How to grade your website

Anyone can tell you whether or not they think your website LOOKS good, but that has little to do with whether or not your website actually IS good. So open up your website in another browser tab and let’s review!

Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• Who is the target audience of your website?
• Why did they come to your website? What are THEY looking for?
• Did you provide what they came for on your website?
• What do YOU want them to do on your website?
• Is there a clear path guiding them toward that action?
• If you didn’t have your website, would it make any difference?

Consider your website from your customer’s perspective.

• Looking at the home page, is it immediately clear what you offer and why it matters? (There’s an old statistic used by many marketers that in about 6 seconds a visitor is making a snap judgement about whether they want to keep looking or close your website!)
• Is the font size and style comfortable to read? 
• Does your website function properly on all devices?
• Does your website load quickly?

Check Google Analytics*.

• What’s your website’s bounce rate? (That’s the percentage of visitors who only visit the home page and then close your site. And a high bounce rate is not always bad, go back to those questions in the first section about what you want visitors to do.)
• How long does the average user spend on your website?
• Are visitors looking at the pages you want them to look at?
• Do you wish visitors stayed longer? Why or why not?

How did you do?

If you are happy with your website after this review, it’s probably pretty good, maybe even great! If you’re not happy, it’s time to consider editing your website or re-doing it to better meet your needs and the needs of your audience. Pro tip: stay mindful of these questions as you develop your next website!