Best Practices

Content

  • Organize the web content and group like content into subcategories
  • The home page should have some informative content on 'who you are' and promote your offerings and solutions.
  • The "About Our Company" section should be utilized to explain the individual company's key information. It is important for the web visitor to know about your company. This section is recommended to appear on your website.
  • Default copy is available for "Why Title Insurance", "Buyer's Corner", "Seller's Corner", and "Real Estate Dictionary". This general information is helpful and should be used when possible.
  • The "Meet the Staff" functionality allows an individual staff member to access and update only their bio. Also, there is added functionality that allows a visitor to place an order through a specific individual.
  • When you would like to promote a product or service that is not yet available, please give a time indication of when to expect the site availability and a description of what the visitor will see eventually. However, it would be best to wait until the promotion is available to announce it on the web.
  • Having external links that send visitors away from your site are acceptable if there is content before the link explaining where you are going and if the link opens into a new browser window. This allows the visitor to find their way back to your site and determine if they want to leave your site in the first place. Some examples of external links are Stewart's corporate website, www.stewart.com, and Virtual Underwriter, www.vuwriter.com.

Navigation

  • If the left navigation is the main navigation for your company. The top navigation can be secondary navigation that links to external sites, such as Contact Us and Sureclose. You can determine the main navigation by where the ‘Home' link is located.
  • However, the navigation can be reversed with the top navigation as the main navigation for your company. The left navigation will be the secondary navigation. Please remember to group like content.
  • Some examples of main navigation would be About Us, Why Title Insurance, Order Center, SureClose, Meet the Staff, Glossary, and Contact Us.
  • Audience types could be secondary navigation like Home Buyers/Home Sellers, Realtors, and Commercial.
  • You can determine the main navigation by where the ‘Home' link is located.
  • Having external links that send visitors away from your site are acceptable if there is content before the link explaining where you are going and if the link opens into a new browser window. This allows the visitor to find their way back to your site and determine if they want to leave your site in the first place. Some examples of external links are Stewart's corporate website, www.stewart.com, and Virtual Underwriter, www.vuwriter.com.

Formatting

  • Determine a consistent look and feel for the headings and formatting. Use Headings 1, Headings 2, Headings 3, Headings 4, Headings 5, and Paragraph Tags for formatting the pages and keeping a uniform style throughout. Also, external search engines, such as Google, will hit and read the Heading 1 (H1) tag which helps with search engine ranking. When determining heading size and outlining your site, please use the headings in ascending order. Heading 1 (H1) is already used. The most common heading sizes after are H2 and H3 accordingly.
  • When uploading a file type other than html, please indicate the file type and size by the link. For example, if you are linking to a PDF brochure, please use the following text, "Read the brochure (pdf)". Please note that the entire phrase should be linked to better highlight the link.
  • There are multiple images to choose from for the masthead image. The image can convey either a residential or a commercial point of view.

Web Writing

  • The phrase, "Click Here" should be changed to instead show an action. For example, "Learn how", "See more", or "Read further" are more descriptive with action verbs to explain to the visitor what is about to occur. The entire phrase should be linked.
  • Use the predefined tools available to you like the Definition list found on the Support site at http://support.stewartsitebuilder.com when possible.
  • The title is an important factor in your site's eventual search engine ranking. Because directory search engines only search through the title, description, and URL you submit, having important keywords in your title is critical.
  • The web content is critical for search engines to index your page. The most effective web content is brief, focused, and consistent. When choosing the writing style, a bulleted list would be more effective than a continuous paragraph.

Stewart Title Guaranty Company