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SEO as the key to a successful website relaunch
A website relaunch can boost your online presence, but without proper SEO planning, rankings and traffic may collapse. Learn how SEO secures success during relaunch projects.
Don’t wait for expensive audits to improve your website. Learn five critical areas you can evaluate yourself to identify issues that might be hurting your online performance and user experience.
You don’t need to be a web developer or hire expensive consultants to identify common issues affecting your website’s performance. By systematically checking these five key areas, you can spot problems that might be driving visitors away or hurting your search rankings. Grab a notepad and let’s audit your site together.
Slow websites frustrate users and hurt search rankings. Test your site’s speed using free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. Simply enter your URL and wait for the analysis.
Look for overall scores and specific recommendations. Common issues include oversized images, too many plugins, or poor hosting. If your pages take longer than 3-4 seconds to load, you’re losing visitors and potential customers.
Quick fixes you can implement immediately:
Over half of web traffic comes from mobile devices, making responsive design essential. Test your site on your smartphone and tablet, or use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
Check whether text is readable without zooming, buttons are easily tappable, and navigation works smoothly. Look for horizontal scrolling, overlapping elements, or tiny clickable areas – these indicate responsive design problems.
Pay special attention to forms and checkout processes on mobile. If these critical conversion points are difficult to use on smartphones, you’re losing potential customers.
Broken links create poor user experiences and can hurt your SEO. Manually click through your main navigation, footer links, and important internal links. Look for pages that don’t load or return error messages.
Check external links to other websites – these break frequently as sites change or remove content. Use free tools like Broken Link Checker or simply browse your site systematically, clicking every link you encounter.
Don’t forget about images and downloadable files like PDFs. Broken images appear as empty boxes or error symbols, while broken download links frustrate users trying to access your resources.
Test all contact methods on your website. Submit your own contact form to ensure it works properly and delivers messages to the right inbox. Check that your phone number is correct and clickable on mobile devices.
Verify your business address, especially if you have multiple locations. Incorrect contact information not only frustrates customers but can hurt local SEO rankings.
Test any other forms on your site – newsletter signups, quote requests, or booking forms. Fill them out completely to identify any technical issues or confusing instructions that might prevent conversions.
Review your website content for outdated information, spelling errors, and accuracy. Check dates on blog posts, pricing information, staff directories, and service descriptions.
Look for:
Fresh, accurate content builds trust and credibility. Outdated information makes visitors question whether your business is still active or professional.
After completing this mini-audit, prioritize issues based on their impact on user experience and business goals. Fix critical problems like broken contact forms immediately, then tackle performance issues and content updates.
Schedule regular check-ups – monthly for critical elements like contact forms and speed, quarterly for comprehensive content reviews. Staying proactive about website maintenance prevents small issues from becoming major problems that hurt your online presence.
