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Online Presence
I cannot overemphasize the importance of online presence and activities. Here is a non-exhaustive list of activities (with links to valuable resources) that I professionally address for clients in order to be successful online:
- Perform Needs analysis.
- Register a domain name.
- Sign up for hosting.
- Choose a Content Management System (CMS) to power the site. WordPress highly recommended.
- Choose a Template/Theme or hire a professional designer.
- Choose and configure essential plugins.
- eCommerce: choose and setup a shopping cart platform.
- eCommerce: choose and setup payment gateways.
- Plan and implement website Information Architecture (IA).
- Design User Experience (UX).
- Create compelling content.
- eCommerce: create product listings, including descriptions, options (colors, sizes, etc.) and prices.
- Take and publish high-quality photographs.
- Usability test Responsive Web Design (RWD) across most common devices – full-screen, tablet, mobile.
- Optimize perfomance. In October 2016 mobile traffic exceeded desktop traffic globally.
- Set up caching, load balancing, fail-over (if needed).
- Subscribe for a Web Application Firewall (WAF) service.
- Audit security and updates (ongoing).
- Get and configure an HTTPS certificate.
- Subscribe for a Content Delivery Network (CDN) service.
- Set up Google Custom Search.
- Set up analytics.
- Set up Social media accounts and link them to your site.
- Set up Open Graph / Twitter cards.
- Set up Business listings.
- Submit to Search Engines.
- Manage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (ongoing).
- Manage Online Advertising (ongoing).
- Update content – onsite (ongoing).
- Update content – social media (ongoing).
- Produce video content for YouTube (ongoing).
- Implement backup plans and schedule (ongoing).
- Perform server/platform maintenance (ongoing).
Tags: eCommerce, hosting, online presence, performance optimization, responsive web design, WordPress
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