As we discussed in part one of this series, working on ways to continuously improve your website and user experience is important for your agency. After you’ve evaluated the meta data and content of your website, the next step in completing a website audit is to look at your design elements and usability factors.

Design & Technical Elements

You may need the help of a web developer to truly judge what’s working and what isn’t. While you may not have built your website on your own, there are particular elements you should be aware of when evaluating your design.

• Images – Assess the quality of the images on your website. Do they load properly? Are they high quality? Did you add alternative text to every image, in order to tell users and the search engines what the images are if they don’t load properly?
• Branding – Assess the consistency of your branding within your design. Are the colors on custom website elements (like buttons, forms, headlines, and menus) in line with the colors in your logo and current branding? Are you providing your audience with a consistent brand image?
• Code – Assess the code that was used to create your website and display your content. Are you using any obsolete HTML or CSS? Are you using and technical elements (for example, Flash) that could cause viewing issues for your audience or the search engines? Are you properly utilizing HTML coding within your content? For example, are you using header tags correctly, in the order in which they should be used?

Usability Factors

Usability is important to consider when auditing your website. After all, if users don’t have a great experience when they visit your website, what is to keep them on the site, or keep them from never returning? Not only that, user experience can make a difference in the performance of your SEO strategy. Here are some things to keep in mind that can affect the usability of your website, and ultimately, a user’s experience:

• Navigation & Links – Is your website easy to use? Can a user navigate through the pages quickly and easily? Are there any broken links on your website, whether they are in the navigation / menu or the content? Are all links leading to relevant sources of information?
• Functionality – Does your website load and function properly across all mobile devices and desktop browsers? Are your online forms asking for simple information, and are they easy to fill out and submit?
• Content – Is your content unique, up-to-date, relevant, and valuable to users? Are you providing the appropriate messaging for your audience?

In the next part of our series on running a website audit, we’ll cover technical and quality issues. If you have questions on auditing the design and usability aspects of your website, leave them in the comments!