Websites rarely — if ever — achieve good results right after publishing. Setting your website up for success involves a lot of ongoing work. You need to continuously monitor its performance, spot any weak spots, and fill in the gaps.
In this post, I'll walk you through anything and everything related to website improvement — from how to identify any potential issues to SEO, performance, content optimization, and more.
What you will learn
- The importance of website audits and their different types.
- 18 tips to improve your website's usability, performance and SEO.
1. Run a website audit
To improve your website, you first need to figure out where the gaps are. That's where website audits come in.
These in-depth analyses gauge your website's performance across multiple departments — be it website speed, user experience, content quality, technical, off-page, or on-page SEO (search engine optimization) — and highlight any potential issues.
Simply put, website audits let you know exactly where and how to improve your website.
Keep in mind that there are various types of website audits. Here's a brief rundown of some of the most common ones:
- General SEO audits: They identify any issues that may impact your website's overall performance in search engine rankings. SEO audits typically examine your keyword optimization strategy, backlink profiles, metadata, etc.
- SEO content audits: They strictly focus on your website's content. SEO content audits check for keyword density, content length and structure, traffic performance, and so on.
- Technical SEO audits: These audits check for broken links, XML sitemap issues, URL parameters, and any other technical elements related to site crawlability and indexability.
- UX Audits: They analyze website areas that impact user experience. UX audits typically focus on website navigation, user interaction and behavior, and visual design elements.
- Competitor audits: They compare your website against your competitors' side-by-side across multiple areas, like content, keyword optimization strategies, and more.
The type of audit you should conduct largely depends on your goals. For instance, a content audit is a solid idea if you want to boost the performance of your pages.
You can audit your website with Surfer to identify underoptimized pages that you can then improve to perform better.
For example, an audit revealed that these keywords have lost their search positions in the last month and need to be improved.
Tools that focus on specific audit types are generally a better idea.
They provide more in-depth information regarding the area in question and are also easier to use. You won't have to sift through huge amounts of unrelated details to find the data you're looking for.
In the example below, I conducted a site audit with Screaming Frog — a tool that performs full website audits.
2. Be mobile first
Google uses mobile-first indexing to rank websites in organic search results — search engine bots crawl through and index your website's content from a mobile device user's perspective.
In other words, having a mobile-friendly website is a must to rank high in search results.
Besides, over 50% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices — mobile optimization is also necessary to improve your website's browsing experience for most of your visitors.
Responsive design for mobile devices is the best course of action here.
It's a website design approach that uses HTML and CSS media queries to automatically adjust the size and placement of design elements to ensure content displays properly across all viewports.
You can implement responsive design elements by tweaking your site's HTML code.
Here's one way you could make design elements responsive:
In short, this code tells browsers to upload different-sized images based on various screen widths. For instance, the code instructs browsers to display a small image as long as the screen is up to 760 pixels wide.
You can also use tools like GTMetrix or Google's Lighthouse browser extension to check whether your website is up to mobile standards.
3. Make your navigation bar simple
Almost 40% of first-time visitors will look at your site's navigation right after they land on one of your pages.
A cluttered or confusing navigation bar will probably create poor first impressions and cause visitors to leave immediately.
It's best to stick to web design conventions here — a set of standardized web design best practices that users are accustomed to and expect when visiting new websites.
In website navigation, that means the familiar horizontal bar at the top of the screen, with the clickable logo in the top-left corner, for example.
You should aim for three to five menu items — it gives website visitors enough variety to explore other pages and doesn't overwhelm them with too many options.
If you think five navigation menu items aren't enough to accommodate all your pages, have a look at what Target does:
It structures navigation into menus and sub-menus via a drop-down format—an excellent idea for including numerous links while maintaining a clean and intuitive navigation experience.
Also, notice the search bar on the top-right.
It offers visitors who know what they're looking for a quick and easy way to get to the pages they want.
4. Optimize the homepage
Your home page is often the first touchpoint visitors have with your website.
Its job is to acquaint visitors with your business and encourage them to stick around — or potentially convert.
Again, bank on familiarity. The above-the-fold section should be minimalist to highlight your unique value proposition and call to action.
Hero images are also common here.
They compensate for the lack of design elements and make your home page more visually appealing — as long as they add context to your copy.
You can then gradually offer more details about your products or services as users scroll further down the page, along with trust elements.
Of course, that doesn't mean you should simply copy designs from other websites — your brand identity and copywriting style make all the difference here.
For example, Lingoda does a good job with its home page design:
The above-the-fold section is straightforward yet attention-grabbing.
It highlights the platform's main benefit in the headline, followed by additional perks through bullet points in the supporting copy, and concludes with a call to action (CTA), as well as social proof via its Trustpilot score.
The CTA here is particularly clever.
Visitors can select their target language through the drop-down next to it — it nudges them to interact with the website as quickly as possible, which can increase conversions.
Also, notice how all these design elements are neatly placed beneath each other. This establishes visual hierarchy — it adheres to natural reading patterns and ensures visitors read through the copy.
The visuals on the right give users a glimpse of how the platform works and aim to evoke positive emotions.
The rest of the homepage highlights the platform's benefits in more detail:
The bottom portion includes a CTA accompanied by customer reviews as one last push for conversions.
5. Share high-value content
Even if you have a professionally designed website, you still need the content to support it.
Whether you run an online store, sell a service, or own a blog, quality content demonstrates your company's expertise and authority and earns your visitors' trust.
It also does wonders for SEO.
As per Google's E-E-A-T guidelines, authoritative content that showcases your expertise helps with higher rankings.
Content also opens room for additional SEO practices, like keyword optimization and internal linking strategies.
If done correctly, these factors might attract visitors who may not have found out about your business otherwise.
Suppose I type "How to trim a beard" in Google's search bar.
The first organic search links to a blog post from Beardbrand.
The blog post is neatly formatted and is full of actionable, genuinely helpful advice — enough to leave a positive first impression and earn trust.
This can persuade visitors to explore the website's shop or have Beardbrand at the top of their minds the next time they want to actually purchase a product.
Although Beardbrand is an eCommerce store whose primary target audience is users with high-purchase intent, its content strategy also attracts visitors who want to look up information about a specific topic—not necessarily to purchase a product right away.
The content aims to educate these visitors about their pain points and draw them into their ecosystem — which can result in potential conversions later.
6. Ensure your pages load fast
Loading speed is a direct ranking factor. Slow loading times frustrate visitors, which may lead them to click away.
That means high bounce rates and low dwell times — also ranking factors.
Don't skimp on this step. You can use tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights to see whether your page speed is up to standards and get suggestions on where you can improve performance.
Anything under four seconds is ideal for maximized conversions.
For example, Oberlo loads in 492 milliseconds — that's just under half a second.
Compress all your images before uploading them to your site to bring your page speed closer to that mark.
Site images are one of the most common causes of slow page load times, so tools like Compressor.io or Smush are highly recommended.
Also, use JPEG formats to keep your image file size down — they shed the most weight during compression.
Here are some other page speed optimization best practices:
- Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): CDNs are networks of servers spread across the globe. When users from specific locations visit your website, they'll connect to the server that's closest to them.
- Enable lazy loading: Lazy loading reduces initial load times by rendering below-the-fold content only when users start scrolling down the page.
- Minify HMTL/CSS codes: Tools like Testsigma or TopTotal help cut down any unnecessary code that may cause slow page speed.
7. Include your contact information
Including contact information on your business website gives site visitors an easy way to reach out, helps generate extra leads, and reinforces credibility — it lets website users verify your company's legitimacy.
Make sure to include your physical address, phone number, and email address.
You could do so through a dedicated contact page or in your website's footer — just like what Bellevue does:
It's also handy for SEO because search engines will pull any contact details directly from your website to display them in local search results.
This minimizes the risk of displaying potentially inaccurate information.
Also, notice how the website includes links to its Facebook and Instagram pages in its contact details. This encourages visitors to learn more about the company.
Cross-linking your website and social accounts also lets search engines know your online presence is interconnected.
This makes it more likely that all your links will be displayed in organic search results when users look up your brand in the search bar.
8. Perform SEO best practices
A well-implemented SEO strategy will boost your website's position in search results and attract more site visitors.
Although the tips I mentioned above can do wonders for your website's rankings, there are also a couple of SEO-specific tactics you should consider.
Internal linking
In short, internal links drive website visitors from one page to the other via hyperlinks. A solid internal linking strategy helps visitors and search engines seamlessly continue exploring your website.
On the user end, that means quick access to more potentially relevant information and a better browsing experience.
From an SEO perspective, internal links help with crawlability and indexing — search engines use internal links to navigate and rank your website's pages faster.
Internal linking can be as simple as adding anchor text to your content that leads to other closely related pages — just like what BudgetBytes does here:
This particular blog post about Zucchini bread also invites readers to check another Zucchini-based recipe, for example.
Continuously update your pages with internal links as you develop new content. You can also go in-depth and set up topic clusters — a series of web pages that target the ins and outs of a specific topic in detail.
A topic cluster is made up of the following elements:
- Pillar page: A web page that offers a high-level overview of the topic in question.
- Supporting pages: A series of pages, each targeting a specific sub-topic in detail.
- Internal links: Links that connect the pillar with the supporting pages, and vice-versa.
Sticking with Budget Bytes, here's how it implements one of its topic clusters.
This particular pillar page includes links to numerous pasta-based recipes.
Backlinks
In contrast, backlinks are hyperlinks from external web pages that lead to your website.
Backlinks from authoritative websites let search engines know your content is trustworthy, helping improve your website's position in search listings. The backlinks themselves can also drive qualified traffic to your website.
Of course, high-quality content is key here.
The more informative and helpful your posts are, the more people will share your website — especially other content creators who may use your posts for research.
This ScreenRant post links to an article from Reuters, for instance.
Here are a few other ways to earn backlinks:
- Focus on infographics: Infographics are highly engaging and shareable — backing up your content with relevant infographics is a quick and easy way to snag a few backlinks.
- Start guest posting: This process involves writing content for other blogs within your niche and including links to your website.
- Do broken link building: This is the practice of spotting backlinks that lead to 404 pages and asking website owners to replace them with links leading to your website.
9. Do local SEO
If you run a brick-and-mortar business, you must have a proper local SEO strategy. This practice boosts your company's visibility in local searches and Google Maps results.
A complete Google Business Profile (GMB) is a key first step — fill in each and every box with as many details as possible. Google uses that information to display all relevant details in local search results.
The more information you include, the more likely your business will appear in the search listings.
Here's how a properly optimized profile looks in like in search results:
Also, keep in mind that the contact details I mentioned earlier will also appear on third-party websites like business directories.
Your job is to ensure your details are consistent across your website, GMB account, and third-party citations so search engines can verify your business's legitimacy.
Tools like BrightLocal's Citation Tracker help you with just that.
Other common Local SEO tactics include the following:
- Optimize your website with location-specific keywords
- Update your GMB profile with photos consistently
- Encourage and respond to customer reviews
- Add local business schema markups
10. Keep your pages skimmable
Your page content should be as easy to read at a glance as possible. Large blocks of text will probably overwhelm many readers and cause them to click away.
Aim for an eight-grade reading level. That means short, double-spaced paragraphs and concise sentences.
Here's an example from one of BambooHR's blog posts:
The sentences are short and sweet, while the blog post is neatly structured into emboldened H2 and H3 sub-headings.
Visitors who just glance over the content can easily identify all the blog's main discussion points and focus on a topic of their choice.
The sticky table of contents is also a nice touch — it lets readers quickly skip ahead or revisit specific blog sections at any point.
Also, notice how the text is concentrated in a specific web page area with plenty of white space along both sides of the screen.
This helps maintain the visitors' attention by reducing the eye movement necessary to read through the content.
11. Write attention-grabbing headings
Bland headings will cause most visitors to never read your content — no matter how well-written your posts may actually be.
They need to be catchy yet descriptive enough to let readers know what information they'll walk away with after reading your content.
OpenViewPartners does this perfectly:
The title leaves no room for guesswork — it's clear the blog talks about using YouTube to increase activation rates.
But in contrast to a generic title like, "How to Boost Activation Rates With Youtube," "How Youtube 5x'd our Activation Rate" has a lot more weight to it.
The first-person pronoun quickly lets readers know that the author is qualified to talk about the topic and earns their trust.
The number also hints at the value of the information in the blog post.
Readers know the exact results they can expect from implementing the tips mentioned in the content—an excellent idea to further pique their interest.
To put it differently, OpenViewPartners highlights their expertise, hints at the blog's content, and sparks the visitor's curiosity — all within just six words.
But don't forget about SEO here.
Search engines use your headings to understand your content's topic and rank it accordingly, in the search results.
Implementing your primary keywords here is ideal—as long as it makes sense. The same idea applies to your subheadings.
Remember that you can use Surfer to know which keywords to use.
12. Keep your design consistent
A consistent design language across your website helps reinforce your brand identity and create a more memorable browsing experience.
Consistent layouts also contribute to a more intuitive navigation experience. You don't want to throw visitors off with sudden switches in color schemes and page layouts that will only cause confusion.
Stick with three colors.
It gives you enough variety to show off your brand colors and make your website visually appealing without overwhelming visitors with too many colors.
It's also important to find the right balance in your color scheme. The 60/30/10 rule is recommended here.
More specifically:
- 60% for the primary color: Use it to set your website's overall mood and tone.
- 30% for the secondary color: Perfect for contrast and breaking design monotony.
- 10% for the tertiary color: Treat it as an accent color — ideal for CTAs.
This design principle gives you enough room to establish visual hierarchy, highlight specific elements, and simultaneously create an attractive design.
The same idea applies to your font choices.
Pick three fonts at most — one for your headlines, another for subheadings, and one for body text.
Here's how Nosto handles it:
Nosto applies the 60/30/10 rule perfectly.
The homepage uses white as its primary color and is present in copy-heavy website areas — it helps add some breathing room and improve readability.
Nosto then uses black as the secondary color for backgrounds where the platform highlights its unique selling points and social proof — it clearly distinguishes between different website areas and establishes contrast to bring out key elements.
Meanwhile, pink is the accent color — it's present in CTA buttons and highlights specific keywords. It also plays a purely aesthetic role in visuals like icons.
However, the website also uses gray, mainly to distinguish footers. The other web pages follow the exact same design language — it ensures a consistent browsing experience.
13. Break monotonous patterns
Consistency doesn't mean monotony. Again, the 60/30/10 rule is perfect for adding a visual break to your design and highlighting key elements.
Written content, however, requires a slightly different approach.
Make sure to break apart your copy with imagery and formatting switches, especially in long-form content.
Aside from skimmability, it also helps keep the reading experience fresh, engaging, and easier to digest.
For example, this blog post from Sprout Social uses a mix of regular sub-headings, numbered sub-headings, and bullet points in its formatting.
Since the post is nearly 4,000 words long, the occasional changes in formatting throughout the content contribute to a more involved reading experience—they break the monotony and prevent reader fatigue.
Most importantly, Sprout Social uses imagery with real-life examples to demonstrate its points.
It adds extra context to help visitors better understand the ideas discussed throughout the post and also breaks the copy apart to improve the reading experience.
14. Highlight your CTAs
Your website's main goal is to get visitors to perform a specific action—purchase a product, sign up for your newsletter, download a case study, or register for a free trial, for example.
In any case, these actions entail conversions. But most visitors won't convert unless you clearly let them know you want them to.
Your CTA buttons must be easy to spot, while their copy should be crystal clear.
Again, follow web design conventions and place CTAs in common places to improve their visibility.
That means in the hero section of your homepage, at the top-right portion of your navigation bar, and close to the footer — among other places.
That's exactly what Paddle does:
Notice how two of the CTA buttons use a lighter shade of gray to blend with the background but still attract attention, while the primary CTA's white color really pops out compared to the other buttons.
The "Take a closer look" button is a secondary CTA — an alternative for visitors who may not be ready to commit to a full conversion yet.
In this case, the secondary CTA invites users to watch a video showcasing the product's main benefits.
In contrast to a generic "Learn more" CTA text, "Take a closer look" is a lot more descriptive. The video play icon is also a particularly nice touch — it makes it clear that visitors will watch a video once they click it.
Meanwhile, the primary CTA leads to a sales page displaying the platform's products.
Of course, that's the website's main objective, so the button uses white to stand out from the rest of the webpage.
The CTA next to the navigation bar is present on all of the website's pages and acts as one last push for conversions — it targets visitors who decide to head back to the navigation menu because they didn't find a specific page's content intriguing enough, for instance.
Including CTAs backed up by social proof close to the footer is also an excellent idea.
Visitors will probably be familiar with the benefits of your product/service when they reach the bottom of your homepage.
CTA buttons accompanied by trust elements like customer reviews or testimonials here might be just enough to nudge them to finally convert. It also adds a layer of convenience — users won't have to scroll back up to take action.
15. Use real images instead of stock
Stock photos add little to no value to your content and generally make you appear superficial.
Ideally, complement your site's design and content with real, professional-level photos.
Here's how one of Bonsie's blog posts uses real images:
This blog post talks about Neha Ruch — the founder of an organization that empowers women to achieve successful careers as stay-at-home moms.
The content includes real images strategically to present the company's founder and her kids.
This fits well with the context of the blog but also adds a much stronger emotional impact and helps readers connect with the story on a more personal level — unachievable with regular stock photos.
The same idea applies to other types of content.
For instance, the Budget Bytes example I showed earlier uses original photos to showcase the cooking process and final product for each recipe — it adds to the reading experience and demonstrates that the authors cooked the recipes themselves.
Meanwhile, Sprout Social used screenshots to help back up its points.
You can also use infographics and charts in data-heavy content. It helps break down complex information, like statistics, into digestible insights.
16. Maintain your site
Continuous maintenance is key to website improvement. Regularly monitor your website to spot and fix any potential issues before they become a bigger problem.
Pay particular attention to broken links.
Having visitors click on a navigation link just to land on a 404 error page is very frustrating — and causes SEO trouble.
Once again, website audits help spot any broken links.
You can also use a dedicated broken link checker.
Of course, some broken links may still fall through the cracks. But custom 404 pages can make the situation less awkward and prevent visitors from completely exiting your website.
Here's how the Jane Goodall Institute designed its 404 page, for example:
The error page adds a little humor and links back to the website's home page.
Also, update your existing content with new information when necessary. This is a quick and easy way for older pages to maintain their positions in search rankings and attract a steady flow of continuous traffic.
For example, Planable regularly updates this blog post with new TikTok trends — it also helps generate a healthy flow of repeat visitors for readers interested in the topic.
17. Test features before release
Just like working on an old car, you fix something and something else might break.
In some cases, new website functionalities might interfere with older ones and cause issues on the user end. Some common problems include broken web forms, buttons, and of course, broken links.
That said, run functionality tests in a closed environment before you roll out new features to the public.
Check whether all your forms, buttons, and links work properly on all your pages.
You can either do this process manually or via testing tools like BugBug or BugHerd.
18. Make your website accessible
Designing websites with accessibility in mind ensures your site is easily navigable by people with a range of disabilities including visual, auditory, and motor impairments.
It also helps improve your website's user experience and adhere to Google's Accessibility Guidelines.
Here are a few best practices for website accessibility:
- Include image alt text: Alt text helps screen reader users understand an image's content. It's also a good place to integrate keywords for SEO.
- Use breadcrumb navigation: It allows keyboard users to easily backtrack to previous pages without clicking on the back button.
- Use contrasting fonts: Make sure your copy contrasts the backgrounds to help people with poor eyesight read through your content.
- Avoid excessive effects: Flashing or blinking animations could trigger seizures — as a general rule of thumb, avoid any effects that flash or blink more than three times per second. Parallax scrolling effects can also cause motion sickness.
- Include captions or transcripts for videos: It helps people with hearing disabilities to understand videos.
1% For The Planet is an excellent example:
The website adopts a minimalist design language to make the browsing experience as easy as possible.
The copy and buttons also use large fonts and contrasting colors for the best possible visibility. The option to stop background videos or animations is another nice touch.
You can use tools like WAVE or Accessibility Checker to test your website's accessibility and identify room for improvement.
Key Takeaways
- Running audits is a crucial first step for website improvement.
- Fast, mobile-friendly websites are a must for high rankings and optimized user experiences — use responsive design and cut down on loading speeds through image compression, and other tactics.
- Develop internal and external linking strategies to boost your website's position in search results.
- Follow website conventions in your website's navigation and homepage design to reduce bounce rates.
- Prioritize website accessibility to bring the best possible browsing experience for all visitors.
- Make your content skimmable and use visuals along with switches in formatting to improve the reading experience.
- Establish design consistency without making it boring with the 60/30/10 rule.
- Add contact details to your website and have a complete Google Business profile to improve local search results rankings.
