Website Redesign Checklist For 2016
Your website is not just an accessory, it is an extension of your brand. For the best results, websites constantly need to be adjusted, added to, and improved upon, based on trends, consumer behavior, and website performance. Here is a six-step website redesign checklist to help you make sure your website is ready to be competitive and work for your brand in 2016.
- Is Your Website Responsive?
With the significant increase in mobile usage in recent years, it has never been more important to have a responsive website. Responsiveness means that your website automatically adjusts to work across devices.
There are still a lot of websites that are not responsive, but making your site responsive is not difficult to do and makes a big difference with customer interaction. It is the easiest way to provide mobile users with a great on-site experience. Not only that, but Google’s mobile search results may even exclude your site if it is not mobile-friendly.
- Is your website easy to navigate?
You never want your website visitors to feel lost. It is crucial that your website is intuitive for visitors, and they can get to any page and find the content they are looking for without much effort.
Your main navigation menu should be clear, easy to scan, and use simple, user-friendly terms. Think about how your pages are organized and linked together. Visitors should be able to easily move through your website, find what they are looking for and convert.
- Does your website have fresh content?
We are in an age of information overload. Therefore, every good website must contain new, useful content in order keep people interested and coming back. Additionally, producing your own up-to-date material gains people’s trust in you as a thought-leader in the industry.
In addition, search engines value websites that are regularly updated, so creating fresh content can help you increase your position in search results and drive more traffic to your website.
- Does your website answer people’s questions?
The downside of the endless opportunities we have to share online is that it is more difficult than ever to get, and hold, people’s attention. It is easy for people to click out of your website and browse another one if they do not immediately find what they are looking for.
To keep people on your site longer, each webpage should contain a clear value proposition and demonstrate the value your brand can provide to first-time visitors. Your content should educate people and address their questions. By continually answering visitors’ questions, you can build trust with them; convert them into leads, and eventually customers.
- Does your website include strong calls-to-action?
A call-to-action (CTA) is the piece of a websites that promotes an offer and directs visitors to a landing page, such as “Download EBook,” “Sign Up” or “Call Today.” Strong CTAs are important for collecting information about website visitors and turning them into leads.
CTAs should be easy to find and grab users’ attention throughout your website. They should be clear and tell the visitor exactly what action it is that you want them to take. Finally, CTAs should be appropriately placed throughout your website, with at least one on every page and every blog post.
- Do you incorporate social media?
Social Media can (and should!) be strategically linked to website. Posting on social media is an important part of promoting your content and getting it in front of potential customers. Whenever relevant, your social posts should include links that drive people to key pages on your website.
Furthermore, by placing social media icons and social share buttons throughout your website, you can greatly increase both your following on social media platforms and the reach of your posts.
Want to learn more about how updating your website can help your Inbound Marketing strategy?
The landscape of the Internet is ever changing and Nicole has the energy and aptitude to keep Stevens & Tate Marketing out in front of the pack. She leads an enthusiastic team in strategic planning, development, search engine marketing, online promotions and advertising for the web.
