5 Point Website Health & Fitness Checklist
Take a look at your website. Do you feel that it is performing well, or is there something missing? If you feel that your website might be in need of some improvement take a closer look and see what kinds of things you can do to make it that much better.
Your 5 Point Website Health & Fitness Checklist
While there are a great many things that a website owner can do in order to improve the health and fitness of their site, we have gathered together a short list of what we consider to be the most essential things that can do you the most good in the least amount of time.
- Look at your overall site design– First impressions are very important, and no situation shows this to be true more than a web user’s first reaction to a website. Ask yourself the following questions when evaluating this aspect of your website:
- Does the design catch the eye in a pleasant way?
- Is the website uncluttered and free-flowing?
- Are your product images larger enough to be seen and of high quality?
- Evaluate your navigation– Navigation is a crucial element in a good website design. Can your visitors find everything they need in only a few clicks? Usability is an important part of any website, and navigation plays a key role in how easy your website is to use. Ask yourself these questions when considering your navigation:
- Is it easy is it for someone who has never used your site before to navigate to different pages on your site?
- Is a link to your home page visible on every inner page of your site?
- Does your website offer a search function of some kind?
- Where is your navigational menu located? Is it easy to find and use?
- Consider your site’s content– Your website’s content is both the reason people visit your website and the reason they will either stick around or go back the way they came. Do your best to answer questions people want to know more about and include a clear call to action so they know what they need to do next. Ask yourself these questions when considering the quality and usefullness of your site’s content:
- Is your website free from major grammar errors, typos, and the like?
- Is your site’s content fresh, up to date, and keyword rich?
- Are things like your terms and conditions, FAQ, Log in portal, and contact information easy to locate?
- If you have a newsletter or blog, how easy is it to find and read or sign up for?
- Test the speed of your website– The speed of your website can often determine if a visitor stays or leaves. If a page takes even a fraction of a second too long to load it can be enough that a visitor does not want to wait around; they will then leave to find a faster-loading website and Google will make a note of this (your bounce rate.) Ask yourself these questions when testing the speed of your website and considering any changes to increase it:
- How quickly does your website load from start to finish? (including things like text, images, and ads)
- Do you use any plugins, analytics, widgets, or other enhancement features which might be slowing your pages down?
- Have you optimized your images, videos, and other media for use on the web?
- How satisfied are your website’s users?– Things like your site’s bounce rates, overall number of conversions, and any feedback received can tell you a lot about how satisfied users are with your website. Ask yourself these questions to help determine how easy your site is to use (something which has a direct and heavy influence on user satisfaction):
- When a visitor arrives at your website, how many clicks does it take them to complete a given action?
- How often do visitors contact you with complaints or concerns?
Comments:
When following this check list, how do you think your website could be improved?
