Time For A Facelift? (Part 2): 5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself
Building a website is a daunting task. This domain of pages essentially represents your business in a big way online, where the world can see it. So, typically it is critical that your website is always performing and looking its best. The following are five questions you should always ask yourself before hitting “publish”.
1) What’s Your User Experience Like?
User Experience, or UX, looks at how humans interact and engage with technology, in order to build the best web experience possible. 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience, so it is a very important factor to consider.
Having a great UX means that your site is easy to navigate, users are able to find information easily, and the site is purposely designed to maximize user engagement. However, UX isn’t just a design payoff. According to Jasmine Henry, “User experience carries a significant, measurable ROI for organizations… brands with exceptional UX win repeat visits, and eventually, new customers.”
2) Is Your Site Achieving Great Results?
What is the objective of your website and how does it play into your business or brand? Are you trying to drive sales, generate leads, or establish authority in your field?
If you’re not seeing the results you want, try getting your site audited to see where it’s falling short. An audit can determine why you’re not seeing results you want and suggest ways that you can meet those goals. An audit and update will re-structure your site to align more with your business objectives, while fitting customer needs, and generating the results that you are looking for.
3) Is Your Site Secure?
Updating your site isn’t just about looks, it is about what’s underneath too. Having an updated site means having the latest security patches and bug fixes to keep hackers out and stop them from wreaking havoc on your site. Poor security puts you at risk for losing private customer information when your site becomes compromised. Also, once a site is hacked, viruses can spread easily to other users or even be blocked on search engine sites. After a site has been hacked, it becomes very difficult to recover from.
4) Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly?
If your website is not responsive, it will not show up as a Google search result when users are browsing on their smart device.
To put this in perspective, in 2014, there were 18 million smartphone owners in Canada and 7.8 million tablet owners. According to the Toronto Star, Canadians spend 33 hours per month online, and almost 50% of that is tied to mobile devices – even more importantly, 1.3 million Canadians a month will exclusively use mobile devices to access the Internet.
If your site isn’t mobile, then you’re invisible to this growing number of consumers!
5) Is Your Site AODA Compliant.
By January 1, 2021, the Ontario government requires all sites to be compliant under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Although it seems like a long time from now, there are requirements that are currently being phased in.
As of 2016, Public Service Organizations and large companies (that provide goods, services or facilities to third parties and have over 50 employees) are required to have new content and intranet be AODA compliant. Accessibility requirements for these organizations include, but are not limited to: large print, high contrast visuals, and recorded audio captions or descriptions.
Guidelines that dictate these standards are governed by the World Wide Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). Companies and organizations that fail to ensure AODA compliance are subject up to a $100,000 fine!
