The moment you ask yourself “how do I improve my website?”, you take a step into the world of SEO. In general, there are three factors that you need to take into consideration when improving a website: design, content, and performance. These three aspects play an essential role in providing any visitor with a good -or a bad- user experience, prompting them to continue browsing or to move on to the next search result.

So, what can you do to improve your website?

In Terms of Performance:

1.     It needs to be mobile-friendly first.

There are 3 billion mobile phone users around the world. 60% of of them access websites via a mobile device. Making sure they can easily read and browse your website’s content from any device, be it a cell phone, a tablet, a laptop or a pc is crucial. In fact, experts now advice to make your website mobile-friendly first, and then adapt it to other devices.

2.     It needs to load fast.

Loading speed has been named one of the critical factors in Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Why? Because technology has gotten people used to instant gratification, and search engines know it. Their main objective is to bring their users the best experience, so they have made loading speed one of the top five features when ranking a site. Slow loading speed has been correlated with high bounce rates. If your site’s loading speed is not up to par, you need to fix this ASAP.

3.     Reliable hosting service

Poor-performance servers can increase your site’s downtime which affects not only sales and views, but it also lowers your ranking on search results pages. You should host your website on providers that guarantee 99.99% uptime and stay away from those who have reported annual uptime score below 99%. On top of that, you need to ensure that you use a trusted and secure hosting service.

In Terms of User Experience (design and content):

4.     It should be easy to browse

Your navigation system should allow visitors to easily find the information they are looking for. To do this, improve your site´s user interface by implementing the principles of UX design. Navigation should be intuitive, i.e., thought and designed with the target audience in mind.

5.     Make your value proposition clear

Your value proposition is what tells visitors what you do and why you do it. It should be in your headline and about page. This will inform your potential clients what they get out of hiring your services or buying your product.

6.     Use a compelling call to action

Calls to action, or CTAs, are the phrases or words that generate leads. They are what prompt the readers to take action, be it click on a link, subscribe to a newsletter, or buy a product or service. Effective CTAs:

• Are persuasive
• Are easy to find
• Create a sense of urgency
• Contain strong visuals
• Are action-oriented

7.     Include a contact form

A contact form makes it easier for visitors to contact you. This way they don´t need to click on an email which will most likely lead to a pop-up of god-knows-which default email program. Additionally, doing this will allow you to collect data and track conversions.