Your Website Needs Regular Check-Ups, Just Like You
The only thing that is constant about the internet is that it is constantly changing. Due to this chaos, your website needs regularly scheduled check-ups to ensure everything is as it should be. These check-ups will look for things such as CTA (call-to-action) placement, user-friendly pages, search engine optimization, alt text, etc. Basically, anything and everything that can affect your Google rankings and make you less searchable.
Your website serves several functions, such as attracting new leads, processing sales, and advertising your brand, and you rely on it to operate smoothly. If one of those functions gets interrupted because your website is out of wack, you’re in trouble. So, let’s break things down and go over why these details such as CTA placement and SEO are so important.
CTAs-
CTA buttons are arguably the most important part of your website. A great CTA will direct your visitors, get them to take action, and improve your conversion rates. Now, this doesn’t mean you can just toss up a “click here” button and all your problems will be solved. CTAs must be functional, attractive, and inspiring. Your goal should be to have your visitor SEE your CTA and want to click on them, so be sure your placement is well thought out.
User Friendliness-
In today’s digital world, it’s not a far stretch to assume your company’s website has more of an impact on your customer service than any physical interaction. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to make sure you have a user-friendly website. This means a combination of things: content; design; and functionality all working together to create a seamless user experience. The key elements of user-friendly web design are readability, navigation, mobile-optimization, and load time.
SEO-
SEO stands for search engine optimization and is a marketing tactic focused on growing visibility in organic search engine results. Searchability is obtained through the use of proper keywords, accurate meta descriptions, and alt text. For the benefit of the viewer, and in order to link back to your website effectively, every blog should have a meta description, every social media post should have hashtags, and every campaign should have numerous keywords. SEO is not just about building search engine-friendly websites, it is also about making your site better for its visitors, too.
Page Load Time-
Load time is a major contributing factor to high bounce rates. The average consumer’s attention span is 8 seconds. That’s 1 second less than a goldfish and has dropped by 4 seconds since 2000. Clearly, if your website takes too long to load, you’re going to lose your audience. Often times, companies let a fast page load time slip to accommodate for better aesthetic design, cool functionality features, or for mass amounts of page content. Be sure to keep the best of both worlds in mind and meet in the middle. Speed alongside aesthetic appeal should be your goal.
Alt Text-
Because Google and other search engines are unable to “see” images, it is crucial that you use alt-text for proper search engine optimization. Without it, the images you use on your blogs, website, and other various posts will not be searchable. An image’s alt text should describe the image and its content, similar to how you would choose a file name. It should also include keywords, which will make it more searchable. Essentially what you’re doing is sending a message to Google, saying “Hey, this is what my image contains.”
Moving forward, keep your website running as it should be by performing regular check-ups. This can include using a service like Google Webmasters, which tracks your site’s search performance with Google Search Console. There’s also website.grader.com that can check for things like SEO, proper security, your site’s response speed, and how your site translates to mobile. Try to utilize programs like those listed above on a monthly basis in order to keep yourself ahead of the breakdown. When you’re busy, the last thing you need is for your website to not support your marketing efforts. Do yourself a favor and live by the old saying, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” And, remember, Google sends out little feelers every so often that seek out new information. If your website sits without being updated for too long, it will drop in the Google rankings and will not come up in searches as frequently.
