Tips to make sure your website is working for you; including our website audit checklist.
Whether your website is a new investment or the backbone of your thriving business, it’s essential that you review it regularly.
I’m going to share my tips to help you make the most of your online world, we’ll boost your domain and guarantee your visitors have a fantastic experience. Just follow my checklist to improve your website.
Do some digging
Have a look at competitors’ (or in fact almost any) websites and see what you can learn from them – good and bad. Note things which you like and things you don’t, when you review your own website this can guide your changes.
Focus on who you want to visit your site.
Have a clear idea of who your site is aimed at, then consider what that person is looking for. Build your site for the visitor – the focus shouldn’t be on what’s easiest for you but for your audience.
Make sure you’re visible on social media.
Identify the social media platforms relevant to your business. Then create accounts which link to your website – preferably with the same name as your domain. Even if you have personal accounts on Facebook or LinkedIn, it’s important to create a branded page as well.
Consistency is key.
Ensure your website and any linked social media accounts use the same branding. This isn’t just about your logo – although having an effective logo is key. Make sure the pictures you use, language and fonts are inline across all platforms you use.
Did you know you can also add your logo to the site’s favicon (the small icon found on the address bar/tab of your browser)?
Encourage feedback.
Reviews on Facebook or Google my Business will potentially guide people to your website and into your business – don’t be scared to ask for reviews.
Find relevant local or industry directories to be part of.
Linking your website to reputable local and national business directories will benefit you twofold. Not only will these directories be potential sources of interest, these links also add credibility to your website which positively affects your chances of being found by search engines.
Content is key
Keep it fresh.
Whether it’s words or pictures, make sure you update the content on your website regularly. A neglected website won’t rank as well in searches.
Make your words count.
Having at least 100 words on each of your pages will give search engines more text to look at and reference – another key in improving your search engine optimization or SEO.
But while it’s important to have the right text for search engines, it’s more important to have pages that people want to read – make sure the text on your website is interesting.
And make your space count too.
It’s possible to make pages easier to read by formatting them clearly with headings, bulleted lists and plenty of white space.
Find your key(words).
Make sure you’ve identified the right keywords for your website or business, these are the phrases which people will enter into search engines in order to find your site. These keywords should be used throughout your text and particularly within headings.
Carefully consider which pages your site needs.
Your site needs to be easy to get around so that your audience can find what they need.
Useful pages to include are:
- A Landing page with a clear message to ensure visitors know they’re on your site.
- A Services page which allows your readers to see clearly how you can help them.
- An About page to share the story of your business, showing people why you’re the right company for them.
- A Blog – blogs are the perfect tool to allow you to put information on your website without it becoming too complicated to navigate. Updating your blog regularly is an easy way of making sure your site is kept fresh; but be careful, if you’re not keeping your blog up to date your whole site can look outdated.
As well as words you need pictures.
Images are a very important part of your site content, ensure they have a consistent feel. Although you can use stock images, it’s a good idea to use your own pictures where possible as these tell a different story.
Every picture on your site will have associated Alt Tags and Title Tags which should include keywords supporting your SEO targets. And images should be optimized to reduce loading speeds as far as possible.
… And video.
Video is increasingly popular on websites, it gives audiences a chance to feel closer to you and your brand, and will encourage them to stay on your page for longer.
Be obvious.
Ensure it is easy for readers to reach you, each page of your website should have an obvious link to get in touch – whether it’s a link to your contact page or having your phone number in the header.
The final touches
Do it yourself.
If you choose to look after your own website, make sure you know what to expect in terms of upkeep. Do you have the time and skills to manage this yourself?
Is your site friendly?
Specifically mobile friendly… An increasingly large percentage of people are doing their browsing online, if your site doesn’t work effectively on a mobile device you will almost certainly lose customers.
Check your links.
Broken links are bad for your website – if you have any, fix them.
Other efficiency checks.
Check the speed of your website using this link developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights. If speed is a problem, these are some things to check:
- Use compression where you can
- Make sure your software is up to date
- On WordPress sites, don’t use too many plug-ins.
Don’t forget your notices
There are certain things your website needs for people to trust you, a cookie notice, an SSL certificate, terms and conditions, other security measures. Make sure you know which of these are relevant to you.
Is this all too much?
If this seems like a bit too much work, get in touch with me, Philip. I’ve had years of doing these checks and I’ll happily make sure your website is working the way you want it to.
(this post created with writerforyou.co.uk)