Author: Marc Hyde
Published: April 25, 2022
Read Time: 4 Minutes
I think it’s safe to say that everyone has a website, or if someone doesn’t have a website, they are working on getting a website. Have you ever wondered if your website is actually doing it’s job, though?
I mean, think about it:
Your website is your 24/7, 365 sales person who tells people that they should do business with you. You are paying money to keep it working, and you have spent time getting it to where it needs to be. So literally, your website is one of your company’s employees.
What would happen if one of your employees stopped doing his or her job? What if she started being a bad representative of your brand? What if he stopped making sales, even though he always, “showed up on time”? You’d fire those people!
The same should be said of your website. If your website isn’t doing it’s job well or completely failing at it’s job, it’s time you fire your website and build a new one (or just give it an upgrade).
Here are three quick tests to see if your website is doing it’s job:
Test 1: Is your website mobile ready?
What does that mean? Here’s a few questions to ask if your website is mobile ready:
- Do you have a mobile menu?
- Is your text large large enough to be read on mobile?
- Is your content able to go into one column?
- Do your images stay inside of the viewport?
Now you may be thinking, “yes!!” we’re good, right!?!
Wrong.
You can have a website that is “mobile friendly” and “responsive” (which are just words that means that your website responds properly to the screen size), but you need to ask one more question: Does it look GOOD on a mobile device.
Let me give you a church website illustration:
Something that I like to do is when I first hear of a church or see a church while I’m driving is to immediately go to their website . . . which is often what visitors do, too. One thing that I notice is that many church websites are “mobile friendly” in terms of a mobile menu and everything fits into the screen, but the website looks AWEFUL.
If you have a brick and mortar business, people may be doing this to you. Is your website ready to be seen on a phone on the go?
If you have a web-based business, you better make sure it’s ready for mobile because that’s all you got!
If your website is ready for the mobile world, than your website simply isn’t ready.
Test 2: Is your website ready for Google?
More people use Google than any other search engine, which means if people can’t find you on Google, you are loosing business.
Google has created many tools to help you as a business owner be sure you’re ready for Google. Here’s just two that are incredible helpful:
- Google Search Console: this tells you if Google has indexed your website and shows you how many times you’ve come up in search results.
- Google Page Speed: You can use this website to get a score for your mobile website and your desktop, and based on your score, Google will send you up or send you down in search ratings.
You need to make sure that your website has these two basics thing in order before moving onto things like Search Engine Optimization (which is a fancy way of “working hard to be found on Google”).
If you have no idea where to start, I’d recommend that you talk with me about signing up for a website maintenance plan. On this plan, I make sure that your website is ready for King Google!
Test 3: Are your stats telling you that people like your website?
Stats always tell a story. Such as:
- How many people visited your website?
- How long did people engage with your website?
- Did people visit other pages on your website?
- Where did these people find your website?
- What type of device are these people using?
First, let me ask you: Do you even have stats for your website?
Second: Do you know what stats your story are telling you?
There are many “industry standards” for websites stats, but one quick thing you can see is if your website is improving from month to month. If so, that is a great thing! If not, you may need to start asking questions.
Bonus Test:
Another way to see if your website is working is when people do business with you, ask them how they found you! Sure, the stats can’t always tell you this (they actually can if you’re an e-commerce business), but this will help you know if your website is doing it’s job.
Your website is the front door to your business. Do you know if your website performing well or performing poorly? These three test will help you determine what your next steps ought to be regarding your website.
If you find yourself in a place where you need to chat about your website, don’t hesitate to reach out! Use the contact form below to pop in my inbox! Let’s build you a website that makes you proud.
Pin This Post:
Hi! I'm Marc.
I serve businesses, bloggers, and organizations by way of creating great websites that are able to be found online. Web design is a passion, but serving you is my joy.
Curious about my services? Here's a quick list:
Ready to started on your project? Contact Me to get started.