What to Ask During a Website Assessment

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Many people have a website. Fewer understand if their website is actually effective. Having it assessed to answer that question is an excellent idea. It is important to be prepared for the assessment with intuitive and effective questions.

Every website is a little different than the next one. They are all unique because the objective for each one is slightly different. The quality of the website must be as high as possible in order to win over the competition. With the volume being so great, yours really must stand out and be remembered by others so that they return to you over and over again. If you don’t achieve that, you won’t be able to generate the traffic that you need in order to bring more leads, customers and business. It is never enough merely to have your website built. Once it exists, you must be meticulous and consistent about having it maintained so that the quality constantly lives up to your standards.

Before you have your website assessed, there are a number of different features that will be looked at. The questions that you begin to ask should bring you valuable and accurate information so that the assessment is most effective.

  • Is it easy to navigate your website?
  • Is your website aesthetically pleasing to others?
  • Is your website useful to other people?
  • Do you have top-quality content on  your website?
  • Do your web pages load very quickly?
  • Is your content appropriate for your target audience?
  • Can your visitors contact the administrators of your website if they wish to do so?
  • Do all areas of your website function properly and effectively?
  • Will  your website hold up against competition online?
  • Does your website show up in the top of the search engine results page (SERP)?
  • Does your website adhere to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines?
  • What is the conversion rate for your website?
  • Which code is being used when building the website?

You need to think about your website as a business tool. When you are building your strategy, It is just as important to massage, cultivate, and grow your website as it is to cultivate the rest of your strategy. Always remember what a tremendous asset it is and will be for your business. It is a critical part of what you are trying to accomplish professionally.

Conclusion

If any of the answers that were given to any of the questions above were not satisfactory, there is work to be done on your website. The first step is your assessment, which should be done by a person who performs website assessments for a living. The assessment should turn up problem areas before any recommendations can be made. Several tools will probably be used to make the assessment. The tools should include Google Analytics (or some other analytics tool) as well as other online assessment tools. The more effective the assessment, the stronger your website. The stronger your website, the better your chances of increasing your business.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

8 Responses

  1. Christa Wojciechowski says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: eMarketing Association Off-Topic Group
    Discussion: What to Ask During a Website Assessment

    Great thought Michael (and blog),

    One thing I think people ignore and should ask about during an assesssment is Meta data. Maybe they plugged it in at the start and haven't looked at it since. Epecially on a site that updates it's content regularly or has had a major makeover or rewrite.

    Sounds funny but you should ask…

    'Are the keywords listed in the meta data actually in the content of the respective pages?'

    You may be surprised to find that many long-tail keywords in the meta data are not worded the same way in your content, or you may find that some keywords are not mentioned at all!

    During a website assessment–Don't forget to review your meta data every now and then to make sure it matches your content.
    Posted by Christa Wojciechowski

  2. Bert Raymond says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: eMarketing Association Off-Topic Group
    Discussion: What to Ask During a Website Assessment

    To Micheal , What are some of the questions when interviewing for A WEB SIGHT ??
    Posted by Bert Raymond

  3. Dyann Espinosa says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Social Media & Community 2.0
    Discussion: What to Ask During a Website Assessment

    Sending this to my clients who are upgrading (or should be) their websites.
    Thanks!
    Posted by Dyann Espinosa

  4. Doug Fenichel says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Public Relations and Communications Professionals
    Discussion: What to Ask During a Website Assessment

    Interesting points. Thanks for sharing. I'd also make sure that it's easy to constantly update with freshcopy.
    Posted by Doug Fenichel, APR

  5. Dennis Smith says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Freelance Editing Network
    Discussion: What to Ask During a Website Assessment

    Sorry to burst the bubble but that article is old school. My partner and I have been in the SEO, social marketing business for 6 years. The questions for website effectiveness now are: How is it Coded? (XHTML, WordPress)? Does it offer quality content in Google's eyes? Does it incorporate a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and or YouTube? Does it avoid Google "sandboxing" and adhere to the new Google Panda algorithms? And finally, does it have a clear call to action for visitors (remember that you get 1 minute tops for new users)? If you miss any of these points and several others, a website is a waste of time and effort.
    Posted by Dennis Smith

  6. Craig Jennings says:

    Many of these comments make reference to strategy – a good opportunity to open that discussion.
    For some, a website strategy is to create a brochure you can't lose – a place on the web where others can find out more about you and your business. The design of that website is not too different than the design of a brochure – nice graphics, good display, clear value proposition are the major issues.
    For others, a website is a marketplace, where goods or services are exchanged for cash.  Here each good or service needs to be described succinctly, a clear purchase proposition put forth, and a simple way to complete the transaction.
    The strategy for a service provider like myself comes somewhere in between.  You need a good value proposition, and a variety of supporting documentation.  But, above all, you need to generate conversions.  If one out of 10 of your visittors will call or respond, you have an internet presence which is working 24/7 for you, attracting the attention of new prospects, and getting one of them to add sign up for a newsletter or call, adding him to your "marketing funnel" periodically.
    So the strategies and the sites differ radically, and if you're looking for a site-builder, make very sure that s/he offers what you need, not what s/he sold his last customer.
    Craig Jennings.

  7. Tom Fuszard says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: eMarketing Association Off-Topic Group
    Discussion: What to Ask During a Website Assessment

    This list makes you think! It’s easy to become complacent about a website. Michael’s list serves as a good reminder that you should pay attention to your site.
    By Tom Fuszard