Opal Gamble

Are you fascinated by HTML? Would you like to deepen your understanding of website coding?

Me neither. I just want my website to generate some business every now and then, and not crash in the process.

I met Opal Gamble, website whiz and all-around-amazing human being, last year when I started volunteering for Caregiving Matters, an online charity. She developed and maintains the charity’s comprehensive website, and subsequently walked me through the site’s back-end interface so I could contribute to the charity’s internet marketing strategy.

Around that time, I was also building this website and in desperate need of a little guidance. I figured as lady with such a generous heart, Opal wouldn’t mind sharing a little free advice on basic website upkeep and lead optimization—and I pegged her perfectly!  Here’s a handy cheat sheet of the knowledge she dropped on me.

• If your website comes equipped with a content management system, perform all the updates –including ones for the program and plug-ins—when prompted. “This might sound pretty obvious, but many people ignore these messages for weeks or longer,” says Opal. “The programmers roll out these security updates constantly because they’ve found vulnerabilities in their programs that they’ve patched. If you don’t do your updates, you’re a sitting duck for security problems.”
  

• Make sure each page on your website has at least 300 words. “This is the word count at which Google’s search engines start taking you seriously,” she explains. For vloggers, her suggestion is to transcribe their videos so they achieve the 300-word minimum. “As someone who is not a huge fan of video, I think it’s also a great idea to give your audiences options. Don’t hold us hostage to your videos.”
  

• Your website should be constantly changing. “The advantage of a website is that it’s nimble,” Opal points out. “If your website is stagnant, search engines have no reason to come back.” Blogging regularly, updating your portfolio, and adding new services are all great ways to keep your website evolving, she adds.
  

• Your website must be mobile friendly. “That’s non-negotiable,” Opal warns. “For most people, more than 50 per cent of their website traffic comes from mobile devices, so you’re just throwing away business if your site is not loading properly on a cell phone or tablet.” The simple housekeeping rule is to check your website on multiple devices periodically, especially after doing the updates mentioned in tip number one, she adds.

• Target your website content at your top 10 per cent of clients that generate the most business. “This is probably the best website advice I’ve ever heard,” she shares. “If you focus on those people and generating more business like theirs, logically you’ll increase your income and continue to grow your business.”

Opal Gamble is the front-end web developer and project manager at Design & Develop. Connect with her through her website.