Today is the second episode all about website design and I am going to be talking about how you can evaluate if your website is working for you. If you haven’t listened to the first episode, I recommend you listen to episode 13.

This episode is useful whether you’re DIYing your website, getting by until you can hire a designer, or if you’re working with a designer now so that you know what to look for and ask for in a strategic website design project. Because that’s what I’m all about – using strategy in your website design so that it doesn’t’ just look good, but it also functions well and helps you grow your business.

I’m going to cover a couple of techniques for evaluating if your website is working for you and I’ve also got a checklist you can download at www.lemonandthesea.com/15download.

Topics Discussed:

• The importance of having a strategy behind your website design
• Why you need to test and change your design
• Creating simple, easy to use navigation and what you should include
• Why using website standards can help your design
• Why your content is important to your website visitor’s experience
• Things to check to make sure your content is working for you
• The importance of having a call-to-action on each page
• Creating a contact form that makes it easy for people to use
• How the design of your website can support your main purpose
• Why knowing your audience is important for your website
• The tools I use with clients to test my website designs
• The importance of testing and changing your design
• My #1 recommendation for creating a strategic website
• How strategic design serves your clients and customers

Resources Discussed:

• Strategic Website Design Checklist
• Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
• Google Keyword Planner
• Squarespace SEO Tricks You Should be Using
• Google Analytics
• Page Analytics (by Google) Chrome Extension
• CrazyEgg Heatmapping
• 5 Website Updates to Get Legit Guide