You may not need a full website redesign. It can be easy to want to start from scratch with your website when things aren’t working. In today’s issue, I am going to share some tips for optimizing the current website you have.
Unfortunately, most people want to throw in the towel and build a new website from the ground up. This could cost you more money in the long run if you build a new website when you don’t need one.
🚀 Website optimization
Under the hood of a website are a lot of moving pieces. You might love the design but wonder why it isn’t converting.
Use the resources below to perform a self-audit on the current website you have. What you may find is that with a few tweaks you can increase the impact your website has on your customer.
I have provided 3 tools that I use on every website I build to ensure that it performs to the highest standard.
1️⃣ TinyPNG
URL: https://tinypng.com
Slow images are the number one cause of a slow website. This is a problem I see on many websites and is such an easy fix. If you are managing the website yourself, run every image through this tool before uploading it to your website.
What this tool does is compress the images. You won’t notice a difference in the image quality, I promise!
Websites have to load every image on your website, and as image quality increases so do file sizes. This is a guarantee to slow down your site.
2️⃣ Hemingway App
URL: https://hemingwayapp.com
If you have been following my content for any length of time, I don’t have to tell you how important copy on your website is.
If you are writing the copy for your website, this tool is excellent for any long-form text. It will help you write clear copy that isn’t confusing to your audience.
Remember, the goal in writing copy is clarity. Now is NOT the time to include that new word you learned to try and impress your visitors.
Clear > clever
3️⃣ GTmetrix
URL: https://gtmetrix.com
This tool gives you metrics for how your website is performing. It covers a lot of in-depth analysis of the resources and assets used on your website. You don’t need to learn how to use everything here, just the basics. You want to make sure your website is fast.
All you have to do is enter the URL of your current website and wait for the results. Once you receive your scores you can scroll down a little and see “Top Issues”. This is an important section to look at. It will give you the items that are causing the most issues. Address these first.
I use this on my websites to ensure my clients get high scores. Here is the score of a recent client website build.
🔑 Summary
If you want to have a high converting website, these tools are a great start.
To recap:
- Optimize all images
- Ensure copy is clear, not clever
- Fix all issues that are slowing down your website
