Introduction
Conducting a website audit is a great way to ensure the continued growth of your business. When checking on your website, you can find new ways to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. It might seem like a daunting task, but it's more simple than it looks! Here is a basic rundown of steps to take when doing a website audit.
Before You Get Started
Before you begin any testing, start by writing down anything you already know you'd like to improve. Are you auditing your website just for routine? (Perfectly acceptable by the way!) Do you have a specific complaint coming from customers you are trying to resolve? Keep your goals in mind as you move forward with this process.
Start With The "Website Audit" Basics
We are going to begin with some basic testing. Start by going through the website and testing every link you find to see if any are broken. Write down which ones lead to the wrong pages or 404s to fix later. Next up, open up your website on your phone. Can you see everything clearly? Is the layout broken? If you can, borrow a friend's phone and do the same. Make note of any changes between desktop and mobile that result in a break of layout or functionality.
Finally, do some basic tests to find out if your website is compliant with accessibility standards. You can start by checking your images. Do all the images on your website have alt text? Are you unsure of what alt text is? If so, that's okay! Alternate text is used by screen-readers to help visually impaired users. It's important we include short descriptions of each image on our website to make sure everyone can benefit from them. Another way you can improve your accessibility is using an online test like the one on accessibe.com. These tests help you understand where your website might be failing and how to fix it.
User Experience
Now that we've covered the basic tests, let's jump into user experience. It's important to not only have a website that functions, but one that functions well. We want to create an experience for our users that is easy, efficient, and enjoyable. There are a few ways to test the quality of the experience your website provides.
Start by taking note of how easy (or difficult) it is to navigate through the website. Does the header include a menu for easy navigation? Is the menu big enough to read? Does it make sense? When scrolling through the page, can you easily understand where to go and what to do? Is the layout cluttered and difficult to understand? Where have you placed key features like your logo, social media icons, menus, and calls to action? These are just a few questions you can ask, but good ones to get started. Put yourself in the mindset of your user and pretend you are looking at the website for the first time. Make note of every point of friction or confusion you run into. These will help you improve the experience of your users.
You can download the template by clicking here!
Evaluate Your Conversions
Take a second to think about the main goals of your website. What do you really want people to do when they get to your website? Do you want them to buy something? Book a service? Consume your content? Once you've nailed down the main functions of the website, it's time to look at how your website is accomplishing those functions.
Each action you want users to take should be easy and quick for them to complete. The less scrolling and clicking they have to do to complete an action, the better. Make sure you include calls to action (CTA's) for each major goal you have. Make sure those CTA's are placed "above the fold" (high enough to not require scrolling). When you create those CTA's, make sure the language is compelling and easy to read. When it comes to completing those actions, make sure each one can be done with a few clicks. Ensure the forms on your website are easy to complete. These are a few ways you can increase the effectiveness of your website.
The Technical Side Of A Website Audit
The next two tests are a bit advanced, and it's okay if you don't complete them. Let's start with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is complex but necessary, as it changes the effectiveness of your website. Click here for an article on the basics. You don't have to get too involved at first. For now, I'll provide a basic checklist below to use on each page of your site. If you haven't done any SEO before, this will be a good place to start. For those of you using screen readers (or who just want a downloadable option), you can download the checklist as a pdf here.
Next up is speed. You can do a basic speed test using an online software like PageSpeed Insights. Like the accessibility test before, this test will tell you where your loading speed is failing and how to improve it. Actually fixing it can be difficult depending on why your speed is slow, but one thing that always helps is using smaller filesizes for images and videos wherever possible.
Conclude Your Findings In A Website Audit Report
Summarize your findings in a report. Rank the issues you found based on the impact they have on performance, experience, and effectiveness. Make note of which issues most impact your specific goals. It might seem daunting when you do your first website audit, as you'll find the most issues then, but it will get easier down the road. Conduct a website audit every year, or even quarter if you can. Regularly checking on your website is a great way to ensure the continued growth of your business.
That's our tips! Thanks so much for reading, and be sure to check out the rest of our free guides and blog posts on our site.
Meagan
