When working on building websites, be it new or making any modifications or updates to an existing one, it becomes imperative to know certain technical aspects of the website to apply the correct changes, and to perform the task as hassle-free as possible! Just for that, undertaking a technical audit for the website, especially when it is based on WordPress, becomes a necessity. With the scores of underlying codes overlapping and functionally dependent on each other, a technical website audit highlights primary areas of concern that need to be addressed beforehand beginning work on the task at hand.
Here’s our guide on why doing a technical website audit should be our top priority before working on any existing website.
1. Understanding the Website’s Current State:
Imagine starting a journey without knowing the starting point or the final destination. That’s precisely what happens when we embark on a website project without conducting a technical audit.
By performing an in-depth assessment of the existing website, we gain valuable insights into its structure & dependencies that govern its performance, strengths, and weaknesses. These key points allow us to set realistic goals, establish the scope of work, and create a tailored strategy, along with time and focus areas that need to be addressed at the beginning of the project.
This is imperative, since it helps us remove any obstacles or problems that will surge up at the end of the project, or cause more distress in reworking on the website, than creating a new once from scratch!
2. Identifying Technical Issues:
Beginning with identifying the problems is like rooting out the weeds, which will no sooner than tomorrow cause problems that will be too late to fix. It’s like prevention is better than cure. Of course, no website is spared from having zero glitches. With the constant updates to the website-building software, and platforms especially such as WordPress and its supporting plugins and themes stack, it is more common that there might be just on thing that might bring the whole website down!
Every website has its share of technical glitches, some are more apparent than others. Broken links, slow loading times, and compatibility issues can all hinder user experience, and harm a website’s search engine ranking. At times, a page might not load correctly or completely, or say if you’re running a business cart through plugins for WordPress, and there’s some issues during the checkout process. The crux is, the problem can be anything or arise anytime.
A technical audit serves as a detective, uncovering these hidden obstacles and giving us the chance to address them before they affect the user journey. Resolving these issues early on ensures a smoother website launch and minimizes the risk of frustrating users.
3. Enhancing User Experience:
Creating a website, is with the intention to make every visitor’s experience a unique, vivid, and worthy of their time. Whether they conduct any business or not, is consequential only when they are present on your website or left it, with a positive inclination to engage further with your website’s products and/or services! Thereby, user experience is at the heart of every successful website. It’s what keeps visitors engaged, encourages them to explore further, and ultimately converts them into loyal customers.
A technical website audit helps us identify areas where the user experience can be improvised upon. We can evaluate navigation, site structure, and responsiveness across different devices as well as various platforms for seamless navigation and easy accessibility! By implementing user-friendly design elements and engaging interactions, we must create a website that captivates users, and leaves a lasting impression.
4. Boosting Search Engine Visibility:
Creating websites is one thing. Getting people to locate them is another challenge in itself! We all understand the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) in driving organic traffic to a website, which is what drives your website, and of course your business. Without SEO, it would be hard for people to even know your website exists, nor about your products or services.
An in-depth technical audit allows us to evaluate the website’s SEO performance, search engine rankings, and its standing amongst your competitors, through the use of relevant keywords, meta tags, and site structure deployed on each page of your existing website. By fine-tuning these aspects, we can improve the website’s visibility in search engine results, maximizing its reach and attracting more potential customers!
5. Security & Stability:
No one can ever deny that the internet is a place that needs constant vigil from the perils of hackers and saboteurs lurking 24×7 online. Cybersecurity threats are a constant and evolving concern, with the growing availability of tools and increasingly superior processing power in the wrong hands!
Regular technical audits can uncover vulnerabilities in your website’s security, helping you patch them before they can be exploited by any of these malicious actors. A secure website is crucial to protect sensitive data and safeguarding their confidentiality, maintain user trust, and keep financial functions of the website safe and secure!
6. Compliance and Accessibility:
With several demands and implications privacy laws, as well as data usage restrictions, it is foremost important that your website complies with all the legal requirements. Ensuring that your website complies with relevant regulations and accessibility standards is not only ethically responsible but also legally required in many cases. A technical audit can help identify and rectify compliance and accessibility issues.
7. Preventing Future Roadblocks:
By conducting a technical website audit, we proactively address potential issues that may arise during the project or after the website launch. Taking care of these challenges beforehand saves time, effort, and resources that might otherwise be spent on troubleshooting and revisions. It also demonstrates our commitment to delivering a polished, error-free final product to our clients.
As a digital agency, we are committed to excellence in every website project we undertake. A technical website audit is not merely a box to tick before starting a project; it is the cornerstone of our success. By understanding the website’s current state, addressing technical issues, enhancing user experience, boosting search engine visibility, and preventing future roadblocks, we set the stage for a smooth and rewarding journey for both the agency and the website owner.
