11 Questions Every Marketer Should Ask About Their Website

After looking at your website all day for a year or so, it can be difficult to be objective about how it looks and performs. If you’ve noticed a drop-off in leads, or if the number was never as high as you predicted, it’s time to take a step back and see how you can help your website live up to its potential. All you have to do is answer some questions.

Design

1. Is my design clean and professional?

Nothing drives visitors away as quickly as bad design. If your content is bright yellow text on a black background, visitors aren’t going to stick around long enough to learn about your or your business. When in doubt with design, use black text on a white background.

2. Is it easy for users to navigate and find the content they want?

Are your site’s pages organized logically, or do visitors often become lost? How many times does a person have to click before they get to a call to action, a donation form, or a piece of content that answers their question?

3. How does my site look on a mobile device?

With over one billion of the world’s estimated four billion mobile devices able to access the Internet, it’s likely that people are coming to your website on their phone. Does your site’s design and functionality transfer smoothly from desktop to mobile, or are your mobile visitors unable to do anything on your site?

Branding & Messaging

4. Is my branding consistent?

Is your website branded with your company logo? Can this logo be found on your business cards, letterhead, brochures, advertisements, and storefront? Consistent branding is crucial to brand awareness and loyalty: have one logo, one tagline, and one cohesive message.

5. Do my visitors know what I do...without having to visit my About page?

Your About page is a great place to summarize your company and its culture, but your website’s other pages (including your homepage) should also be doing an excellent job of explaining who you are and what you do.

Content

6. Does my content have a bad case of gobbledygook?

You may think that phrases like “streamline business processes,” “enhance workflow,” and “increase visibility” make your business sound sophisticated — but is it so sophisticated that it doesn’t make sense? Some jargon may be unavoidable if your website serves a technical market, but overall your site’s content should convey what you do as simply and clearly as possible.

7. How is my site ranking for relevant keywords?

Are you showing up in search engine results? If your company paints houses in Buffalo, New York, does your business show up on Google when someone searches for house painters in Buffalo? If you’re not ranking well for keywords relevant to your business, it’s time to ask question number eight:

8. When was the last time I added new content?

Is your last blog post an op-ed piece on whether or not Facebook will ever be used for marketing? Did your last press release go up during the Bush administration? (That’s 2004 and 2008, respectively.) Visitors don’t stay long on an outdated website, and search engine crawlers never stop by because there’s nothing new to index. Meanwhile, your competitors are putting out great content that pushes you lower and lower in the search results.

9. Do I have social sharing enabled?

Is it easy for visitors to your website to share a blog post or landing page on their Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn profile, etc.? Social sharing is the new word of mouth, so make it as easy as possible for users to share your content across the web.

Conversions & Lead Nurturing

10. Do I have conversion opportunities on my site?

A conversion happens when a visitor on your website takes an action that you deem valuable; this can mean downloading a whitepaper, making a purchase, etc. Having exclusive offers for your visitors to receive in exchange for their name and email address is one of the best ways for you to build up your leads. If visitors come to your site and there’s no way to interact (like signing up to get your newsletter, filling out a contact form), there’s no way of keeping in touch. Which brings us to the final question:

11. Am I running any lead nurturing campaigns?

Do you give visitors lots of opportunities to opt-in to your newsletter? Do you actually send your newsletter out regularly? When a visitor downloads a whitepaper, do you continue to email them related, helpful content over a short period of time? There’s a lot of information out there, and if you don’t stay in the front of your prospects’ minds, they might forget you completely.

How to get started

Your website has the power to be a lead generation tool, but not if it’s unattractive, inconsistent with your brand, outdated, and stagnant. Sign up for a free website analysis to have a one-on-one conversation with Digett’s Business Development Director about your website’s current performance, and what you can do to turn your site into a lead generation machine.

Analyze my website! 

[Image: snakepliskins]