Improve Your Website Today with These 19 Practical Ways (includes a checklist)

When we talk about business goals and a website that supports them we need to know exactly how we are going to achieve these goals. We know we want conversions, engagement, strong brand, etc but how exactly can we get there.

In this week’s newsletter I am covering practical ways to help you improve your website. And a lot of these you can tackle today!

We will look at tactical, hands-on ways to take action today and some more long-term stratigical tasks to help you with your website. At the end of the newsletter I have included a checklist that you can download and use to guide you through the process.

Execute (Tactical, hands-on improvements)

• Fix Bad Grammar/Typos - I am notorious for spelling mistakes! But to build trust in your brand a misuse of a single comma can be costly! Audit your content today to uncover any bad grammar or typos!

• Improve Site Speed – Check your website speed with many of the free available tools. My favourite is PageSpeed Insights. See if there are recommendations to improve it that you can fix today!

• Improve Call-to-Actions (CTAs) – Ensure buttons and links are clear, compelling, and guide users toward the desired actions. Buttons are also a big part of the overall strategy and I will cover them in a separate newsletter. But right now you can go over your most important buttons and links and see if you can make the language more clear. Use words that correctly describe where the button is taking the visitor and what they can expect.

• Use High-Quality Visuals and Compress and Optimize Images –  Take a look at the visuals you are using today on your website. Can you invest in higher quality, branded images? Is there anything you can change that will enhance the overall experience on the page.

• Fix Broken Links – Regularly check and correct broken links. Internal links are important for a better experience. It is disappointing to land on an error page. Internal links are also a big part of SEO. Your internal links should be working properly at all times.

• Implement Schema Markup - Schema markup is a piece of code that is placed on the website and describes certain aspects of it. For example with schema you can emphasize that this string of numbers is not random but your business phone number. Or that a page is not just any page but your product page describing it in great detail. Here you can identify appropriate schema codes for your website and implement them. This tool helps you test if they are working properly.

• Strengthen Security – Use HTTPS, keep software updated, and implement security best practices.

Strategical (Big-picture, long-term impact)

• Improve Home Page - the most important page on your website, it needs to be catchy and efficient. I discussed the home page in my previous newsletter and provided examples of how to improve it.

• Ensure a site-wide Call to Action is in the header - what is the most important action you want your website visitors to take? Get in touch? Request a demo? Contact the sales team? Create a button with a prompt to take that action and stick it on the website header navigation and make it appear on every page.

• Answer 100 of your prospects’ questions on your blog - the prospects that your sales team speaks to always have questions, the leads from your webinars always ask questions at the end. Make a list of the most frequently asked questions and you have a content calendar for a while!

• Mobile-Friendly - your website MUST be optimized for mobile devices. Your prospects use them more than you’d think. To make sure you don’t miss on mobile visits, make sure your website works and functions properly on mobile phones and tablets.

• Optimize for SEO – Search Engine Optimization is an important part of an overall website strategy. Everything you do on your website needs to consider SEO. Use relevant keywords, create content, implement structured data for better search engine visibility and more.

• Optimize Navigation & Site Structure – The navigation on your website and how the website is structured have a big impact on experience. Use clear menus, breadcrumbs, and logical content hierarchy to guide your visitors through the website.

• Update & Optimize Content – Keep blog posts, product descriptions, and key pages fresh and relevant. Audit your content at least once a month to make sure everything is up-to-date.

• Simplify Forms & Checkout Process – Reduce friction in sign-ups, contact forms, and e-commerce transactions. If you’d like your website visitors to get in touch with you through any of the forms on the website make sure these forms are easy to navigate to, easy to understand, with clear messaging and most importantly quick and easy to fill out.

• Integrate Social Proof & Testimonials – Add reviews, case studies, and trust badges to increase credibility. If you have customer stories and reviews give them a special treatment on your website. They need to be visible right away and present where relevant.

• Implement Email Capture & Lead Generation Strategies – Use pop-ups, newsletters, and gated content to grow your audience. If you write a blog or have a newsletter that you send out regularly make sure your website visitors can find it.

• Define User Journeys – Understand how visitors interact with your site and tailor content and navigation accordingly. This is a tactic that needs to be reviewed and fully understood daily. Very important part of your overall website strategy, the user journey is key to turn these visitors into clients. In an upcoming newsletter, I will cover the intricate nature of understanding the user journeys on your website.

• Monitor Analytics & Adjust Accordingly – Use Google Analytics and heatmaps to identify bottlenecks and improve performance.

Start improving your website today!

Don’t let this list overwhelm you! Pick one item and just start with this one item, complete it and then move onto the next item. Website improvement is all about incremental changes, consistency and data measurement.

Website Improvement Checklist

Thanks again for being here.

Keep reaching for the stars!
Stela
StellarStrategy

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