Is your website set up for success? It’s often a potential customer’s first impression and can determine if the visitor converts or continues to a competitor’s site.
While countless technical aspects can be evaluated, there are simple checks you can perform on your own to gauge your website’s effectiveness for shoppers and search engines like Google.
“The Eye Test”
Start with a simple eye test. Take an objective look at your site as though you were a first-time visitor or better yet, ask a friend or family member to browse your site and offer impartial feedback.
Ask yourself if the site is easy to use on desktop and mobile devices. Is it easy to navigate from one page to another? Are any images or text not easily visible? Are there clear calls to action for visitors to call or message you?
Your site should display and navigate well on multiple device types, especially smartphones. Consumers are increasingly visiting sites from mobile devices; Google has even shifted to evaluating sites based on their mobile performance over desktop.
Website Speed
Another aspect to consider is how quickly your site loads for new visitors. Fast loading is not only helpful for your human visitors, but it’s also a top priority for website SEO. Items such as overly large image files and unnecessary code can slow your site loading and create a poor browsing experience for shoppers.
A free tool that can help with your analysis is Google’s PageSpeed Insights which provides in-depth analysis of any accessible website.
Webpage Elements & SEO
One website aspect that’s rather easy to optimize (but often overlooked) is webpage metadata, primarily a page’s title and meta description.
When searching on Google, a webpage’s title is generally the text that’s displayed as the large blue/purple headline of a page’s listing. The smaller gray text underneath is typically the page’s designated meta description.
Most website providers allow you to update these metadata fields in their settings. When drafting these elements, keep them concise. Incorporate popular keywords your shoppers are searching though avoid forcing in too many terms (known as “keyword stuffing”) which can harm your site’s rankings. Page titles of less than 60 characters and meta descriptions of less than 140 characters typically aren’t cut off in search results.
For more on website SEO, check out our search engine optimization guide.
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks from one webpage to another make navigating content easier for both shoppers and search engines. If you mention content on one page of your site that’s related to another, add a link to make it easier for visitors to continue browsing your content. The text of a link that is visible (called “anchor text”) should be keyword-based and not “click here” or “learn more.”
If you have links on your site that point to a third-party website, most website providers allow you to open these links in a separate browser tab. This ensures that a visitor can continue to the new destination, but your site remains open in the original tab so it’s not easily forgotten.
Whether a hyperlink points to an internal or external page, ensure it’s functional. Non-working (or “broken”) links are poor for human visitors and search engines. Periodically review your site or utilize a web crawl tool to monitor for links that may have broken due to changes you’ve made to your site or an external site’s update.
Summary
A business’ website can make a strong first impression on prospective customers – good or bad. Employing these simple steps and periodically reviewing your site can improve your experience for shoppers and search engines.
