Business Website Checklist: 2019 Edition

Use this handy guide to check if your current business website is meeting common standards. Doing so can increase your search engine rankings, user engagement, conversions and ultimately even improve your business' bottom line. So, the list:

1. Responsive Design
2. Easy to update (and updated regularly)
3. Quick to navigate
4. Accessibility
5. Served over HTTPS
6. Optimised for performance & SEO
7. Standing out - the right way
8. Interactive marketing/content
9. Returning the right data

1. Responsive Design

If you weren't already aware, the majority of website visits now take place on our mobile devices, not computers or laptops. In fact, this has been the case for at least two years, so if your site isn't mobile ready yet you need to get a shift on! Not least because it hurts your Google rankings.

In 2019, your website needs to not only look good across various screen sizes but also offer the same content and handle the limits that come with slow/finite mobile data. For those looking to stand above their niche, it could be time to take a look into how to make the most of mobile browsing - things like VR, AR & panoramic content.

2. Easy to update (and updated regularly)

Regular website updates are important not only for search engine rankings but generally for increasing user return rates and experience. Sure you might be updating your prices (hopefully!) but when was the last time you refreshed your blog page, 'about us' page, or your home page calls to action? It's unlikely your business is exactly the same as it was when you had your website built two years ago!

If your site is in either of the states below, it's time to seriously consider a change in operations or website:

• "I can update it, but it's just so much hassle!" - Reconsider your content management system; in 2019 the majority of your website, even if a bespoke build, should be easily updated by 'non-coders'. 
• "I update it all the time, but now my site is cluttered and looks nothing like it did to begin with!" - Time for a spring clean; remove the dusty out-of-date content and even consider a design refresh that takes into account all the new content.

3. Quick to navigate

At this point in the internet's life and pervasiveness, your customers will most likely have seen a LOT of websites. Even by the time they get to yours they could have looked at several competitors' sites, depending on how Google et al. rank you. With that in mind, can a customer who knows what they are looking for easily find it on your website?

Effective navigation can be tricky thing to get right; you don't want to outright list all your pages and bamboozle the visitor but you can't afford to omit key content or squeeze it all together on one page. Sit down for ten minutes, try to figure out what your customers are likely to search for and then test how long it takes a friend, colleague or family member to find it on your site - the more tech-phobic they are the better!

4. Accessibility

In 2019 there really is no excuse for your website not meeting at least the minimum accessibility standards for visitors. An inaccessible site negatively impacts SEO, can produce terrible user experiences and even outright render it useless for significant chunks of the general population (i.e. YOUR potential customers).

Checking your site is accessible for all is never wasted time and, especially now with several easy to use website testing tools, is a task that shouldn't be 

5. Served over HTTPS

Does your website have that green padlock next to it when you visit it? No? Why not?! In 2019 enabling HTTPS on your website has never been easier - you can even do it for free using LetsEncrypt (depending on your hosting provider/setup).

Even if you aren't selling directly through your site or taking in sensitive data, a secure website increases customer confidence in your business and is thought to improve Google rankings.

6. Optimised for performance & SEO

Your website can have the best content in the world but if it takes 15 seconds to load, the fact of the matter is, pretty much no one is going to read it. On the other hand, if your site is lightning quick but lacking quality content optimised for search engines then no one will find it. 

There are loads of things you can do to try to improve your website SEO, some of which do require a bit of technical knowledge, but the main thing to remember for 2019 is if your website offers a good all round experience for your customers (i.e. ticking all the points on this list) then you should fair pretty well.

7. Standing out (the right way)

As mentioned in point 3, your website visitors will most likely have seen plenty of websites in their time; making your website be the one they stop at for a while or at least remember can be a tricky task - especially if you also need to offer an appropriate degree of familiarity to allow them to navigate efficiently and interact with content intuitively.

There is a sweet spot between a template website that looks almost exactly the same as 90% of the other websites your customers have seen on the way to yours and a 'stand-out' website that isn't so wild as to completely confuse the majority of it's visitors. How do you reach that sweet spot? Bespoke web design, unique & engaging content and treating your website like the brand vehicle it should be.

8. Interactive marketing/content

It's 2019, how many blog posts and 'about us' pages do you reckon your potential and existing customers have read over the past few years? I'd bet quite a few. Content consumers are tired of the same old written content and are wise enough to look past the static Facebook posts. Nowadays it's all about video, configuration and calculators!

Ask yourself this, what can a user on your website do? Apart from reading, and clicking on links, what can they do? Is there anything they can interact with, anything that might guide them through your website other than a menu at the top? Can they easily compare your services/products, or work out how quickly they will get return on investment with your software? 

9. Returning the right data

We are all busy, but when was the last time you had a look at what the visitors to your website are doing? What pages are they going to and at what point do they decide to leave? There is so much to learn from website analysis data and even the least technical person can understand some important parts of it.

If you don't have Google Analytics or another analysis tool installed on your website you could be missing out on some really valuable insights into what your customers are doing there. If you do, have you considered taking it a step further? Start setting and tracking specific goals and conversions, look at demographic data and tweak your content to suit. There's so much to be gained!

Get in touch with Devetecho for help with any or all of the above points via 0121 517 0121 or howdy@devetecho.co.uk