The digital world is moving fast, and it’s important that you keep up. If you don’t take pause to monitor your online presence from time to time you could very quickly be left out in the cold. As your main point of contact with your customers is your website, this should be your first port of call when it comes to auditing your business. The customer will make their mind up about your site within seconds of landing on it, so it’s important that when you audit your website this includes a thorough analysis of its analytics, with a focus on which pages are getting the most traffic and which are causing customers to leave your website.
When developing your online presence, I’m afraid it’s an ongoing process. There is no such thing as finished product. Just like a real person, your online presence (especially your website) needs to develop and grow in order to succeed in the ever changing world. So when was the last time you:
- Developed your online presence
- Updated / refreshed the technology on your website
- Updated the content on your pages (text, images, video etc.)
- Analysed your SEO performance
If you can’t answer the question, or even if you can but it wasn’t recently then it’s time to audit your website. A website audit will help you determine the overall functionality and performance of your site, which means you can dissect which areas / pages are working well for your business and which ones need a little extra TLC.
What Is A Website Audit, And How Does It Help Build Online Presence?
Auditing your website gives you the opportunity to analyse, update and evolve. A well planned and thorough web audit will give you a comprehensive understanding as to why your site is not generating as much traffic as you would like or think it should, and will help understand why your sales and conversions are not improving.
The audit process involves evaluating and analysing how your site is performing, what’s on offer to your customers and a look at what has changed over the period since your last audit.
A few key things to analyse in your audit are:
- Marketing/Sales Goals
- Effectiveness (data/analytics)
- Design
- CMS / Ease of management
- Usability
- Structural quality (SEO)
- Content
- Security
The intention of a website audit is to establish what’s working and what isn’t working so well, in order to create a better online experience for your customers. The more aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-use your website is, the better your customers will respond and the more trustworthy and reliable your brand become.
In today’s digital-first environment, almost everyone searches online before they shop. If you’re not visible to your customers, or your website isn’t user friendly (and your customer can’t find what they want quickly and easily), you will lose the sale. A website audit will tell you not only what kind of impression you’re having on your customers, but also what you can do to get ahead of your competitors, and potentially boost your reach.
Why Is It So Important To Conduct Regular Website Audits?
The simple answer is that the online world is always evolving.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of changes when it comes to algorithms and updates which has had huge implications on the way search engine pages are displayed. No longer can we pack our content with keywords to appear at the top of search pages, quite the contrary in fact, to do so can lead to your website being penalised by Google.
As a business owner you have so many balls in the air, it’s near impossible to keep up to date with the constantly evolving trends. Yet, falling behind could mean that you lose your chance to really make an impact online.
If you want a successful online presence, then website audits are a necessary evil.
What Are The Benefits Of A Website Audit?
- Improved online visibility
- Stronger competitor analysis
- Discover revenue sources
- Repair issues that divert traffic
- Optimise for engagement
- Capitalise on traffic trends
- Improve customer experience
As with everything when it comes to your business, developing your online presence and growing your brand online is all about the customer. Everything from unresponsive pages to poor loading times can drive your customers away, and damage your chances of success. A website audit will help you to optimise the user experience across all platforms, from laptops and computers, to smartphones and devices which is essential for happy customers.
Auditing your website on a regular basis can help you to take a more proactive approach to building organic traffic, gaining brand momentum, and enhancing your online visibility. It also keeps you ahead of your competition and on top of industry trends so that you are not losing sales to your competitors.
Don’t Waste Time
A thought-through website audit will give you a great starting to point to improve your online presence. It will highlight all of the current pain points, giving you the opportunity to enhance your customer experience and grow your business. At AIM, we can help. Call us today on 0870 062 8760 or send us an email at at info@aiminternet.co.uk. We’d love to help you grow your online business.
