The website audit: Improve design and functionality
Let’s be honest: running a website can sometimes feel like spinning plates. There’s always something to tweak, update, or fix. Here at Notus Digital, we’ve seen it all—from websites bogged down by slow load times to confusing navigation that leaves visitors feeling frustrated. We know the pain points because we’ve helped countless clients turn their sites around. That’s why we want to share our insights on a critical practice: the website audit.
Conducting a website audit is essential for ensuring your site runs smoothly and effectively. Whether you’re a small business owner, a blogger, or managing a large e-commerce site, keeping your website in top shape is crucial. But why should you care about a website audit? Let’s get into it.
Why conduct a website audit?
- User experience (UX) optimisation: A seamless and intuitive user experience is key to keeping visitors on your site. An audit helps identify areas where users might be struggling, allowing you to make necessary adjustments.
- SEO improvement: Search engines favour websites that are well-structured and fast. An audit can reveal technical issues that might be hindering your SEO efforts.
- Security enhancements: Regular audits help identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers, ensuring your site remains secure.
- Performance boost: Speed is critical. A sluggish website can drive visitors away. Audits help pinpoint performance bottlenecks so you can enhance your site’s speed.
- Content relevance: Ensuring your content is up-to-date and relevant keeps your audience engaged and informed.
The website audit process
Conducting a website audit might sound daunting, but with a systematic approach, it becomes manageable and incredibly rewarding. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through the process.
Step 1: Review website analytics
Start by diving into your website analytics. Tools like Google Analytics provide valuable insights into user behaviour, page views, bounce rates, and more.
- Identify high and low performing pages: Understand which pages are doing well and which ones need improvement.
- User flow: Analyse how users navigate through your site. Are they dropping off at certain points? This could indicate issues with navigation or content.
Step 2: Assess design and usability
Aesthetics and functionality go hand-in-hand. A beautiful site that’s hard to use won’t do you any favours.
- Mobile responsiveness: Ensure your site looks and functions well on all devices. With mobile traffic surpassing desktop, this is non-negotiable.
- Navigation: Test your site’s navigation. Is it intuitive? Can users find what they’re looking for without frustration?
- Accessibility: Make sure your site is accessible to users with disabilities. This includes proper alt text for images, keyboard navigation, and appropriate colour contrasts.
Step 3: Technical SEO check
Your website needs to be easily found by search engines. This involves several technical aspects.
- Site speed: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to test your site’s load times and get suggestions for improvement.
- Broken links: Check for broken links that can harm both user experience and SEO.
- XML sitemap and robots.txt: Your XML sitemap, helps search engines identify the structure of your site so that it can find and index pages quicker. Ensure your XML sitemap is up-to-date and your robots.txt file is correctly configured.
Step 4: Content audit
Content is king, but only if it’s relevant, high-quality, and engaging.
- Content quality: Review your content for accuracy, relevance, and engagement. Is it providing value to your visitors?
- SEO optimisation: Check that your content is optimised with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and alt text for images.
- Duplicate content: Ensure you don’t have duplicate content, which can confuse search engines and harm your rankings.
Step 5: Security check
Website security is paramount. Regular checks can prevent potential breaches.
- SSL certificate: Ensure your site is HTTPS secure.
- Software updates: Keep all plugins, themes, and core software up-to-date.
- Security plugins: Utilise security plugins or services to scan for vulnerabilities.
Putting it all together
Conducting a website audit might seem like a lot of work, but the benefits far outweigh the effort. A well-audited site leads to better user experiences, improved SEO, increased security, and ultimately, more satisfied visitors and customers.
A well-audited site leads to better user experiences, improved SEO, increased security, and ultimately, more satisfied visitors and customers.
At Notus Digital, we understand that this can be a lot to take on, especially if web design isn’t your main focus. That’s where we come in. Whether you need advice, a full website overhaul, or regular maintenance, we’re here to help. Based in the heart of Dorset but servings clients both nationally and internationally, we pride ourselves on building websites that meet the unique needs of all our clients.
