5 Ways You Can Boost Your Website Performance
When we think website performance we usually think Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or fresh content but there are other ways we can boost your website performance. First, what exactly is website performance? Website performance is HOW your website engages with its visitors and how well it LEADS them to your call-to-action. You could also call performance ‘user-experience’. What did the visitor get and/or feel about your site that made them either MORE interested or LESS interested in doing business with you. And although it’s difficult to anticipate behavior, there are a few sure-fire improvements you can do that are certain to make visitors feel more comfortable on your site.
We’ve spotlighted 5 things you can do right now to boost your website performance.
- Check your ‘Contact’ forms – most sites have a method of contact and most often that method is a contact form. “Provide your name, phone, email and message and we’ll contact you”.
Let’s talk about that.
- How does your form greet your visitor? Is it warm and welcoming or is it “standard web speak”. Warm and personal yields better results. “Thanks for visiting. How can we help you?” instead of just “Contact us”.
- Are you asking for too much information? Do you really need name and company and email and phone and web address and message… or is name, phone and message enough? You can always get the remaining information while on the sales call. The easier you make it to contact you, the more successful the call-to-action will be.
- What feedback do you provide after the form has been filled out? Do you have an auto-email sent to the visitor? What about an interesting page afterward? Do you even thank them for ‘contacting you’. Remember, warmer is better.
- Do you have something to give? It’s always good to offer something as an exchange for their information. How about a download, a discount or a free gift? It doesn’t have to be much, just enough to entice and show thanks.
- Review your calls to action – Are you actually asking for what you want? This question may sound unusual but sometimes websites simply expect visitors to understand. Ask for what you want! And do it throughout the entire site. Do you want a sale, an email address, a call…? Ask, don’t assume.
- Check for broken links – how many links on your site go nowhere? Website are living documents and broken links are more common than you might think. Especially when you link to someone else’s website. Run a quick broken link check and see if your website has any holes to fix.
- Add a blog or blog post – If you have a blog add a new post, if you don’t have a blog start one. There’s nothing that says ‘subject matter expert’ like a blog. It’s a great lead generating opportunity and also a great way to entice visitors to make a return trip. Give away your knowledge in short, understandable, useful posts and people will begin to know, respect and trust you. When they ultimately need the service you offer you’ll be top of mind, and blogs are great for search results too.
- Reduce the number of plugins – If you use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, it’s really easy to add plugins for new functionality. It’s also easy to retain plugins that you no longer use. Extra plugins create longer page load times, can cause software conflicts and can also be security risks. Update your plugins for security and disable any ones that you no longer use. Your pages will perform faster.
- BONUS! Optimize your website images – We did an entire blog post on Optimizing Your Website Images for Better Search Results. Suffice it to say that fast page loading is important, especially for mobile. Make your graphics small and light. Consider removing some of them entirely for the mobile experience. The quicker your pages load the better visitors can interact with you.
THE TAKEAWAY
Boosting your website performance is an opportunity at making both your visitors and the search engines happier. Happy search engines bring more people, happy people mean more lead opportunities. Win win for everyone!
Whether you’re looking to boost your website performance or if you have something else in mind LWD is here to help. Let’s talk about how we can put that website of yours to better use!
