In today's digital-first world, maintaining a robust online presence is essential for business success. Whether you're a small business owner or managing a larger enterprise, your website's performance can significantly impact your bottom line. To help you understand where your website stands and identify areas for improvement, we present the Web Essentials Audit. This tool, based on key metrics and statistics from a Forbes report, will guide you through assessing various aspects of your website's performance, ensuring you stay competitive and effective in the digital marketplace.
Audit Questions and Points System
| Question | Reponse Options | Points | Explanation |
| Does your business have a website? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | 71% of businesses have a website |
| What percentage of your business activities are conducted online? | 0-10% / 11-28% / ≥ 29% | 0 / 5 / 10 | 28% of all business activity is conducted online. |
| Do you plan to invest in your website's performance this year? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | 43% of small businesses plan to invest in their website performance. |
| Do you face issues with low website traffic? | Yes / No | 0 / 10 | 21% of business owners report low website traffic issues. |
| What is your website's average click-through rate (CTR)? | < 6.64% / ≥ 6.64% | 0 / 10 | The average CTR across all industries is 6.64%. |
| Does your website load within 2 seconds? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | 47% of users won’t wait longer than two seconds for a website to load. |
| Does your website load within 3 seconds? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | 40% of users will leave a site if it takes more than three seconds to load. |
| Do you include videos on your website? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | Including videos can increase time spent on the page by 88%. |
| Is your website mobile-friendly? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | 74% of online users will return to a website that is mobile-friendly. |
| Does your website have a clear call to action (CTA)? | Yes / No | 10 / 0 | 70% of small business websites lack a call to action. |
Simulation with a Potential Client
Let's run a simulation with a potential client to see how this works.
Client Profile:
- Business Name: GreenLeaf Solutions
- Industry: Eco-friendly products
- Website: Yes
- Percentage of business activities conducted online: 35%
- Plans to invest in website performance this year: Yes
- Issues with low website traffic: No
- Website's average click-through rate (CTR): 5%
- Website load time within 2 seconds: No
- Website load time within 3 seconds: Yes
- Includes videos on the website: Yes
- Mobile-friendly website: Yes
- Clear call to action (CTA): No
Scoring:
-
Does your business have a website?
- Yes: 10 points
-
What percentage of your business activities are conducted online?
- 29% or more: 10 points
-
Do you plan to invest in your website's performance this year?
- Yes: 10 points
-
Do you face issues with low website traffic?
- No: 10 points
-
What is your website's average click-through rate (CTR)?
- Less than 6.64%: 0 points
-
Does your website load within 2 seconds?
- No: 0 points
-
Does your website load within 3 seconds?
- Yes: 10 points
-
Do you include videos on your website?
- Yes: 10 points
-
Is your website mobile-friendly?
- Yes: 10 points
-
Does your website have a clear call to action (CTA)?
- No: 0 points
Total Score: 70 points
Analysis
GreenLeaf Solutions scores 70 out of a possible 100 points. Here's the scoop:
- Click-through Rate (CTR): With a CTR below the industry average, GreenLeaf should focus on improving their content, meta tags, and CTAs to encourage clicks.
- Website Load Time: Loading time over 2 seconds is a no-go. Optimize images, use browser caching, and reduce server response times to speed things up.
- Call to Action (CTA): No CTA? Big problem. A clear, compelling CTA can guide visitors toward desired actions and boost engagement.
FAQs
What does it mean to conduct business online? Conducting business online means utilizing digital platforms to perform various business activities. This includes selling products or services through e-commerce websites, engaging with customers via social media, providing customer support through online chat, running marketing campaigns through digital ads, and using cloud-based tools for operations and communication.
How do you invest in your website's performance? Investing in your website's performance can include various strategies such as upgrading your hosting plan, optimizing for SEO, improving site speed, enhancing mobile responsiveness, integrating analytics tools, and regularly updating content.
How can you tell if your website traffic is low? You can use web analytics tools like Google Analytics to monitor your website traffic. Look for metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, and session duration. Low values compared to industry benchmarks might indicate low traffic.
How do you check for CTR? To check your click-through rate (CTR), use tools like Google Analytics or Search Console. CTR is calculated as the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions, multiplied by 100. A CTR below 6.64% might indicate room for improvement.
How to check your website's load speed? You can check your website's load speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom. These tools provide detailed reports on your site's loading performance and suggest areas for optimization.
How do you check if a website is mobile-friendly? To check if your website is mobile-friendly, use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool. This tool analyzes your site and provides feedback on how well it performs on mobile devices.
What is considered a clear CTA? A clear call to action (CTA) is direct, compelling, and easy to understand. It should prompt the user to take a specific action, such as "Buy Now," "Sign Up," or "Contact Us." Effective CTAs are often prominently placed and use strong, action-oriented language.
