We all know that websites are a really important touchpoint for many a business, an asset to your marketing strategy that can not only share everything anyone could want to know about you and your business, but take your customers on an effective journey to your desired destination - a sales point, a sign up, a booking or a call maybe.
It's also worth saying here, that a website is rather like the Forth Bridge, never quite complete and always in need of a little upgrade or work.
But...what should we be checking about our website? How do we know when it's time for a little polish or a full overhaul? What is the maintenance work we should be carrying out?
Here are 6 ways to give your website an audit and a check over. They may help you decide if you're in the market for some polishing or a full overhaul or you can head over to the Forum in the Member Hub to ask your specific questions. We have several brilliant website designers and experts in Simply Club!
NOTE: any good web designer should either provide you with training on how to update elements of your website & back you up with the tricky stuff or provide a great, ongoing service to update your website when you need to. Anyone who disappears, doesn't offer help when you need it or says that change is impossible is not offering a good enough service.
Check your website is mobile friendly. This might seem an obvious one but so important that it's done properly. Not only does Google require any website to be mobile friendly for it rank it effectively, it's also important to think about the user experience on your mobile site. Consider layout, if you can reduce information on the mobile version or if content drops in in the right order. Want to do a quick check? Pop your website into here for free to get a score and some top tips.
How fast is your website loading? Speed is important, not only from Google's point of view but for the user experience too. You can do a free speed check with top tips to see how your website is performing. Check now.
Is your website eco friendly? Perhaps not a metric you're thinking of but website use a lot of energy and we can all play our part in reducing consumption and being more efficient. You can check for free here with top tips and ideas to think about along the way.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a vital part of helping your website be found when searches are added to browsers. SEO can be controlled on your website either by in-house SEO services or my using plugins like YoastSEO. SEO can be complex but it includes things like page titles, descriptions of each page and images with alternative descriptions. You can check your SEO status here for free with tips and ideas about how to improve your score.
Plan a journey. Your website should be easy, a delight, fun or inspiring but it should definitely answer the search that the user was in search of. Your website should also take each user on a journey from the entry point (any of your pages) to your desired outcome (buying, booking, contacting, signing up etc). Include plenty of well placed CTAs (calls to action), buttons, invitations, great information and more. Not sure how people travel through your website? You can check out Google Analytics to see what's happening inside your website or use something like Hotjar to check out how users are flowing through your site. Check it out for free.
Content! It's very easy to take our eyes off our websites over time only to suddenly realise that the messaging, the words and the images don't quite match how our business is evolving. It's all too easy to not change a website for long periods of time. But Google wants websites to be up to date and so do your users. Go through each page of your website regularly to check if it really says what you really want to say. Does the content address what your users are looking for or answer their Google query? Don't forget - blog are a great way to update your website often as well as reaching out to niche searches. For example, if you offer a service, can you write a blog with 5 ways to choose your type of service? Check out our other How To Guides about how to write blogs.
Comentários