How Do You Know Your Website Is Performing Well?

Simply having a website up and running isn’t enough to guarantee results. There’s a lot more you can do. A website that is performing well is essential for any business looking to succeed online. When it comes to your website, it is your shop window.

Imagine you’re walking down the high street in search of a gift for that special someone, and you come across two shops, both selling the same products.

The first shop has cluttered window displays, out of date signs and a confusing layout. Also, people are queuing outside the door, even though it’s almost empty inside. These people don’t wait around for too long before they decide to leave and go elsewhere. Those who make it inside don’t seem to know where to look and leave anyway, feeling confused and unhappy – never returning.

In comparison, the second shop has a creative window display, a well-organised layout and clearly labelled price tags. There are plenty of customers inside the shop, and they are all being served quickly. The customers tend to leave happy and satisfied with their purchase. These customers are also likely to come back.

Which shop are you most likely to purchase from?

So, what can you do?

Firstly, you need to determine what it means to have a well-performing website. While this may vary slightly between different industries, several key elements make up a successful website.

Eye-catching & responsive design

 

Your website is your unique shop window and your biggest opportunity to wow prospective customers. First impressions really do matter. Google tells us that the average user will click away after three seconds, which means your website must perform well and grab their attention.

Your website design should be visually appealing and look professional. It also needs to be on-brand, so users associate the visual design with your brand.

Ensuring you have a responsive design is also a fundamental requirement for a successful website. A responsive design ensures that the website performs well on any device, whether on a mobile, tablet, desktop or other.

Simple navigation

Your website should be clear and easy to use for everyone. Think back to the shop analogy. If it takes too long for a potential customer to find what they’re looking for, they’ll usually leave without making a purchase. It’s the same for your website.

The site structure should make it easy for users to navigate to the relevant pages. Otherwise, they’ll leave your website, and you’ll have potentially lost a sale to a competitor. A high-performing website is easy to navigate and simple to follow – users can access the information and products they are looking for within a click or two.

Fast loading speed

 

Remember our shop example and the queue to enter? Well, a slow website is essentially the same thing.

People are impatient (three seconds of patience); if your site takes too long to load, potential customers will go elsewhere.

Also, site speed is a ranking factor for Google. If your website is performing too slow, it will be even more difficult to find on the search engine results pages.

Good quality content

Great, you’ve got people onto your website. Your design has caught their attention, and your intuitive navigation is helping visitors move around the site quickly to find the right product or service.

But how do you keep them interested and coming back?

A lot of businesses make the mistake of overlooking the importance of relevant, well-written content. With Google putting a heavy emphasis on rewarding websites that address the readers’ intent, it’s more important than ever to provide high-quality content that genuinely gives helpful information on your products or services.

Stuffing content with keywords and hoping for the best won’t do you any good, especially as Google won’t reward you for this, and neither will your website’s visitors.

Clear & concise calls to action

 

What are you asking users to do? Do you want them to fill out a contact form, view a case study or give you a call? Whatever you’re expecting people to do while on your website, you need to make it as clear as possible.

High-performing websites are created with specific ‘calls to action’ in mind – designed to guide users to a goal. Make sure your landing pages have clear calls to action to avoid losing people as quickly as they’ve arrived.

Audit your website

If you’re unsure how well your website performs, don’t worry, there is a simple way to find out. You can carry out a thorough audit of the site to identify any problems or issues and highlight the areas you can improve.

You can run your website through website audit software like our FREE Website SEO Audit. Using our free tool will check your website for several important factors:

• SEO – An in-depth look at elements like HTML tags, body content and image alt attributes
• Usability – How your website displays on different devices
• Performance Results – How fast your pages load and how you can boost performance
• Social Results – How strong your social presence is and how well-connected your website is
• Security Results – To ensure your website adequately protects your visitor’s data and protects against data loss or downtime.

Please find out more about our free audit, or simply take advantage of the tool to check your site performance.

If you’d prefer a more in-depth chat about how we can help you get better results from your website, get in touch with us today to find out more.