Top 5 ways you can improve website performance
In this article we’ll talk about how these methods will improve your website’s performance:
Your website is one of the most vital aspects of your business. It provides a digital presence for your company that is available 24 hours a day and helps give your business credibility, raise brand awareness, and generate leads.
One of the main goals of any website is to achieve conversions. So, when your website isn’t performing as you expect, you could miss out on a potential customer due to poor user experience, and they may even look to your competitors as an alternative solution.
Don’t panic! There are simple fixes you can make to your website that will help improve its performance, provide a better experience for your audience, and increase your conversions.
1 – Ensure your content is readable
When it comes to web content, the objective is to deliver your message and encourage people to engage with your website.
A common mistake is to be overly thorough in your content. Readers often have a short attention span and can be put off by walls of text, which can also act as a barrier to people with learning disabilities or visual impairment.
By utilising white space or imagery to break up content and making your content scannable with bullet points and headings can make a huge difference. Breaking up text will also help stop the excess text from being a stumbling block for your visitors and helps guide them on their journey across your site.
Google launched an update to their algorithm in 2022 which rewards content that satisfies the user experience and lowers the performance of content that fails to do this. Click here to find out more about the Helpful Content Update.
2 – Have a clear and effective call to action
A call to action (CTA) is a marketing term that guides the user to the next steps that you want them to take. It could be anything from submitting a form to purchasing a product, clicking on a link, or subscribing to a blog mailing list.
The most effective CTAs will provide a clear idea of what you want your audience to do next, create urgency, and make it easy for them to convert.
They are also a great way to guide people through their journey on your website to a conversion, which is why they are often found in prominent positions on your website or landing page.
CTAs provide a great opportunity to gather user data through data capture which can provide further marketing opportunities, such as gathering email addresses to use for email marketing.
Learn more about conversion funnels and how you can nurture your audience towards a conversion.
3 – Make your website mobile friendly
Having a mobile-friendly website is vital for any business or organisation.
Mobile-friendly websites need to be fast to load and easy to navigate and convert.
It is estimated that around 86% of the world’s population owns a smartphone, so if your website’s performance and layout aren’t suitable for mobile then people are not going to engage, and you could miss out on conversions.
Following a responsive design will ensure that no matter how big a screen is, a website will fit properly and display information correctly regardless of if that device is a mobile phone, tablet or desktop.
You can discover if your website is mobile-friendly using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
4 – Optimise your visual elements
Page speed is a big contributor to a successful website. When someone visits your website, they want everything to load quickly and to be able to move around your site efficiently.
One of the best ways to improve your page speed is by having well-optimised images and videos. You can do this by ensuring your images are in the correct format, dimension, size, and resolution while keeping to the smallest possible file size.
By doing this, your website visitors will have a more positive experience and be freely able to load everything on your website quickly, rather than looking for an alternative source of information such as a competitor.
5 – Consider the user journey through your website
Good user experiences help to get your visitors to the content they are looking for without having to venture around the whole website.
A general rule to follow with your website is that a user should be able to find any information on your site with no more than three mouse clicks. So, be sure to review your site and check they key pages and information are easy for your users to access.
Following this guidance helps maintain a positive experience for the user and keeps them on your website, where they can be nurtured towards a conversion through your content and calls to action.
How EDGE Creative can help improve your website
Our digital marketing agency in Birmingham has a team of experts, from CRO and SEO specialists to web developers and designers – and we are perfectly placed to help businesses and organisations improve the performance of their websites and in turn, increase the number of online conversions.
Take the first step towards a more effective website with our free SEO and web audit, where our experts will highlight what is working well on your website and the areas of improvement in a comprehensive report.
Alternatively, you can speak to one of our specialists by calling 0121 355 8092 or by emailing info@edge-creative.com.
