Why Your Website Needs an Audit

Ever wondered why your click through rate suddenly fell through the floor? Or why the number of visitors to your site has decreased? Maybe your website isn’t functioning quite as well as it should, and you need a website audit.

What is a Website Audit?

An audit tests the efficiency of your website by analysing the factors that impact your site. It functions to detect broken links, error pages and weak spots in both content and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). It highlights the aspects of the page that need to be improved upon to create a better user experience. Ultimately it improves traffic flow, which is imperative to generating sales. The more qualified leads your website produces, the more conversions you are likely to obtain. This is exactly what website audits aim to achieve. They optimise your search visibility and improve your domain’s ranking in search results.

Why Do I Need a Website Audit?

We all know the frustration of waiting for a website to load. Your customers do too.

Page loading… page loading… chances are you just lost that client.

A website audit improves the customer’s experience of your business. We’ve all clicked on a website that took too long to load. You probably got impatient and tried another site. The same works with your website visitors.

When your website doesn’t function properly, it looks unprofessional and can leave customers with a negative impression. In a world of instant gratification, consumers will choose products that are easily obtainable.

There are so many reasons why you need a website audit. Here are just a few of them!

1. Conversion Rates:

A conversion rate is how effectively your website converts visitors into leads. Your website gives people a taste of what you are selling, but if they never take the product off the shelf, you’re not making sales. A web audit will examine the design of your landing pages as well as the content and calls to action. When well implemented, a website audit will improve your conversion rates and maximise the ROI on your marketing spend. You can save thousands of Rands that would have been lost to missed sales opportunities!

2. Better SEO (Search Engine Optimisation):

Google algorithms are constantly searching out the best websites and ranking them accordingly. SEO is crucial to positioning your website in the top few spots of a Google search and an amazing way to get your website noticed. In fact, 50.1% of users click on the first two links making these spots highly competitive. Have you ever looked at the second page of a Google search, or even the third? Thought not. Putting user experience first will improve your repeat visitors and bounce rates, pleasing the Google algorithm and taking advantage of these top coveted spots.

“The best place to hide a dead body is the second page of Google search”

Anonymous

3. Enhanced User Experience:

A busy and over complicated web design won’t score you any points for functionality! If your visitors are unable to easily navigate your website, they will leave, and the potential sale will be lost. A website audit assists in balancing the user experience whilst also incorporating the items that Google algorithms look for in ranking your website.

4. Improved Search Visibility Using Keywords:

Keywords are a great way to boost your Google search rankings, although they need to be used strategically. Integrating targeted keywords into the content and code of your website helps Google to determine your pages’ ranking. SERP tools and keyword research evaluates your site’s keywords in comparison to your competitors, giving you some invaluable insight. Using your competitors’ tactics against them is sure to give you the advantage!

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Sun Tzu – The Art of War

5. Optimise Content for Higher Engagement:

Analysing your page will identify your strongest content so that you can take advantage of it and place it strategically. It will also identify underperforming pages which can then be repurposed for better engagement. Headings, titles and media sources are the first things that viewers will notice about your page. These aspects will be optimised in an audit in order to capture consumer’s attention and draw them in.

6. Identify and Repair Problems Affecting Traffic:

There is nothing more frustrating than clicking on a broken link. Spam, broken backlinks, hidden content, crawling errors and poor HTML scripting all add to a poor website experience. An audit will discover and fix these issues to stop them from diverting traffic.

7. Improved Functionality:

Hate waiting for a web page to load? Well so do your customers. Poor loading times are one of the quickest ways to lose a customer as well as slow video and flash content. An audit is essential to improve the functionality of your website and provide a more pleasant experience to the user.

Never Had a Website Audit?

The internet is constantly evolving. What worked yesterday won’t necessarily work again today! Even small changes to your website can make a significant impact on your pages’ performance. You need to remain constantly ahead of your competition and stay proactive rather than reactive.

When it comes to marketing, an audit will help you avoid problems that may negatively affect your sales conversion and brand image. Don’t let your website fall behind your competitors – contact us for a chat today!

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