We all love a good list here at Refuel, but forget the to-do list. Or the new year’s resolution list. Or even the bucket list. We’re bringing you the checklist of all checklists - the website checklist.
Why your website is important
Your website is the foundation of your entire online identity. Think of it as your digital storefront that’s open 24/7.
It’s generally the first place your customers will find you. The place where they get their first impression of your business. Where you generate leads or sales.
Tips for greatness
A great website will function smartly and quickly, but you also want your customers to have the best user experience. A great user experience will showcase who you are and what you are all about.
Think about the websites you like to use. If they were confusing and didn’t make sense, you wouldn’t be having a good time. And if you don’t have a good time, do you buy from the site? Your customers are the same.
There should be a clear purpose with every page having a job:
- Home page - Hook interest and guide navigation
- Service pages - Convert interest into action
- About page - Build trust and showcase expertise
- Contact page - Make it easy for people to reach you
- Blog - Demonstrate expertise and improve SEO
A user-friendly design puts users at the forefront and makes sure they never feel lost navigating your website. The best way to do this is through:
- Clear navigation
- Intuitive menu structure that makes sense to first-time visitors
- Clear page names (avoid creative names that might confuse people)
- Search function for big sites
- Having obvious next steps
- Clear calls-to-action on every page
- Buttons that stand out
- Links and buttons that clearly indicate what happens when they are clicked
- Easy-to-find contact information
- Contact details in header or footer (or both)
- Dedicated contact page
- Multiple contact options (phone, email, form)
- Fast loading times
- Pages that load in under 3 seconds
- Optimised images and videos
- Browser caching enabled
- Mobile-friendly layout
- Responsive design that works on all screen sizes
- Readable text without having to zoom in
- No horizontal scrolling required
- Consistent design and structure
- Uniform colour scheme across all pages
- Consistent font usage and sizing
- Matching header and footer design throughout
You want users to trust in you and your brand. Your website done right can show visitors they are in good hands. Make sure you have:
- A design that matches the personality of your brand
- Up-to-date and fresh content
- Security certificates
- Customer testimonials
- Industry certifications
- Clear contact information
Your website should be able to bring you in leads while you sleep. It should be your best salesperson and lay out everything a potential customer would want to know and should know about you. Look at including:
- Clear calls to action
- Easy contact forms
- Valuable content offers
- Newsletter signups
- Chat functionality
- Booking systems
How you want your website to run
If your website is a high-performing website, it should have these fundamentals working for it:
- Load quickly (you have about 3 seconds before visitors leave)
- Guide visitors to take action (contact, purchase, learn more)
- Build trust in your brand
- Answer common customer questions
- Generate leads while you sleep
- Work perfectly on any device
If your website doesn’t check off these points, it’s time for a review.
What to look out for
There are a whole bunch of things that you don’t want your website doing. It can cause people to jump off your website in an instant and never come back. Or get so confused about what you do and how to get in touch that, you guessed it, they never come back.
Red flags to watch out for:
- Takes more than 3 seconds to load
- Looks different (or broken) on mobile devices
- Has outdated information or broken links
- Doesn't show up in Google searches - tip: go to Google, and search for site:yourdomain.com (e.g. site:refuelcreative.com.au). This will show all the pages from your website Google has indexed.
- Lacks clear calls to action (CTA) - no one is going to call if you don’t ask them to!
- Gets few or no enquiries
- Doesn't reflect your current brand
- Missing SSL certificate (no padlock in browser)
The website checklist
To ensure that your website operates at its best and provides a great user experience, there are several checks you can perform yourself. These checks can help identify any underlying issues that may be affecting site speed, responsiveness, or overall functionality.
By regularly conducting these website reviews, you can greatly improve the success of your online presence. Prioritising these checks will ultimately help you maintain a high-quality website that meets the needs of your visitors.
Quick checks you can do today (your pre-race inspection)
Before calling in our pit crew, here are some basic checks anyone can perform:
1. The functionality lap
- Test your navigation links and any key CTA buttons - do they all work?
- Test your contact forms - are they sending properly?
- Check the stats on your blog posts - are they getting read or should they be removed?
- Keep your keywords fresh - are you keywords still working for you?
- Check your social media links - do they lead to current profiles?
- Verify your phone numbers and email addresses are correct
- Confirm your location details are up-to-date
2. The visual inspection
- Are all images loading properly?
- Do images appear clear (not pixelated or stretched)?
- Is text readable against background colours?
- Are fonts consistent throughout the site?
- Check for outdated information like old team members (might also be a good time to check if old team members have access to the site admin still) or past events
3. The mobile test
- View your site on different devices (phone, tablet, desktop)
- Check if menus work on mobile
- Ensure text is readable without zooming
- Verify forms are easy to fill out on mobile
- Check if images resize properly
4. The speed check
- Time how long pages take to load (aim for under 3 seconds)
- Notice if images take extra time to appear
- Check if videos play smoothly
- Test on different browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox)
5. The accessibility pit stop
- Check for alt text on images
- Verify colour contrast is high enough
- Ensure text can be resized
- Check if your site can be navigated by keyboard
- Test if forms have proper labels
The technical inspection (where we come in)
While the above checks are important, there's a whole world of technical optimisation that requires professional expertise. We can help audit your website and deep dive into the following:
Technical factors:
- Google Search Console setup and error checking
- Google Analytics implementation
- Google Business Profile optimisation
- SSL certificate status
- Site structure and navigation optimisation
- XML sitemap verification
- Robots.txt configuration
- Core Web Vitals assessment
- Server response time
- Code optimisation
- Database performance
- Caching configuration
- CDN implementation
Security checks:
- Malware scanning
- Security patches
- Backup systems
- Form security
- User permission settings
- Plugin vulnerabilities
SEO elements:
- Meta description optimisation
- Schema markup implementation
- Canonical URL verification
- 404 error handling
- Redirect chain analysis
- Internal linking structure
- Content duplication checks
We can help you get ready for 2025
While DIY checks are a great start, they're just the tip of the iceberg. Websites need expert attention to perform at their peak. We offer a free website performance check and will give you ways to improve it.
We can also help with your website SEO and offer a free SEO Starter Audit.
Don't let your website cost you business
Whether you're doing the quick checks yourself or need our expert pit crew to help with a website audit, making sure your website performs at its best is crucial for business success in 2025 and beyond.
PS: If you're overwhelmed by the technical aspects of website maintenance, you're not alone. We can help keep your digital storefront running at peak performance year-round.
