How to perform a content audit on your website

Regular readers of this blog might have noticed that my website recently got a mini facelift :)

It had been well over a year since I last touched my website design and the time had to come to make some changes.

The look and feel of my site, particularly the homepage, needed to be revamped and I was ready to revamp the visuals, change up the layout and make my information easier to understand. I was ready to switch to a website that balanced pretty and performance it it's design.

Over the past year or so, my offerings have changed - a lot. There are different services packages, I launched a brand new product line, and have new articles, video tutorials and resources I want to highlight that will help my audience. From the very first moment a visitor arrives on my website, they should know who I am, what I do and how I serve my audience.

This meant that I had to re-design my website and the layout of how that information was presented.

It also meant that I was forced to review and update the copy of my website in order to communicate all that goodness in the easiest way possible.

Here’s where the content audit comes in!

If you're totally new to website content audits or are interested in doing one on your site but aren't sure where to start, you've come to the right place. I'm going to take you through my process below and show you what steps to take so that you can perform a content audit on your own website too!

Let's take a look, shall we?

Pretty vs Performance : What to prioritize in your website’s design

You’ve finally decided to launch a new website (after taking my free course, perhaps?) or that it's time to give you existing site a facelift. Exciting news, let's break out the bubbly!

But before your site can go live, you’ve got to take care of all the heavy lifting and actually build and design the website. It’s important to slow down and think critically about the website design process if you want to do it right the first time. Not everyone has time for a starter website!

If you aren’t clear on your website’s goals, it’s nearly impossible to build a website that fits your brand, generates leads AND helps grow your business. When the focus of a website is purely on aesthetics and the design ignores the goals, the best case scenario is that you end up with an appealing website that doesn't perform how you want it to. The truth is, however, that often you’ve just wasted everyone’s time and a whole lot of money. Whomp whomppppp.

In my opinion, we can do better than that.

Today we are going to take a look at what I prioritize in my custom website projects and look at the relationship between pretty and performance websites.

The best places to get social media graphic templates

First of all, you have to build the dang thing and that is a serious undertaking. There's so much that goes into the the design, layout, formatting and technical integrations before people can actually visit your site! And once it’s live, the fun doesn’t stop. Running a website is pretty much a full-time job, especially if you are trying to grow and monetize it down the road. Whether your website supports another business or it IS your business, there are so many moving parts to keep track of if you want it to succeed!

Some of us find the technical side of running a website super easy, but have a harder time with the design elements. We can do it, of course, but sometimes the creative design process is a struggle!

One thing that I often hear from my clients is that once their website goes live, they want to use social media to send traffic back to their sites. This is music to my ears because it follows best practices, but it’s also where people get stumped. This is especially true if you aren't a graphic designer who is used to creating design elements every day! I hear my clients lament that they aren’t designers themselves or that they don't have a dedicated designer on staff to whip up all of the social media graphics that are needed to support their sites and blog posts.

Little do they know, they don’t have to be! And they don't have to hire out that design work either.

Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of social media graphic templates available online. There are tons of gorgeous options available and many of them are free to use… you just have to know where to look!

Should you create a starter website for your business?

It’s no secret that people spend HOURS everyday online, browsing the internet on their phones and computers. In fact, a recent study estimate that the average American adult spends over 12 hours a day consuming media in some form or another. That stat is absolutely bonkers, but the craziness doesn’t end there. Because we are spending so much time online, we are also doing more shopping online and online sales are estimated to reach $39 billion in Canada alone by 2019.

Businesses of all types are realizing that they NEED to get online if they want to profit from all this traffic because if they don’t, they risk being left behind and missing out on untold amounts of money.

Most businesses know that they need an online presence of some sort and more often than not, that comes in the form of a website. They (mistakenly) think that all they need to do is throw something together and that they will get around to fixing it later. But will they actually?

As a web designer/developer, I see people and businesses make this mistake all the time and it truly breaks my heart! Because here’s the thing: “later” doesn’t always happen. The updates to the starter website keep getting pushed further and further and further back and before you know it, it becomes a major undertaking. While a business might have created a starter website with good intentions, the truth is that it can actually do more harm than good in the long run.

In this post, I’m going to give you my professional opinion on starter websites, go over the pros and cons, and let you in on everything you need to know about them before you get started. You might not share my opinion but I hope see my perspective and that it gives you something to think about if you’re considering a starter website of your own!

Let’s take a look.

Web Design/Development, BusinessCharlotte O'HaraMarch 19, 2018starter website, web design, Web content, seo, squarespaceComment

squarespace seo checklist

DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST TODAY!

squarespace seo checklist

DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST TODAY!

Thank you!