When it comes to putting together a plan of attack for a website audit, it’s important to understand your audience. This means understanding how visitors interact and engage with your website, but more importantly, the journey that gets them there in the first place. Below are three critical checkpoints to consider when performing a website audit:
- Information Architecture. Information Architecture is a simple concept which involves looking at the layout and framework of an existing website. Many real estate/brokerage websites will have issues and inconsistencies when it comes to the architecture of their websites. Here are a few examples of website elements to look for when evaluating your site:
- Navigation
- Metadata
- Page titles (h1-h6 usage)
- Focus keyword(s)
- URL structure
Other examples could include how users search for information, content objectives, goals and labeling systems. Each of these components plays into the bigger picture of what should be identified during a website audit.
- Competitive Analysis. Analyzing the competition and understanding what competitors are doing is another important step in the audit process. Whether competition is doing something better or worse, identify key strengths or weaknesses and capitalize. A good example of this can be the use of call-to-action buttons on a competitor’s website. Are they using hyperlinks with no design elements? Do they use them multiple times on any given page? What wording do they use in the calls-to-action? Analyze and identify these top-level indicators across a website from image usage to keywords to content. Each element of an existing competitor’s website can be broken down and analyzed for the benefits.
- Social SEO Analysis. A huge aspect of earned SEO is understanding that good social media strategies are critical to adding into the marketing mix. One simply cannot exist without the other, which makes it ever more important to identify with what channels and content readers are engaging, and then to follow up with a consistent strategy to match their needs. Social media allows a brokerage to set a tone, build loyalty, engage customers and drive qualified leads. If a brokerage is not consistent throughout social media and doesn’t provide unique value on a weekly basis, there will be opportunities lost from an organic aspect of SEO and a loss of loyalty from potential customers. Analyze your current social strategies to identify key opportunities to create more value for potential customers.
