Most website owners are always looking for major fixes to take their website to the next level. But sometimes, a minor fix can make a big difference.
We asked small business experts about the blind spots that could be negatively impacting a WordPress website. Through their suggestions, you can improve user experience, page speed, website security and more.
Let’s get started.
Make Sure Your Pictures Aren’t Too Big
Make Your Contact Information Clear
Final Thoughts: Expert Advice — Minor Fixes That Make a Difference to Your Site
Turn on Comment Moderation
Spam looks unprofessional. If you’re trying to engage your audience by encouraging them to comment on your content, they could be put off by comments from bots as it signals a lack of attention on your company’s part.
If your business can’t be trusted to put in an effort to remove spam, how can it be trusted to solve your customers’ problems?
But spam comments can do more than just make your business look bad, says Niles Koenigsberg, digital marketing specialist with Real FiG Advertising + Marketing.
“Those comments may contain links to malware or low-quality sites, which can go live on your website without your knowledge. Those comments can then negatively impact your search engine rankings and your website’s reputation.”
Koenigsberg suggests monitoring your comments by turning on comment moderation and requiring manual approval for new entries.
Make Sure Your Pictures Aren’t Too Big
If you are trying to figure out why your website is loading too slow, then take a look at your image sizes, says Steve West, founder of Entrepreneur Nut.
“If you use images that are too big, then they can slow down your website considerably. This will often cause people to hit the back button and visit one of your competitors instead.”
West suggests uploading smaller pictures and compressing the images with a free tool like tinyJPG or an image optimization plugin.
Connect the Digital Dots
If you have a link on your website, you need to make sure it goes to the right place. Broken links annoy customers and make your company look sloppy.
Founder and CEO at Zestard Technologies, Anuj Dalal, suggests that website owners must ensure that all their external and internal links point to the right place.
“Broken links are like tunnels that open into a brick wall. It’s disappointing and sometimes frustrating for people who visit the site. There are chances some will tolerate an error or two, but if the site has too many, they will get discouraged and give up entirely if they can’t find what they are looking for.”
Broken links also hurt your search engine optimization (SEO). If Google can’t understand your website structure or finds too many dead ends, it will hurt your ranking.
So, whenever you move anything on your website, ensure your links are still working by setting up redirects or updating the relevant URL links.
Connecting all the digital dots is essential, says Karlyn Ankrom, lead strategist for Oh Snap! Social. While ensuring that you have correctly set up the internal and external link structure, check your social media links and icons.
Ankrom shares that some plugins, by default, link to generic platforms instead of your company’s pages. Many small businesses miss that extra step of ensuring that the links lead to their specific pages.
“A quick pulse check! Check those social media icons on your site right now. Are they properly linking to the right social media accounts, and are all the platforms that you’re using for your business represented?”
Turn on Automatic Backups
One of the smallest things you can do to make a difference on your website is turning on automatic backups, says Mike Branson, CEO of All Reverse Mortgage.
“Glitches happen, and sometimes they result in the loss of data. You don’t want to lose everything you’ve worked for just because you decided that automating the backup on your WordPress account is unnecessary.”
While you should always prioritize security, automatic backups are especially a no-brainer that can improve your website by preventing future disasters.
Make Your Contact Information Clear
It might seem obvious, but many small businesses forget to display their contact information, pushing potential customers away.
Mention your phone number, email address and physical address. Even if you run an e-commerce store, let your user know where you operate from, says Sharon Geltner, owner of Froogle PR.
“The viewer wants to know how they can get in touch should something go wrong. This is super basic information that many websites don’t include, [which leaves] potential business on the table.”
Contact information instills trust in your customer, and it can boost your local SEO too.
Final Thoughts: Expert Advice — Minor Fixes That Make a Difference to Your Site
When running a website, it’s easy to overlook many small details. Heed the advice of our experts by turning on comment moderation and automatic backups. Ensure that you have proper link structure, optimized images, and clearly displayed contact information on your website.
With these fixes, you’ll provide a better user experience that will hopefully result in more business for you.
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