Is your website actually working for you
I know you want your website to look good. You want it to wow your visitors and get all the praises for its stunning appearance. And it should.
Ultimately, your website is there to serve a purpose for your business and if it’s not doing that, it might be costing you money or losing sales. Obviously, we want to make your website look good, but we also want to make sure it’s doing what it should for you too.
Your website holds the most important information about your brand, your offerings, and gives people a chance to find out more about your business, plus resources to serve your audience and inquire about working with you.
The best part about your website – it’s doing all of that for you 24/7. Costly you less than a dinner out!
Here are ways to tell if you website is actually working for you:
First, we need to track key performance indicators (KPIs). This means regularly looking at your website analytics to make sure that you reach your goals and get what you need from your website.
Website traffic – The best place to start is with overall website traffic. After all, your website can’t convert if people aren’t visiting. You want to get eyes in front of your offerings and essentially sell your products or services. Is your traffic consistently and steadily increasing? If your website isn’t getting that traffic, then you might have some work to do.
New visitors – The next thing you want to look at is how many of those visitors are new visitors and where they are coming from. This will tell you if you are reaching new traffic and what source is working best to send people to your site.
Returning visitors – You also want to look at how many of your overall visitors are returning to your site. Reaching new people is great, but it’s even better if those people come back again and become loyal to your brand.
Bounce rate – Ideally, you want people to come to your site and stay awhile. But that isn’t always the case. Even if you build the most engaging website, some people will still scroll briefly and be done. This could mean that it was easy for them to find what they needed, which is a good thing. You do want to pay attention to your bounce rate to see if you need to elevate the experience of your website and keep people there longer.
Conversion rates – Another great stat to track is your conversion rate. You can look at conversion rates for a lot of different things on your site specifically, but you want to keep your main website purpose/goal in mind. Is your website converting? Are your visitors taking the action you want them to?
Once you understand the KPIs to track, you’ll want to ensure your website is optimized for the traffic we are getting. Here’s a checklist to make sure your site is optimized:
Branding + Design
Is your branding consistent and strong?
Does your website evoke a welcoming feeling for visitors?
Are the fonts legible and are you using 3 or fewer?
Is there consistency in color and design?
Do you utilize white space well?
Do your images match your brand and style and convey your message just as much as your content?
Content
Is your content well-written and keeps with your brand voice and message?
Do you speak directly to your ideal client?
Are you speaking to one person with your content?
Do you tell people who you are and what you do quickly?
Do you communicate your offering and the benefits of working with you?
How well is your website showing what sets your site apart from your competitors?
Do you include client or customer testimonials?
Do you showcase your best and most recent work?
Is your content up to date?
Is there a clear call to action on every page?
Is it easy to navigate and understand?
Is there a hierarchy in your content to guide your visitor?
Is your contact information clear and easy to find?
Are your social media profiles linked and easy to find?
Technical
Is there an email opt-in that is easy to see and use?
Have you completed the basic SEO setup (titles and metadata)?
Are all of the links working and active?
Do all external links open in a new window?
Is Google Analytics installed?
Does it load fast?
Is it responsive and mobile-friendly?
Take a look at your website analytics and go through the checklist to make sure your website is performing the best it can. After all, we say – it’s not a set it and forget it type of platform! Make tweaks as needed to have your website working for you!