Better Websites Begin With Audits
11.15.17
Poor traffic. Unqualified leads. Sluggish performance. It’s easy to tell when your website isn’t getting the job done, but identifying the cause is tougher than you’d think. Far too often, we see companies with these same issues throw darts at a wall looking for solutions. In the worst cases, they waste tens of thousands of dollars on a brand new site that may look nicer and load faster, but doesn’t make a dent in their bottom line.
Stop guessing what will fix your website. Engage in a website audit using data and best practices to take ownership over your website strategy.
Where other parts of business, from sales to accounting, are driven by process and procedures, web design has kept business owners guessing on which updates will make their site look better and which updates will make their site work better. A comprehensive website audit removes that guesswork by identifying your website’s key challenges and opportunities for improvement.
As you close out this year and begin planning next year’s marketing objectives, there’s no doubt you’ll want to make changes to your website. And you should. But before you send out a request for proposals (RFP), before you meet with web design firms and before you make any final decisions, you should empower yourself with comprehensive data that guides better decisions around your website. An expert website audit will provide data in four categories:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): How well does your site rank on search?
- Content Strategy: Are your pages clear and concise?
- Design & User Experience: Is your site a good representative for your brand?
- Technology & Performance: Is your site as functional as it is beautiful?
All this information may be overwhelming, but every bit of it is integral to building a website that informs and converts. Let’s break down the key benefits of an audit.
1. Understand your website’s current health
First and foremost, a website audit provides a high-level overview of how your current site performs both visually and functionally. As you begin making content edits or embark on a redevelopment, you’ll need this data to measure against and make more informed decisions. Otherwise, you have no way of knowing whether or not your changes were effective.
2. Establish smarter goals
Think of your audit results as a roadmap to a well-optimized website that delivers consistent results. As you put together RFPs or simply need to evaluate your website’s effectiveness, you should look to your website audit to plan and prioritize each task, gauge feasibility and, most importantly, set outcomes for each goal. A website audit is the difference between a goal of: “we want more clicks this year” and “we want to drive 10% more traffic to our contact page over the next six months.” Setting these more realistic goals for your website is the first step in achieving them and seeing meaningful growth across the board.
3. Implement consistent improvements
Search engines are constantly tweaking their algorithms to deliver better experiences to their users, meaning even the best websites are works in progress. Implementing bi-annual or quarterly site audits in your routine is a great way to check up on your site’s current statistics and identify small issues with your page’s traffic or SEO before they get out of hand. And because search engines love fresh content, regular site audits provide a layer of accountability that your site is kept up to date with fresh, relevant content for visitors.
The overall value of a website audit cannot be overstated. Every hour you spend analyzing your current site’s data equates to countless hours saved resolving an issue with a new or updated site. If you think your site might have a few issues, conduct a website audit before committing to any new strategy or rework. We promise, it’ll save you time and energy in the long run.
And there’s no time like the present. Give us a call and let’s get started on an audit that puts your website on track to engage and convert your audience.
