When planning to drive traffic and, ideally, capture leads, it’s essential to be certain your website is performing. Enter the Website Audit. The Website Audit is part of a Marketing Discovery document that will serve as a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of sorts. It is an in-depth research process examining your website, search engine optimization rankings, target audiences, messaging, platform opportunities, budgets, time frames, conversion paths, brand and key success metrics. There are many technical components such as the hosting, your CMS (content management systems), the website and applications that impact the overall results of an online lead generation campaign.
Deliverable components of a Marketing Discovery document can include any combination of the following:
- Website Audit – Analyze website User Experience and elements which affect your rankings and visibility such as speed, content optimization, responsiveness, reviews, etc. Most website audits are built on a scoring model that assigns a score of 0-100 or a grade of A-F like the audit below.
Search Engine Optimization – Our team utilizes over 100 tools to gather information for your website and potential users. This includes Keywords, Backlinks, Competitors and more.
Branding – Creating a name and a logo is not an exact science. You’ll want to hire a freelance branding expert or if you have the budget, you may hire a firm to create your name, logo and brand guide. There are 2 marketplaces I recommend for Design. The first is 99 Designs. The second is Upwork. As a Digital Marketer the question I get asked most often is “how can I get more traffic to my site?” My response is always the same. Let’s first look at your digital assets. I don’t mean just your website. You have to look at your Social Media pages & posts, Blog, Email Marketing, Newsletters, etc. The message for your brand needs to be consistent throughout all media platforms. In addition, it needs to integrate with your offline assets such as brochures, business cards, signs and more. If your budget doesn’t allow you to hire a branding expert and UX designer, not to worry. There are many options. Example: try Canva (https://www.canva.com). Canva makes design simple for anyone. Whether you’re creating designs for online or offline: blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations & so much more, you’ll be able to get your ideas on the board and determine if the design for your brand is indeed consistent. Start using Canva to help you achieve consistent Brand Design.
System Considerations – It’s important to create an internal marketing/communication plan (CRM, CMS, Email platform, etc.) that can best work together. Integrations with the website and the app will have a strong impact on the user experience. Persona Development – Takes an in-depth look into your target audiences from existing data, team interviews, and mini-focus groups. Who they are, where they are, how they communicate and how to speak to them on a personal, emotional level.Messaging Framework – This is your overarching messaging that encompasses how you talk to your target personas about your organization as a whole and your specific initiatives.
- Content Strategy – This starts with creating a Content Strategy across relevant digital channels. Followed by Keyword Research to determine the cost of ongoing marketing & advertising.
The bottom line is you need to know how your website is performing. When you conduct a Website Audit you’ll find hundreds of indicators. Some will show you that your website is performing well and others will show you that you need improvement. Ultimately, you will likely find many opportunities to increase your user’s experience, increase traffic and generate more leads. There are no shortages of great tools like SEM Rush, Moz, Screaming Frog, Keyword.io and others. As a Digital Marketer I use them all to give me the best opportunity to succeed with all the websites I manage. Prediq offers a Website Audit and 30 minute Digital Marketing Discovery Consultation at no cost . Feel free to check it out.
You may also check out this checklist to help you determine what you need to focus on to improve your website. For website speed you can use the free Google Pagespeed Tool.
