Checklist: How to refresh an outdated business website

Study competitors’ sites

Another good way to make sure your business website is up to par, is by checking out what your competitors’ sites look like. To do this, make a list of your top competitors and then look up their websites on Buzzsumo or UberSuggest. Type in the web address of your competitor and you will get instant information on how their site is performing. This is a good first step because you don’t want to emulate sites that are doing worse than yours.

A good way to tell if a competitor site is doing well is by looking at their domain authority. If that number is higher than yours, that means they’re doing something on their website that makes it more relevant to customers and Google. 

Things to look out for in this report are:

• What are my competitors’ highest converting pages and how can I learn from them?
• Does it require fewer clicks for a customer to make a purchase on my competitors’ websites? If so, what can I do to decrease the number of clicks it takes to purchase on my site?
• What industry-related keywords are they ranking for? How can I update my website to rank for the same keywords so that potential customers have an easier time finding my site?

Dig into your website’s analytics

If you don’t track your website’s analytics yet, now is a good time to start. Sign up with Google Analytics for a free, basic account. If you’re looking for more advanced features, you will have to pay a monthly fee. But many of the metrics you need are accessible with a basic account, such as pageviews, unique pageviews, average time on page, entrances, bounce rate, and exit rate. This is enough information to get started analyzing your website traffic. 

Use this cheat sheet to remember what each of these metrics means and how it effects your website. 

A good business website requires maintenance. You can incorporate these steps into a quarterly audit of your website, for instance, to ensure its health and accuracy.  

Looking for more ways to improve your business? Check out the Grow Your Business page to find more tips and tools to help your reach your business goals.