We sometimes get complacent, and it is easy to get used to the website we have. It seems to work for us, and time passes by so quickly. But, technology changes so fast, that it is necessary, from time to time, to do a website audit, at least once a year, to ensure that we are providing everything we can to our visitors.
1. Number one is the Obvious – When people look at your home page, can they figure out at a glance what you do? If not, you need to update it, to reflect what you do, so that no one has second guess. Do not make them click “about” or “services” to figure out what you do. They might not do it anyway, and just leave.
2. Perform a Content Audit – Take a look at all the content you are offering, and match it to the different products in your funnel. Does your content educate about challenges people have, does it solve problem? In some cases, you may find content that isn’t even relevant anymore. They maybe links that no longer work for products you recommended, only to find out that the vendor has gone out of business.
3. Spruce up your content with Videos – The key to videos is to make them short, and to let your audience turn them on and off. Be very specific in the video about what you are talking about, and then put what is said in text on the page under the video for those who would rather read than watch.
4. Add Your Mission Statement – One way to really make your website stand out, is by including your audience-focused mission statement. A mission statement essentially tells your audience what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it. It should be focused 100 percent on the audience.
5. Check Your Website Navigation – Take a look at a heat map of your website using Google Analytics, or another analytics plan, to find out what your audience does when they visit your site. How do they use the navigation you have now? Take your findings and improve the navigation accordingly.
6. Add Links to Related Content – A great plugin to add, if you have a wordpress website, is a related posts plugin. This enables your blog to recommend other content in the same category, after the visitor finished reading your post.
7. Add a Call To Action (CTA) on Every Page – Each piece of content should be followed up with some sort of call to action. It is a good way to close any blog post or video. People want to know what to do next, so tell them what you want them to do next. If you have not been doing that, you can go back and fix any content to include a CTA.
8. Add a Splash of Colors – To make your CTAs and other aspects of your site stand out more, reconsider the use of color. Remember to make CTAs a contrasting color. Consult a color wheel and pick the color directly across from it, to improve your results. The important thing is that any buttons and links, that you want people to click on, are obvious and show up.
9. Check Technology – Any type of technology you use on your website should be checked periodically for updates. If you paid someone to create your website, and did not buy a security or update plan, you may need to hire a web designer to help you with that. But, all technology should be updated to its most recent version, as soon as you can, once they are available. Otherwise you could open up your site to hackers.
10. Update Lead Magnets – In addition to checking out your website, check out anything you offer as a freebie. Are your lead magnets still relevant? For example, what if you created a freebie about using Google Hangouts on Air? That is no longer relevant, because it has been changed to YouTube Live.
Taking time throughout the year, to ensure that your website is updated for your newest products, affiliate offers of interest to your audience, and any launches coming up, is imperative if you want to stay in business for the long term, and have your visitors come back to check on your latest content.
