Is there anything more frustrating for users than a slow-loading website? When building a website, you must consider how your audience interacts with that website and the experience they have when using it. If your website has issues such as slow loading speeds, and they cannot navigate to your call-to-action buttons efficiently, can you afford to lose those customers?
Through use of a process called website optimisation, it can lead to increased website visitors and conversion rates and less website visitors bouncing off. However, what is website optimisation?
Website optimisation is a critical process when building your website that aims to enhance the performance, user experience, and overall effectiveness of your website.
Website optimisation involves a combination of technical, design, and content-related strategies to ensure that your site loads quickly, is user-friendly, and ranks well in search engines. Here's an in-depth guide to help you optimise your website:
Mobile Responsiveness
Google search result rankings will favour your website's performance on mobile devices over desktop performance.
Your website's design should be responsive and adapts seamlessly to various screen sizes and devices.
Prioritise mobile performance for your website by minimising and optimising large images through the use of making your images a JPEG or WebP file format.
User-Friendly Navigation
Your website's content should be organised logically with clear menus and simple to understand navigation.
Implement breadcrumb trails to help users understand their location within your site.
Limit Menu Items by sticking to a reasonable number of menu items. Too many options can confuse users. Use dropdown menus or submenus sparingly to avoid overwhelming the user.
Content Optimisation
Create high-quality, relevant, and engaging content that addresses the needs of your target audience. You can do this through the use of your product descriptions, blogs, videos and infographics for example.
Use proper headings (H1, H2, H3) to structure your written content and improve readability for your audience.
Incorporate relevant keywords naturally in your content to improve search engine rankings. You should aim for one to four keywords around a single topic per page on your website.
Keyword Optimisation
Perform keyword research to identify relevant terms your audience is searching for.
Incorporate these keywords into your content, meta titles, descriptions, and headers.
Avoid keyword stuffing, as it can harm user experience and SEO.
Optimised Meta Tags
Write compelling meta titles and descriptions that accurately represent the content on your pages.
Keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 160 characters for optimal display in search results.
Internal Linking
Link to relevant pages within your website to improve navigation and distribute link equity. You can do this through the use of written content such as a blog to a relevant service or product page.
Use descriptive anchor text that provides context about the linked page.
External Linking
Link to authoritative and reputable sources to provide additional value to your users and the content you create such as sources of statistics and quotes.
Avoid excessive outbound links, as they can divert users away from your site.
HTTPS and Security
Secure your website with an SSL certificate to encrypt data and improve user trust.
HTTPS is now a ranking factor in search algorithms.
Website Speed Optimisation
Minimize HTTP requests by reducing the number of elements on a page.
Optimise and compress images without compromising quality.
Use browser caching to store static assets, reducing load times for returning visitors.
Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to remove unnecessary whitespace and comments.
Utilise Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to distribute content across multiple servers globally.
Optimise for Local SEO
Claim and optimise your business on Google My Business listing for local search visibility for people searching for what they need locally.
Include local keywords and contact information on your website.
Monitor and Analyse
Use tools like Google Analytics to track user behavior, site performance, and conversions.
Regularly review data to identify areas for improvement.
Reduce Bounce Rates
Bounce Rate is defined as the percentage of visitors that leave a webpage without taking an action, such as clicking on a link, filling out a form, or making a purchase.
Create engaging landing pages with clear calls to action.
Ensure that your website's content matches users' expectations from search results.
By implementing these website optimisation strategies, you can significantly enhance your website's performance, user experience, and search engine visibility. Despite this, it's important to remember that website optimisation is an ongoing process, so it's essential to continually monitor your website's performance and make adjustments based on user feedback and data analysis.
Looking to get professional help with your website optimisation? P-Creative can help. We are a marketing agency dedicated to help small businesses (SMEs) with their marketing and website creation needs to improve lead generation. Get in contact to see how we can help.