All three will give you an idea of what’s hurting your load speeds, with suggestions to improve. Page speed test As you can see, there are a lot of ways to improve your site load speed, like browser caching and making above-the-fold content load first (the content you see without scrolling down the page). However, one of the easiest ways is optimizing and compressing your images. As I said in the visual section, images take up a lot of bandwidth. Which is why it’s important to only use images that are highly valuable. You can use a tool like Gimp to compress your images for free. (Here is a tutorial to do just that.) Pre- and post-Gimp image file sizes Search Engine Optimization (SEO) SEO means optimizing your site to show up in search engines like Google. It’s the bread and butter of what makes a good website.
Done right, it can drive thousands in traffic to your site every month without any extra effort. Done poorly, not a soul will find you on Google. According to Jon Rognerud, there are four steps to SEO. Here are some of Jon’s actionable takeaways: Know who you’re targeting and perform keyword research. Optimize your site pages with on-page SEO targeting those keywords. Create a strong sitemap for Google and Bing to index your site. This is highly simplified and there are a lot of other SEO factors, but these three tactics will get you well on your way to showing up in search results. This next piece of web design advice helps with both SEO and building trust with your visitors. Securing Your Site with SSL Encryption
You’ve probably seen the little green lock in your address bar next to a website. SSL Encryption This is called SSL encryption. Google gives encrypted sites a small SEO boost. But perhaps more important than that is the trust factor it gives your visitors. This is especially true if you sell anything on your website. People want to know their information is safe before they open their wallet. Migrating to SSL is a delicate process. Here’s a guide to migrate your site to SSL without hurting your search rankings. Site Architecture & Navigation Remember design principle #4: Have a clear site navigation. Navigation is important for two main reasons: Better SEO (because it makes it easier for Google to index your site). Better usability (because it’s easier for visitors to find their way around). Remember to use the “three click rule”: Every page on your site should be within three clicks of any other page on your site. To help you with this, consider mapping out your website. You can do it with a tool like Slickplan or just use pen and paper. They look like this:
Site Architecture Map Example Creating a physical map helps you see where you’re missing out on linking pages together, and keeps things organized. You should also keep your most important calls-to-action at the top of the page. This is where the most people see, so it’s a great place for a “shop now” button, a “contact us” tab, or a “learn more” button. Website Tools (AKA “Useful Stuff to Make Your Website Better”) Website tools are mentioned last because they can’t fix a broken website, but they can enhance an already good website. Here are a few of our favorite tools: Live Chat live-chat-widget Live chat is an essential part of a business website. Or at least, we like to think it is. We do offer it as a service, after all. 😊
But in all seriousness, live chat can help you provide excellent customer service, close customers who are on the edge and learn more about your target market. In fact, in this post, we detail how to use live chat to survey your customers so you can improve your marketing. You can also receive notifications when visitors arrive on your site even before a chat conversation! Conversio Cart Abandonment Recovery Cart Abandonment Recovery Email If we wrote “What makes a good eCommerce website”, Conversio would top our list. It automatically sends emails like the one above to try to recover abandoned carts. (Side Note: The advice in this article does apply to eCommerce sites as well. So if you have an online shop, rest assured you’re not wasting your time by reading this.)
Squarespace TemplatesAnyway, with 69% of people abandoning their carts on average, you’ll be taking full advantage of this tool. They also offer services like newsletter sending, product recommendations, and a stronger site search bar. MailChimp Email Opt-in Forms Have you ever seen an in line opt-in form like the one below, and wondered how to get one on your site? Free Bonus: Enter your email to get a free website redesign checklist, along with a PDF version of this post. Enter your email address SEND ME THE CHECKLIST Well, we use MailChimp and a premium MailChimp WordPress plugin to do it. Here’s a 60-second explainer video:
AddThis Social Sharing Buttons See the sharing buttons to the left of the screen? They’re from a plugin called AddThis. AddThis also has a few other features like a follow button and a related posts widget. Yoast SEO We talked about how SEO is important for a modern website. Yoast SEO makes on-page SEO super easy. It gives you a checklist to show you what you need to add/edit to optimize your page for the keyword you choose: Yoast SEO WordPress PluginW3 Total Cache Load speed is critical for SEO and usability. One of the ways to increase site load speed is with browser caching. W3 Total Cache makes caching super easy.