are going the White Glove migration route with your domain name.

Gather all requirements for everyone that is affected by the migration. Try and develop a migration schedule that takes advantage of slow periods or periods when those that use the website will likely be offline.

2. Use Redundancy

The more redundant a process you can create, the easier the migration will be. If possible, run a real-time backup of your website and associated databases for a week or two before you migrate. When it comes time to migrate, use the backup for the migration.

By using the backup site and database(s,) all you must do to switch over is turn the primary site and database(s) off and let the “new” site take over. You will have to update the site with any data or actions that happened.

Redundancy also allows you to revert to the old IP address, interface, and database(s) if the new system fails without losing any database or data segments. Your “old” site will still be up until you switch over.

Once the new host is running and your site has been updated, you can switch the old host configuration to serve as a backup to the new alignment until you are sure the new system works flawlessly.

3. Complete Before Canceling

Do not cancel your old server hosting plan until the migration is complete. Bring your new host up, test the website, let it get used as the primary website conduit for a few days, and then cancel your old host plan.

Premature cancellation can lead to database loss and the new hosting system not working correctly, leaving you with no backup and a down website.

Do not cancel your old host plan until you are sure your new host and website are functioning to your liking. This step is particularly important if you are using a new host company. These companies tend to terminate the operation of a site as soon as you cancel. That can leave you with zero alternatives if the new host does not work out.

4. Back Everything Up

When you are ready to migrate, back up all your files, including any compressed files. Backup even if you are running a redundant site as it will give you a starting point if:

• Something goes wrong
• The new host does not work
• The old host terminates your site

Once you have the website on the new host up and running, perform a hard backup on that as well.

5. Test Before Going Live

Have a testing system and format ready on the new host website to ensure the migration happened correctly. Test every aspect of your website, including from the perspective of the customer and your staff. Even after the site is up and running on the new host, continue to test so that you get an idea of any areas that might pose problems.

6. Coordinate With Your Customers

Customer feedback on a website migration serves two purposes: It gives you valuable information about the site’s performance and includes the customer in your process, giving them a sense of ownership.

Both will help you develop a website that is responsive to customer needs, which will help you if you have issues with the new host.

This approach also works with your employees. Engage them and use their input to help you improve your website, its performance, and how it can help your business grow.

7. Communicate Early and Often

It might seem repetitive, but the more you update your customers and employees, the easier the migration will go, and the better it will be perceived. You do not want to give away too much information, but the more you can provide, the larger the reservoir of patience if things go south.

Transparency works because humans hate the unknown. If, for example, your customers are met with an “under construction” interface when you are migrating, the unknown is scarier than the known.

If you update them on when you anticipate being back up or where in the process you are, most customers will be patient, if not thrilled, by the delay. The same applies to your employees.

8. Don’t Sugar Coat

If you encounter problems, the earliest you can inform your employees and customers, the better off it will go over the long term. A customer that cannot place an order will not find another vendor or business if you give them a timeframe on when they will be up. The same applies to telling customers when you are having issues.

Don’t pretend nothing is wrong when something is not going according to plan.

9. Be Patient, but Not Stubborn

If migration is going badly, there comes a point when you have to pull the plug, migrate to the old site and start over planning your migration. While you do not want to stop the process at the first issue, you also do not want to delay it so long that you cannot ever fully recover.

Knowing when to revert can be challenging. Not only are there technical considerations, but there are also your ego and the pride of those working on the migration. Most humans hate admitting they might not have anticipated a problem or might be wrong, and when that becomes the governing mindset, fixing an issue gets delayed.

Be willing to retreat if retreating is the only open avenue.

10. Always Have a Contingency

A maxim of War is that “no plan survives contact with the enemy.” The same mindset holds during a website migration. You must have a plan for if things go wrong and then a plan for if your contingency goes wrong.

Should You Migrate To A New Hosting Too?

Migrating to a new hosting can be one of the main reasons for website migration. But if it’s not, you should be able to identify if you need to upgrade to a better hosting plan or provider.

When Should You Change Hosting?

You should be considering other hosting plans if you’re experiencing problems like:

• Too many downtimes than usual
• Slow load times
• Tech support isn’t helpful
• Server space isn’t enough
• Your hosting plan is too expensive
• Security is not sufficient

Migrate during the period of the day that your website experiences the least amount of front and back-end traffic. Even if your site has international clients or employees, there is always a relative lull in activity. Using that period to switch minimizes the potential downtime any particular client or employee will experience.

If you work standard hours, a good migration time is often over a holiday. Not only are most of your employees offline, but your customers are usually offline as well. An ideal time is during a holiday that is celebrated internationally, like Christmas or New Year’s Day.

Timing your migration for either of those times can ensure that you migrate during the time of year the fewest customers and employees are online. If you cannot migrate during those times, you may have to make a value judgment by asking when the website is the least busy and migrating during that period.

Conclusion

Your business, clients, boss, and co-workers depend on you migrating your sustainable website while minimizing or avoiding downtime. The tips here give you the best shot, but remember that a good starting point for a successful migration depends on a reliable website host.