In today’s digital landscape, your website is the cornerstone of your online presence. A high-performing website drives growth, enhances visibility, and maximizes your marketing ROI. But how can you ensure your website is genuinely delivering results?

As a leading  digital marketing agency, we review six critical performance tests every website should pass to guarantee optimal performance and user experience. These tests are designed to help marketers pinpoint critical areas for improvement, from mobile responsiveness to Google visibility, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and refine your digital strategy.

Whether you’re looking to boost your online presence, streamline your marketing processes, or supercharge your lead generation efforts, these performance assessments will provide valuable insights to help you achieve your business objectives.

1. Is My Website Mobile Friendly?

In a digital-first world, mobile friendliness isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have. With more than half of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, ensuring your website performs flawlessly on smartphones and tablets is crucial for engaging your audience and driving conversions.

A mobile-friendly website adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes, providing an optimal viewing experience across all devices. This responsive design approach enhances user experience and positively impacts your search engine rankings, as Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites in its search results.

Key benefits of a mobile-friendly website include:

• • Improved user experience, leading to longer site visits and higher engagement rates
  • Better search engine visibility, potentially driving more organic traffic
  • Increased conversion rates, as users can easily navigate and interact with your site
  • Enhanced brand perception, showcasing your company as modern and user-focused

The easiest way to test if your website is mobile responsive is to open the website on your smartphone and scroll to see if all the photos, text, and design adjust to the width and height of your mobile phone. An alternative method is to do the same with your laptop browser by resizing the width to simulate the different mobile views.

For more accurate testing, we recommend downloading the Chrome Responsive Viewer Browser extension. This is a specialized tool for developers to test multiple screens and devices.

If your site doesn’t pass the test, don’t panic. Implementing responsive design principles can significantly enhance your website’s mobile performance. This might involve adjusting layouts, optimizing images, and ensuring that all interactive elements are easily clickable on smaller screens.

Ensuring your website’s mobile-friendliness should be a top priority. It’s not just about keeping up with trends—it’s about meeting your customers where they are and providing the seamless digital experience they expect.

2. What is the Speed of My Website?

In the fast-paced digital world, every second counts. Website speed is a critical factor that can make or break your online presence. As a Chief Marketing Officer or Marketing Director, you understand that a slow-loading website can significantly impact user experience, search engine rankings, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Website speed directly affects:

• • User Experience: Users expect pages to load quickly. A delay of just a few seconds can lead to frustration and increased bounce rates.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines like Google consider page speed as a ranking factor. Faster websites are more likely to rank higher in search results.
  • Conversion Rates: Slow-loading pages can deter potential customers, leading to lost sales and decreased conversions.
  • Brand Perception: A fast, responsive website reflects positively on your brand, portraying professionalism and reliability.

Several factors can affect your website’s speed:

• • Large, unoptimized images
  • Excessive HTTP requests
  • Unminified CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
  • Lack of browser caching
  • Slow server response time

The data shows that a website’s bounce rate triples if the loading time takes longer than 3 seconds! The graph below from Semrush shows the probability of bounce rates for each second that the site takes to load, affecting your web rankings.

To measure your website’s speed, use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These tools provide a speed score and offer detailed recommendations for improvement.

For instance, PageSpeed Insights analyzes your site’s performance on both mobile and desktop devices, providing separate scores for each. It also offers specific suggestions for optimization, such as enabling compression, leveraging browser caching, or minimizing redirects.

These insights can help you make informed decisions about your website’s performance. Implementing the recommended optimizations can significantly improve load times, enhance user experience, and potentially boost your search engine rankings.

Regularly monitoring and optimizing your website’s speed should be an ongoing process in your digital marketing strategy, ensuring that your online presence remains competitive and effective in driving business growth.

3. How Effective are the Calls to Action on My Site?

Calls to Action (CTAs) play a pivotal role in driving conversions and serving as the bridge between your content and the actions you want your visitors to take. Whether downloading an ebook, or signing up for a newsletter, effective CTAs can significantly impact your conversion rates and, ultimately, your bottom line.

Key characteristics of effective CTAs include:

• • Clarity: Your CTAs should clearly communicate what action you want the user to take.
  • Compelling Language: Use action-oriented, persuasive words that create a sense of urgency or value.
  • Strategic Placement: Position your CTAs where they’re most likely to catch the user’s attention and align with their decision-making process.
  • Visual Appeal: Ensure your CTAs stand out visually through contrasting colors, white space, or eye-catching design elements.
  • Mobile Optimization: CTAs should be easily clickable and visible on all devices, especially mobile.

To optimize your CTAs and improve engagement, consider the following techniques:

1. A/B Testing: Experiment with different CTA copy, colors, sizes, and placements to determine what resonates best with your audience.
2. Personalization: Tailor your CTAs based on user behavior, preferences, or stage in the buyer’s journey.
3. Create a Sense of Urgency: Use phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Act Now” to encourage immediate action.
4. Offer Value: Clearly communicate the benefit of taking action (e.g., “Get Your Free eBook” instead of just “Download”).
5. Use Action-Oriented Language: Start with strong verbs like “Discover,” “Start,” or “Join” to prompt action.
6. Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your CTAs are easily tappable on smaller screens and visible without scrolling.
7. Reduce Friction: Minimize the steps required to complete the desired action.

Following best practices for implementing CTAs will help you build more effective conversion strategies for your website. We recommend using HubSpot’s Complete Checklist for Creating Compelling Calls to Action to learn how to design CTAs that will get your visitors to take action.

Effective CTAs are not just about driving clicks—they’re about guiding your visitors toward meaningful actions that align with your business goals. By continually refining and optimizing your CTAs, you can enhance user engagement, improve conversion rates, and ultimately drive the growth and visibility you want.

4. Are There Broken Links on My Website?

Maintaining a seamless user experience is crucial for your website’s success. One often overlooked aspect of this is ensuring that all links on your site are functioning correctly. Broken links can seriously affect user experience and SEO, potentially undermining your digital marketing efforts.

The impact of broken links includes:

• • Poor User Experience: Broken links frustrate visitors, leading to a negative perception of your brand and potentially increased bounce rates.
  • Decreased SEO Performance: Search engines view broken links as a sign of poor maintenance, which can negatively impact your site’s rankings.
  • Lost Conversion Opportunities: If links to important pages or CTAs are broken, you may miss out on potential leads or sales.
  • Wasted Crawl Budget: Search engine bots spend time on broken links instead of indexing your valuable content.

Common causes of broken links include:

• • Changing URL structures without proper redirects
  • Removing pages without updating internal links
  • Linking to external content that has been moved or deleted
  • Typos in manually entered URLs

To identify and fix broken links, you can use tools such as:

1. Broken Link Checker: A free online tool that scans your website for broken links.
2. Google Search Console: Provides reports on crawl errors, including broken links.

Once you’ve identified broken links, take the following steps:

1. For internal links: Update the link to the correct URL or remove it if the page no longer exists.
2. For external links: Either update the link to a working resource or remove it if no suitable alternative exists.
3. Implement 301 redirects for any pages you’ve moved to ensure users (and search engines) are directed to the correct content.

Making broken link checks a regular part of your website maintenance routine is important. Set up recurring scans to catch and fix issues promptly, ensuring your site remains user-friendly and SEO-optimized.

By prioritizing the identification and resolution of broken links, you’re taking a proactive step towards maintaining a high-quality website that supports your broader digital marketing strategy and helps drive business growth.

5. Is My Website ADA Compliant?

Ensuring your website is accessible to all users should be a top priority. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance isn’t just about legal requirements—it’s about inclusivity, expanding your audience reach, and enhancing your brand’s reputation.

ADA compliance for websites means making your digital content accessible to people with various disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. Here’s why it matters:

• • Increased Audience Reach: By making your site accessible, you’re potentially expanding your market to the millions of people with disabilities.
  • Improved User Experience: Many accessibility features benefit all users, not just those with disabilities.
  • SEO Benefits: Many ADA compliance practices align with SEO best practices, potentially boosting your search rankings.
  • Legal Risk Mitigation: ADA-compliant websites are less likely to face legal challenges related to accessibility.
  • Brand Reputation: Demonstrating commitment to accessibility can enhance your brand’s image as socially responsible and inclusive.

Key elements of ADA compliance include:

1. Text Alternatives: Provide alt text for images, allowing screen readers to describe visual content to visually impaired users.
2. Keyboard Navigation: Ensure all website functions can be accessed using a keyboard for users who can’t use a mouse.
3. Color Contrast: Use sufficient color contrast between text and backgrounds to aid readability.
4. Captioning: Provide captions for video content to assist hearing-impaired users.
5. Consistent and Clear Navigation: Implement a logical structure with clear headings and consistent navigation.
6. Resizable Text: Allow users to resize text without breaking the layout.
7. Form Labels: Clearly label form fields to guide users on required information.

To assess and improve your website’s ADA compliance, consider using tools such as  Audioeye or Accessibe and enter your URL in the search bar.

Maintaining ADA compliance is an ongoing process. Regular audits and updates are necessary to ensure your website remains accessible as new content is added and technologies evolve.

You can track the impact of improved accessibility through metrics such as increased time on site, lower bounce rates, and potentially higher conversion rates. These improvements can contribute to your overall marketing goals of enhancing user engagement and driving business growth.

By prioritizing ADA compliance, you’re not just meeting legal requirements—you’re opening your digital doors wider, creating a more inclusive online presence that aligns with your strategic marketing objectives and reinforces your brand’s commitment to serving all customers effectively.

6. Does My Website Have Visibility on Google?

Visibility on Google is crucial for driving organic traffic and achieving your digital marketing goals. Your website’s presence in search results can significantly impact your online success, brand awareness, and, ultimately, your bottom line.

This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Domain Authority (DA) can really make a difference. DA score is where your website ranks in search engines based on your content and industry in comparison to your competitors. To determine the domain authority of your site, enter your site URL into Semrush. A DA score of 30-50 is average, but it takes time and effort to build that score, which can be done by implementing an SEO strategy.

To improve your website’s visibility on Google, consider these key SEO strategies:

• • Keyword Optimization: Identify and incorporate relevant keywords into your website content, meta titles, and descriptions. Focus on terms your target audience will likely use when searching for solutions you offer.
  • Quality Content Creation: Develop informative, engaging, and valuable content that addresses your audience’s needs and questions. This can include blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, and product pages.
  • Technical SEO: Ensure your website is crawlable and indexable by search engines. This includes optimizing site speed, using proper URL structures, and implementing schema markup.
  • Backlink Building: Acquire high-quality, relevant backlinks from reputable websites in your industry. This helps establish your site’s authority and credibility in Google’s eyes.
  • Local SEO: If you serve local customers, optimize for local search by claiming and updating your Google My Business listing and ensuring consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across the web.
  • Mobile Optimization: With Google’s mobile-first indexing, ensuring your website is fully responsive and mobile-friendly is crucial for visibility.

Improving Google visibility is an ongoing process. Search algorithms evolve, competition increases, and user behavior changes. Stay informed about the latest SEO best practices, and be prepared to adapt your strategy accordingly.

By enhancing your website’s visibility on Google, you’re not just improving your search rankings—you’re increasing your chances of connecting with potential customers at crucial moments in their buyer’s journey. This strategic approach to SEO can drive qualified traffic to your site, generate leads, and ultimately contribute to your company’s growth objectives.

The Bottom Line

Reviewing these six crucial performance tests reveals that maintaining a high-performing website is essential for achieving your marketing objectives. From ensuring mobile-friendliness and optimizing site speed to crafting effective CTAs, eliminating broken links, ensuring ADA compliance, and boosting Google visibility, each aspect plays a vital role in your digital success.

Website performance isn’t a one-time task—it requires ongoing attention and optimization. Regularly evaluating your site against these benchmarks will help you stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape, improve user experience, and drive better business results.

Are you ready to take your website performance to the next level? Contact Company for a website performance audit that includes the items mentioned in this article. Company is a digital marketing agency that works with various B2B companies. Our team of experts can help you identify areas for improvement and develop a strategy to maximize your online potential.