}

Does Your Website Have Performance Issues?

by Jennifer Beever

 Photo on Flickr by shock264, some rights reserved
Photo on Flickr by shock264, some rights reserved

 

Your website is often the first impression prospective customers have of your company and brand. It’s important to make sure that this first impression is positive, and doesn’t drive your prospects to your competitor.

How well your website works also affects search engine performance. In Google’s recent algorithm changes, how quickly your website loads makes a difference, as does the depth of your webpage structure. Here are __ critical factors beyond making sure everything on your website works and there are no broken links (that should be a given).

1. Make sure your site loads quickly

Have you ever sat and waited while a site loads slowly on your computer? Most people will hit the Back button and move on to another website than wait for a slow site to load. Update your site with the latest technology to make sure it’s performing at top possible speeds.

2. Make sure your site displays well on mobile devices

The percent of people viewing your site on their mobile devices is growing. Make sure yours displays on tablets as well as smartphones. Minimize features that are unwieldy on mobile devices (my pet peeve – dialogue boxes asking you to confirm an action and that require you to enlarge the box before you reply).

3. Make sure your site has some depth to the page hierarchy

It’s true that landing pages are effective for your marketing, but be careful not to create a website hierarchy that is flat. This indicates to some search engines that your pages are spammy. You should have easy-to-use navigation that allows the interested buyer to drill down and get some amount of detail about your products and services.

4. Make sure your blog posts and articles have depth as well

Recent Google algorithm changes focus on the depth of information your site has. If you hired someone to quickly populate a blog with fluffy, “light” posts, this will hurt you. Make sure your posts have photos or images at the top and present a topic in some amount of detail.

Keep your website fresh with the latest technology, easy and clear navigation, and detailed information about what you offer. Websites have become central to marketing and sales, having replaced the print brochure in the last few years (Geoffery James wrote in a 2013 Inc. article that “brochures need to go the way of the 3 martini lunch”).

If you need to update your website, contact New Incite today. We’ve been creating and improving websites for clients since 1998.

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