Every week, I hear from business owners who want to build a website, or improve their web presence. One thing they never call to ask about, though, is auditing the website they have. I suspect it’s because a lot of business people haven’t heard about website audits before… and don’t know why they can be an important first step to upgrading or replacing an existing site.
In fact, I start many of my projects this way. That’s because a good website audit can tell you a lot about what is and isn’t working for a business online. To give you a sense of why you might want one, let’s take a look at a few of the things that would typically be analyzed during a normal website audit…
The Website Structure
The structure of a website is important. It dictates the way information is organized, and how visitors are going to flow from one page, topic, or idea to the next. If the website has the wrong structure, there are always going to be bottlenecks and usability issues. So, a good audit should begin with an evaluation of the site map and navigational plan.
Any Obvious Problems
There are a handful of surprisingly common issues that can destroy a website’s effectiveness as an online marketing tool. Broken links, missing images, out of date contact information, and copied content are all giant red flags to customers and search engines alike. The website with obvious problems is never going to stand out in the marketplace, or if it does, it’s going to be for all the wrong reasons.
The Strength of Online Content
You probably already know that you need great online content to attract visitors from Google, Facebook, and other web “starting points” that can feed you traffic. But, if the text on your website is unoriginal, has obvious grammatical errors, or doesn’t help drive your sales message home, then it’s probably doing more harm than good.
Search Engine Positioning
Getting a good search engine rank – and seeing visitors flock to your website – starts with having the right keywords, links, and structure. But, there are also dozens of other small factors that affect your search positioning. These can be examined and benchmarked during a website audit so you can spot easy opportunities to bring more buyers to your pages.
User Behavior and Analytics
If you don’t know who is coming to your website, where they’re coming from, or how they behave once they’ve found your content, then it’s impossible to say where you need to make improvements. Nothing is as revealing as a look into a business’s web analytics, which yield insights directly from searchers and customers themselves.
You can’t improve your website or build a better one until you have a sense of what is already in place. So, even if you haven’t undergone the process of a website audit or review in the past, now is a great time to make a fresh start.
Call or email me today to find out more and see how I can use my expertise to help your company grow!