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What’s the point of your website then? That’s the question you’ve got to ask.
As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts your online presence is a network made up of your website, social media platforms, emails communication, review sites and more. That said your website is a really important element. It’s one of the few spaces online that you have control over.
Think about it for a moment. If Facebook decides to change their page layout, freeze your account or start charging for access then you can do nothing about it. You can go to another platform but you can’t take your followers with you.
So ensuring that your website is just how you want it is pretty important. That’s why I’ve recently focused on reviewing my own site and suggest that you do the same. I use Wix for my site. Actually I'm a Wix Editor X Partner - which basically means I'm a bit of a Wix Website Whiz, and I would certainly recommend the platform to other small business owners.
Start by looking at your current site and creating a map. It’s good to have an idea of what you’re dealing with. Yes, you might be familiar with every single page on your site but the chances are that there are some surprises in store. If it’s been a few years since set up then a few extra bits may have crept in. Extra pages. New sections that were supposed to be temporary. Pages you had forgotten about and haven’t updated.
What is the main goal of your website?
Now ask yourself what you want people to do when they come to your site. Are they buying something, signing up for a newsletter or filling in an enquiry form? It’s really tempting at this point to decide that you’d like them to do everything. But think again.
Having a single purpose makes your review much more focused. Plus there’s a good chance that multiple purposes all actually lead to the same place in the end which is probably sales related. Wanting people to buy what you do doesn’t make you pushy. It’s what businesses are set up to do.
Write that purpose down and keep it close at hand because you’re going to refer back to a lot as you go through your review. You want everything on your site to be part of that purpose. If you have a page or a section that doesn’t serve your purpose then think about removing it. If you’re not sure then you can always unpublish it and revisit it during your next review.
Website analytics
How do you know what’s going with your website? You look at the analytics. Obviously, you want to check them regularly but it’s easier to spot patterns looking at data over a longer period.
Traffic
Where is your traffic coming from? If it’s coming from search engines what terms are being used to find you.
Page views
Which pages are people actually visiting? Which ones aren’t getting many visitors?
Bounce rate
Your bounce rate shows the number of visitors who arrived at the page and also exited from it. They didn’t explore any other pages on your site. A high bounce rate isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on what’s on the page. It might signify that the visitor got what they wanted right away.
Entry and exit pages
Which are people arriving at? Which ones are they leaving from?
Check your site speed
People are impatient so make sure that your website has a decent loading time. If you have a Wix site then it’s in the analytics. Otherwise, try using Google Page Speed. After all, there’s not much point in having a site optimised toward your purpose if no one visits because it takes too long to load.
The customer journey
Using the information gathered above you can start to map your customer’s journey and see how it works to against the purpose of your site. Consider where do visitors arrive from, where do they go and what are they’re looking for. This is why it’s important to treat every single page as a landing page. It’s a bit pointless putting tons of energy into a fancy home page if visitors are arriving elsewhere on your site.
Make your site look good.
Check the text reflects your current offering, that links are correct and that language used is consistent. Consider running your site through something like a broken link checker. If you’ve got a lot of blog posts with links this can save your hours.
Add metadata
Meta descriptions describe the contents of your pages. They’re what you see when your page turns up in search results. Check what they say. Do they offer a great description that includes a call to action? Also, don’t forget to add alt text to your images if they aren’t purely decorative so that they will be picked up by screen readers.
Call on an expert
If you’re worried about SEO, layout or a slow site then make the investment and call on an expert. It’ll likely save you time and money in the long run.
Website reviews aren’t quick but they’re essential to ensure that your website is working for you. It’s a bit like giving your home a clean and declutter. It’s amazing how much better it looks for a tidy up.
If you’re looking for help with your website review, want to work out what the purpose of your site is or are setting up a site for the first time then get in touch. I'd love to help you become more social media savvy!
Email me at rachel@electricfootprint.com
Drop me a DM on Electric Footprint
Call 07958 231817 for a no obligation chat
I'm here to help.