If your website, or websites, are performing poorly, then it’s often not that hard to pinpoint the areas that are holding them back from being in top shape.
Sad reality is that a lot of websites these days fall into this category.
And it’s not just got to do with broken links, error messages, images that aren’t displayed, or even pages that have lost their formatting. Web technology and the tools required to create websites constantly evolve, and it’s not uncommon for even carefully maintained sites to fall sick, if you may.
There may be a small selection of things that may be wrong with your website, and the surprising factor here is that you may not even know about them.
Here are 4 defining indicators of a poorly performing website:
You can’t make changes on your own
If you need the help of a developer to make the simplest of design or content changes on your site, then you’re asking for trouble. These days it’s more important than ever to have websites that are constantly updated with fresh content.
Search engines like Google pay attention to how frequently fresh content is created, and you guessed it, sites are ranked accordingly. Work out a way so you can make minor changes yourself, unless you plan on falling behind your competition.
Static web content
Dynamism is the call of the hour, these days. Static web pages mean that the content your website visitors see stays the same no matter how many times they visit. Yes, that’s how sites used to work since the creation of the web — HTML files and all.
But fact is that dynamic content has a notable impact on the overall ROI of website or online business. Serving personalized content always leads to better conversions and higher engagement numbers. Interesting fact is that only 19% of the websites actually do this — the rest are statically static.
Slow load times
This is a popular one! There’s no shortage of resources claiming just how important speed is for your websites or blogs. A recent study by Brand Perfect showed that an overwhelming 67% of consumers abandoned websites and online sales because of slow loading pages.
On the other side of the equation, Google has made it clear long ago that the speed of your website affects it search engine rankings. So not only are you losing customers, you risk not attracting visitors.
The solution is simple, really.
If you can opt for it, go with a Content Delivery Network (CDN), which, instead of storing your website content on a single server, distributes it across data centers across the Internet. If you can’t, then at the very least, choose fast hosting, preferably hosting packages with solid state drives (SSD).
Not optimized for multiple devices
Responsive site design, another buzzword that you surely must have heard by now. This is no longer a luxury, it is essential for websites to be optimized for mobile devices, tablet or smartphone. And not just optimized in terms of content and layout, but speed as well.
The last thing you want to do is to keep your mobile users waiting!
So make sure you server the right versions of your sites to users by utilizing a responsive design and a fluid layout that automatically adjusts to the type and form factor of the device it is viewed on.