9 website checks for better performance
Do you know the website checks to pay attention to for better performance from your site?
Let’s talk reality checks for your website, with 9 things that you can check to ensure that your site is up to speed (pardon the pun!)
Here are 9 key website checks to get your website performance up to speed
Is your website responsive?
If your website does not display correctly on devices with different screen sizes – including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones – this will hurt your user experience as well as your search results.
Check for any layout or formatting issues on each device.
Does your site have broken links?
Where links on your website point to content that no longer exists on the internet, these are seen as broken links.
These can cause frustration for visitors to your website, and can also affect your search performance.
Regularly scan your website for broken links using tools like Broken Link Checker.
How is your Page load speed?
Again, load speed affects user experience and search performance, so it is critical to make sure that neither man nor machine is waiting too long to read your content.
Because they will not wait, they will be gone!
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to assess the speed of your website.
Optimise images, minimise your code, and use cache to speed things up.
Is your website mobile-friendly?
With an increasing number of users accessing the web on the go, ensuring your website performs well on mobile is non-negotiable.
Test it using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool so that you can make any necessary adjustments to improve the mobile experience for your site.
Are your forms functioning?
Test any forms on your website, eg contact forms or sign-up forms, regularly to ensure they work as they should.
Submit test entries and verify that you receive the data as intended.
Is your website ticking the boxes for Search engine optimisation (SEO)?
Check your website’s SEO elements, eg meta tags, titles, descriptions, and keyword usage.
Make sure they are optimised to give your website the best chance of performing well in search engine results.
How are you rating on Accessibility?
It is becoming ever more important to ensure that your website is accessible to users with various disabilities and additional needs.
Things that will help are proper use of alt text for images, clear navigation, and contrast in colours.
You can check your compliance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards using various online tools.
Have you integrated your website with social media?
If you have links to your social media pages or sharing buttons on your website, it’s important to test them to ensure they function as expected.
When did you last review your content?
Regularly review and update your website’s content to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and engaging.
Check for any outdated information, grammatical errors, or broken formatting.
Changes to content also let search engines know that your website is up to date and that your business still exists, which helps search performance.
A strong-performing website is a powerful tool in your online marketing, it should be working hard to get you found, let people know who you are and what you do, as well as selling your products or services. It’s worth investing the time to make sure that your site is earning its keep.
Too often I see websites that are neglected by owners who feel that they don’t get any benefit from them. A little investment of time and energy can yield great results.
Performing these checks will help ensure your website is user-friendly, functional, and optimised for a positive user experience. Want some help? Get in touch!
