LMDTFY News

Is Your Website Worthy Of A Gold Star?

The World Cup delivers small business opportunities for website analysis

August is traditionally a quiet month for many businesses, with everyone on holiday. This year the World Cup is having much the same effect. While some small businesses are run off their feet, others are finding they've hit a go-slow as people stay home to catch the football.

If you've got time to take a breather, this is the ideal opportunity to get your business house in order. Take  your website for a start.

Too many small business owners don't have time to keep their online presence up to date and maximise its potential for profit. If you're guilty of neglecting yours, it's time for some serious website analysis. Here's a quick list of a few key things to consider:

• When was the last time you added new content to your site? Search engines and visitors love fresh stuff so if you've let it lie for ages, get back in the driving seat in time for September when things get back to normal

• Is your site looking tatty and old fashioned compared to your competitors? If so a redesign needn't cost a fortune. Quite the opposite. I've got some great contacts - just ask

• Get someone who hasn't seen your site before to explore it and report back to you on how easy they find it to use. If they hit any major snags, identify ways to improve the visitor experience

• How big are your images? Google's recent algorithm update gave loading times more importance, so making your images, downloads etcetera smaller will make Google happy... A good idea if you want to help your site's overall visibility

• Are your images good quality? It's possible to create fast-loading high quality images so don't put up with fuzzy, blurred ones

• Are all your products and services included online? If not, add new info and remove outdated bits

• Check that every link on every page works - and mend or remove broken ones

Alternatively think about getting an experienced outsider in to perform an independent website analysis. I provide detailed common sense feedback about your site's performance, appearance, functionality, content and much more, delivering a written report packed with information to help you maximise your impact and potential.