Is your website fully optimized to reach today’s digital audience? The digital world moves fast, so a stale site quickly becomes too out-of-date to capture valuable leads.

A 2022 HubSpot study found that 80% of marketers say their industry has changed more in the past 3 years than it did in the previous 50. Plus, as time goes by, generational preferences change and you must find new ways to ensure your target audience stays fully engaged with your brand.

A website audit is one of the best ways to reassess whether your site is still serving you well. Your audit measures various site metrics and helps you understand how your site is functioning, including whether it’s building engagement and where you can find opportunities for fresh leads.

Optimize your site and you’ll maximize your success. Here’s how to make website improvements for leads in 2023 that help you grow your business.

Speeding it Up

Do everything you can to increase your page speed. A site speed test is a common search engine optimization (SEO) tool that reveals what’s bogging down your site.

A slow site could be suffering from a wide variety of problems: network congestion, throttling issues, excessive filtering, huge high-res images, and lagging JavaScript features or CSS files that prevent fast page load times. Track down and eliminate these issues to improve the user experience and set the stage for lead generation.

Using White Space Effectively

Resist the urge to fill every square inch of your site with text and pictures. Your audience needs white space to slow down their brains and get comfortable. 

Incorporating plenty of white space is part of good website design. To put it another way, white space isn’t wasted space.

Think of it as mental breathing space your audience needs to absorb your messages. A university study found that proper white space between paragraphs and within margins encouraged people to read more slowly and increased reading comprehension by 20%.

Hyperlinking the Smart Way

The internet is almost 35 years old and hyperlinking was one of its earliest features. Almost everyone on Earth understands that when you see blue underlined text, it's a hyperlink to something else.

Use this fact to your advantage and make your hyperlinks as obvious as possible. This is known as hyperlink differentiation and it’s an effective site optimization strategy. Noticeable hyperlinks help your users navigate your site, encouraging them to engage deeper with your brand.

Maintaining Focus With Bullet Points

Bullet points turn your messages into easily digestible bites of information. When presented with a page of text, the human eye tends to gravitate toward segmented features like bullet points, checklists, and arrows highlighting certain information.

Remember, bullet points don’t have to be boring. Instead of the traditional round, black bullet points, you can use small icons or colorful objects that add context and make your messages more fun to read.

Eliminating Errors

Make 2023 the year of error elimination. Search out and fix broken links, “404 not found” messages, and other obvious page errors that interfere with the smooth use of your site.

This is also a great time to double-check your mobile experience and make sure it’s top-notch. Pages should be fully formatted for mobile without zooming, and buttons should be easy to push from a smartphone. 

For more tips about fixing errors and improving site design, please see our related blog post, Why Your Website Should Be Redesigned Every Year.

Providing High-Quality Content

Did you know Google and other search engines can tell whether you have high-quality content on your site? Google uses a complex algorithm based on the acronym EAT: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. They recently added another E for experience. 

Google wants you to show that you have experience providing helpful information and they want you to keep the user experience at the forefront of everything you share with the internet. 

What does this mean in practice? Here are some tips for creating quality content.

• Publish original content on topics where you hold some authority.

• Focus on people-first content that empowers people to accomplish things.

• Make sure your headlines are concise and well-written.

• Use subheads and other contextual features that improve the reader experience.

You can check your site quality with Google’s search rater or by working with a digital marketing expert with a strong background in effective content creation.

Ending With Powerful CTAs

Finally, remember to include a call to action (CTA) on every page and piece of content you publish. An effective CTA wraps up your message and provides a mental transition.

Give them a little something that continues the fun. Show your audience that you understand their journey and care about guiding them to the exciting next stop on their voyage.

11outof11 Optimizes Your Marketing for Maximum Leads

When you need effective website improvements for leads you need to succeed, connect with 11outof11. We’ll provide a complimentary call with an 11outof11 expert. Contact us to learn more.