website reports

An objective view is useful for a business, we can all get too close to what is important to us. Websites can also become personal, reflecting a business owner's style and beliefs, rather than appealing to website visitors. Personal values can create trust and are a valid part of any website but they should not override the objective. The web is hardly a new principle, traders once paid people to go round with handcarts and give out leaflets. Then came the postal system and the telephone, now we have a fresh channel but this still needs an effective business tool. What is new is the potential to communicate with so many people, who need to feel your website is useful and know where to find you.

How search engines see your website will form a core part of these reports. We will highlight technical barriers to good indexing, actions that need to be taken and opportunities for improvement. Good search engine indexing leads to more visitors and guaging their reaction to your site will be covered in the review. This will be carried out by an experienced developer, not just a run through with proprietary software, or pages of boilerplate copy. Although free, site owner's find this service supportive. That does cause significant demand and whilst we would like to help everyone, we have no choice other than to limit our report services to small businesses based in Surrey.

A website owner may be aware of problems, from lack of website traffic, to poor technical performance. They may also be the person who runs their website, possibly be happy with much content but appreciate that professional input is needed, to improve visitor numbers and help convert visitors to customers. Our detailed website reports are often used for self managed sites, or by website designers. They offer more technical help, including practical and immediate solutions, where possible. Even with a smaller website, this can involve several hours of a developer's time, so they have no choice in asking for a contribution. This will be discussed with you beforehand and the amount is never onerous, generally around half the true cost.

Please feel free to contact us at any time, to discuss whether a report would be helpful. We do not apportion blame for errors that are found, or tactics that were not ideal. Our purpose is to work with you and take your website forward, in line with other pages on our site:

• A guide to improving search engine traffic
• Individual articles to help improve a website
• A technical background to search engine optimisation

Quite often, a website owner, or designer may need technical detail. Where this is not the case, we try to exclude jargon. Unusual terms will be explained and links offered to further help. The report's prime aim is to be easily understood.

• First impressions - vital seconds to avoid the back button.
• Content and images - clarity for humans and search engines.
• Server response - correctness, speed and file structure.
• URL construction - Simplicity helps, along with no duplication.
• Website coding - primarily from a search engine perspective.
• Navigation and links - internal and external, essential to any site.
• Search engine rules - compliance does not need to be a handicap.

Other core aspects will depend on the website. In every case, the report will seek to identify opportunity, rather than highlight problems.