website review workshop

Reviewing Your Own Website

Presented by Rob Waite

Empowerment Your developer is just too busy To save money Confidence in site performance Check YOUR OWN content Understanding of Site Build Generally inquisitive

Why Review your own Website?

Site Load Speeds Code Quality & Standard Compliance Content Quality (typos & readability) On-Site Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Off-Site SEO Cross Browser Compatibility Responsiveness (Device Compatibility) Accessibility

What are we testing for?

Generally:

◦ Good House-Keeping◦ Task-Mastering◦ User Experience◦ Monitor Progress

But Primarily:

◦ SEO

Why are we testing for these things?

Overview of the Tools…and there are quite a few!

Where to Start good house-keeping

…your content, the basics and benefits of “right-click”

Other Simple Checks good house-

keeping…4 further checks to keep Search Engine ‘bots happy

1. Check that the non-www redirects to the www…or vice versa:http://hostpipe.co.uk should redirect to http://www.hostpipe.co.uk

2. Check for a sitemap.xml – http://www.hostpipe.co.uk/sitemap.xml

3. Check for a robots.txt file – http://www.Hostpipe.co.uk/robots.txt

4. Custom 404 error page – http://www.Hostpipe.co.uk/arey2q6q4gq56u

W3C Validator good house-keeping

http://validator.w3.org/

Benefits of the W3C Validator:

• It’s Free• It quickly highlights issues• Standards Compliance means:

• Accessible• Cross-browser compatible• Improved performance• Future-proof• Error free

TOP TIP – add a link to the W3C validator in your website footer

Wave Accessibility good house-

keepinghttp://wave.webaim.org/

“In the World Wide Web, accessibility means having equal access to web-based information and services regardless of physical or developmental abilities or

impairments.”

This accounts for 20% of your potential audience

Applies to:

• Readability• Contrast• Navigation• Font Size & Colour• Element Descriptions• Well Organised & Error Free Code

Nibbler task mastering

http://nibbler.silktide.com/

Benefits of Nibbler:• Check 5 pages for free• Covers on-site and off-site SEO• Checks for Google Analytics• Checks for <title>, <headings>,

<meta>, Facebook, Twitter & Google+

Woorank task mastering

http://www.woorank.com/en/review/hostpipe.co.uk

• Similar to Nibbler, but it’s a bit more technical• The SEO section is probably the most important• Operates a strong “freemium” model

SortSite task mastering

http://try.powermapper.com/Demo/SortSite

• Errors• Accessibility• Usability• Privacy

• Search Engine Friendliness• Web Standards Compliance• Cross Browser Compatibility• Pro Version - All Pages of Your

Site

Tests Include:

Site Speed Testing user experience

“you only have 7 seconds to grab someone’s attention”

A faster loading site:

• Is more user friendly• Is more search engine

friendly• BUT Requires an

experienced web developer!!

Cross Browser Testing user

experience

https://spoon.net/browsers

http://browsershots.org/

Pingdom monitor progress

https://www.pingdom.com/free/

• FREE version allows you to add one website• Monitor its “uptime”• Receive an SMS if your site is down for a period of time

Google Analytics monitor progress

http://www.google.co.uk/analytics/

Top Tip: Google Analytics can help to get your website indexed.If you add a new web page to your website and navigate to it, the new page will be added to GoogleBot’s crawl list (provided Google Analytics is installed correctly on your website).

Summary nearly finished!

Generally:

◦ Good House-Keeping◦ Task-Mastering◦ User Experience◦ Monitor Progress

But Primarily:

◦ SEO

Thank you for your time, I look forward to answering any questions you might have.

Any Questions?

Email: rob@hostpipe.co.ukWeb: http://www.hostpipe.co.ukTwitter: @hostpipe