Does your website need a wake up call? Here are a few adjustments to give your site a revitalizing boost, maximizing its efficiency and function. By keeping a keen eye on your site and regularly checking on its vital signs, you’ll ensure it remains healthy, relevant and beneficial to your customers.
If you find yourself checking a year-end report of your site, and you’re not impressed with the results—whether it be an absent core audience, no new leads or your numbers are falling off— it is possible your site is merely asleep, and just barely avoiding the cold, digital graveyard where so many sites see their end.
Take this assessment and you be the judge of your website’s health:
1. Is your site user-friendly? Is the font of your content clearly legible? Is the viewer able to easily navigate through your site without pulling his or her hair out? Would a search bar be beneficial? Simply put, if your website isn’t easily usable, it’s safe to say it won’t be used! The last thing you want is for a web user to be so frustrated with your site that they don’t return, so make their digital experience smooth and enjoyable.
2. Is your site focused? Similar to its ease of use, a focused website will have a stronger impact on your audience. Eliminate non-essentials or superfluous elements, such as space consuming graphics, and keep it simple. Simplicity is vital for a functioning website. Your customers and prospects are there for a purpose. Don’t lose them in fluff and theatrics. Your business’ purpose should be overt and your services should be readily noticeable.
3. Is your site sociable? In other words, is your site capable of being shared effortlessly among your peers, colleagues and friends via common social networks? One of the fastest and easiest ways to do this is to create a “share” button, sending your site on a cyber-journey that could end in the hands of some very advantageous clients.
4. Is your site responsive and fast? Again, keeping your web design simple will keep the site alive, enjoyable and affordable. Keeping a balanced flow throughout your site, making sure graphics and text are sized appropriately, and ensuring your website fits various screen widths, including mobile devices, tablets and desktops, will help keep your site running smoothly and efficiently. There’s nothing more frustrating than moving every which way on site that only has portions loaded. Keep it simple, keep it quick, and hopefully you’ll keep your audience from wanting to click the back button and delete your site from their memory.
Although your website might not be performing at its optimal level now, there is still hope. Perhaps it just needs a good shake-up and a not-so-rude awakening to get it out of bed and into the ever-expanding social world, exposing its true splendor and potential.
