8 Things To Look For In Your Website Audit

You have a website that’s drawing in new traffic, you even have repeat visitors and you get enquiries that lead to sales. What more do you need to do? Have you considered that even though you are getting business from your website, you could also be loosing potential leads and sales. Even the most popular websites in the world require regular website audits to improve and keep boosting their rank and traffic. The frequency of app updates on the App Store is interesting compared to how often business owners consider updating their website. If it is making you money then look after it properly. Just like you need fresh content on your website, your site needs to be freshened now and then as well.

Creating a checklist of things to look for is the best place to start. You’ll also be able to compare current site performance with new performance numbers after you’ve made changes. Don’t worry, a website audit is time consuming, but it’s a vital checkup to keep your site relevant.

1. Detailed Analytics

Whether you’re using Google Analytics or another analytics software, now is the time to delve into data. Your analytics are usually one of the first signs you have that parts of your site may have a problem. For instance, if you have a highly useful page, but no one’s visiting, you need to take a look at the page’s content, internal links, navigation, layout and user interface.

Think of your analytics as an overview of every page, call-to-action and area of your site. They’re ideal for cleaning up outdated and poor performing content. Find your problem areas here and find solutions.

2. Search Engine Standards

You might have fared well when Penguin and Panda hit, but what about future Google algorithm updates? Content, SEO, design, coding and compatibility are all issues addressed in algorithm updates. Compare your site with all the latest changes, which happen multiple times a year, to see how your site compares.

3. Organisation And Navigation

Navigation and organisation play major roles in how visitors experience your site. If it’s not intuitive and easy to find information, they’ll move on to a competing site. This is even more important on mobile devices, where 61% of users stated they’d leave a mobile site if they couldn’t find information quickly. Simple, beautifully designed navigation works best along with organised content in easy to understand categories.

4. Security Issues

All it takes is a single security incident to ruin your site’s reputation. A website audit is the perfect time to take a look at potential security holes in your site. With a surprising 86% of sites containing at least one major vulnerability, odds are, this is an area you can’t afford to ignore. In fact, 70% of businesses experienced some form of cyberattack in 2014. If your website is hacked this can really damage your brand perception.

5. Site Performance

How fast does your website load? Are there areas that lag behind others? You might think your site’s loading and performing well, but the ideal loading speed is between 500 milliseconds and 2 seconds. Anything slower could reduce your conversation rate and increase your bounce rate. Test your speed because Google’s paying close attention to loading speed.

Use GT Metrix to test your website performance and get instant recommendations on how you can improve things.

Consider adding a CDN to your website to give it a turbo boost, not just for you but for anyone accessing your site globally.

6. Design Problems

When was the last time your site had a makeover? Cosmetic changes are important to your visitors. A fresh design keeps your site looking modern and inspires trust in your visitors. After all, would you be more likely to trust a site that looked new in 1998 or one that looked new in 2015? The number one thing people say to me is their reason for wanting a new website is “it looks dated”. Now most likely you have a romantic view of your own business, and by extension your website, that others do not share. If it looks bad to you it probably looks terrible to people who know nothing of your back story or how great you are.

7. Bad Links

Bad links aren’t just bad for your site in general, but they’re annoying to visitors. If you’ve changed domains, switched hosts or older content links to sites that no longer exist, your visits could encounter a variety of bad links. Test your links and update wherever possible.

8. SEO

The keyword strategies, calls-to-action and design you used several years ago aren’t as effective as they could be. While your analytics will give you insight into where to change, it’s important to stay current on the latest SEO strategies and refresh your content to ensure it stays relevant and search engine friendly.

Conclusion

Website audits might seem like a hassle, but you’ll be glad you did them after you see a boost in traffic and search rank. They’re just another part of website maintenance and should be done at least one or two times a year.

Hidden Depth carry out website audits that helps find issues in your website. We then provide recommendation on how to solve any issues we find. Contact Hidden Depth today to fix performance, design, security and other problems.