You have spent hours, days, months, years building and refining your website. It looks amazing, loads up quickly, your mission statement is spot on, the Contact Us page is easy to find.

Now you can put your feet up and relax, right? Well, not really: managing your website is an ongoing process. Because you are looking at your website regularly, you may miss some crucial elements that could do with improving.

For example: is your biography and company profile page up to date? It is so easy to forget to update those pages, as they tend to be static pages that require very little editing over time.

However, if in the recent past you have won awards or reached an important milestone, why not add those to your company profile page or bio?

If you are a sole trader or small business it’s easy to forget to look through your website in its entirety and put yourself in your clients’ shoes, or in those of potential clients who visit your website for the first time.

Putting Yourself in Your Clients’ Shoes: Google Analytics

How do people normally find your website? Do they normally land on one of your old pages searching for practical information or a “how to” tutorial? Those pages drive your website so you need to look after them. In other words: read them thoroughly trying not to skip any word, and see whether you can improve the information with new data or maybe add more pictures or a video.

What kind of questions do people ask on search engines before arriving to your website? While Google Analytics will make you pay for that information, other web analytics sites may display some of the search queries. For example, Clicky will display search keyword phrases when available (users may choose to opt for a secure search).

For example:

 

 

 

You can also get an automated website assessment from free tools like Website Grader, which will tell you:

• how long it takes for your website to load
• if your website is optimised for mobile
• how good your SEO is

This is a good starting point, but it still doesn’t give you a clear idea of whether visitors think your website is useful for their needs and if they will contact you to buy goods or services from you.

You can also check Hubspot for marketing and SEO advice.

Check Your Domain Authority

How old is your website? If the website has been around the block for a while, it should have earned some authority online, ie, it has become a trusted source of information.

You can check your website’s online reputation with Moz, which will score your website out of 100. Examples of perfect Moz scoring websites include Google, Twitter and Facebook.

If your website is new, you can expect your score to rise in six months to a year. People will start noticing you more once you reach a Moz score of at least 20/100.

Getting a Personalised Website Assessment

There are many wonderful tools available, either free or at a charge, but nothing beats having someone to step into your customers’ shoes and look at your website impartially.

Does your website convey what your business is offering? Is it clear and easy how to order from you?

Are you giving potential customers the reassurance that they can trust doing business with you?

Having Someone Else to Look Through Your Website and Give You Feedback

Alongside all those checks you can do yourself, you can have a third party look at your website and come up with suggestions on navigation and whether the overall message is clear and consistent.

Testimonial: “Sometimes even pros and experts need a mentor. That has been the case for me building my new website. Paola put herself in the place of my board of directors, my clients, my SEO manager and my Marketing expert. Paola allowed me to think more strategically about how I add true value to my website. Her expertise has been invaluable and without her advice I wouldn’t have done it.” [Ricardina Guimaraes, Holistic Health Coach | Nutritionist | Massage Therapist | Skin Care Specialist]

What to expect from a personalised website assessment:

• impartial advice including practical tips on how to improve your website navigation and overall message
• equip you with tools to apply strategic thinking to your website
• feedback and ideas on blog posts

If you’d like to get a personalised website assessment, please email paola@energya.co.uk (various pricing options are available).