The document outlines seven critical steps for understanding and improving a website, focusing on design, user experience, functionality, content goals, SEO, mobile responsiveness, and fostering a digital community. Each step includes specific questions and criteria to assess the website's effectiveness in driving business and engaging users. The overall goal is to enhance the website as a primary tool for marketing and customer interaction.

1. SEVEN STEPS TO UNDERSTANDING
" " "(AND IMPROVING) YOUR WEBSITE"
Andy Swindler!
President, Astek
@aswindler
John Armstrong!
Account Director, Astek
@johnequatro
10.14.14

2. Why You Should Care"
! You are managing a website - or people who do
! Your website is not delivering you business
! You’re not sure if your website is delivering business
! You may be, or will be embarking on a new website

3. Why You Should REALLY Care"
! The website is the primary driver of traffic to your business
! The website is a point of purchase for anything
! The website is a required destination in your customer journey
! A primary marketing goal is to have a powerful, unique brand
! You are trying to build an online community
! You just told the boss “Sure, I can make our website better by
the end of the year” but don’t even know how to log into it.

4. STEP 1: Design"
! Does it present an immediate impact with personality or style?
! Is it easy to read?
! Is the design complimentary to the content architecture?
! Does it direct attention to the correct content and links?
! Are images and rich-media high quality and value-added?
! Is there an obvious and unique brand?

5. Design"

6. Design"

7. Design"

8. STEP 2: User Experience "
Is the site intuitive?
! Is the navigation well-placed and obvious to use?
! Are there duplicate actions?
! Is there an “Important Action” that has priority?
! Is there a “focal point” for each page?
! Does the content and design make the user path obvious?
! Is there the right amount of content (not too little or too much)
! Are the submissions forms short and sweet?
! Is the important info the easiest to find? (Contact, Sales pages, etc)
! Is some content more than two clicks away?

9. User Experience "

10. User Experience "

11. User Experience "

12. STEP 3: Functionality "
! Does the website work?
! Are the functions intuitive and value-added?
! Are all the links and buttons working well?
! Do pages have any errors, broken images or layout issues?
! Are images and rich-media high quality and value-added?
! Does animation or embedded rich-media work?
! Are all of the above functional across common browsers?

13. STEP 4: Content and Goals"
! Does the content match the user intent or purpose
! Does the content match/promote the Important Action?
! Is page content designed for the correct audience?
! There is mispelings and grammatical errors also?
! Is the content value-added (stock photography, irrelevant text)
! Is it simple to read and/or scannable?
! Is there jargon?

14. Content and Goals"

15. Content and Goals"

16. STEP 5: SEO"
! Are content, page title, URL and page headlines keyword-rich?
! Is there sufficient keyword-rich text on the important pages?
! Are pages buried more than three clicks into the site?
! Is there a blog?
! Are PDFs text-based and readable by Google?
! Is there opportunity for social sharing or promotion?

17. SEO"

18. STEP 6: Mobile"
! Is there a mobile or responsive version of the site?
! Is the mobile version simple to use?
! Does it have prioritized content?
! Does it have the contact info readily available?
! Is there a lot of hover functionality?
! Does the site load quickly?
! Are you trying to do too much on the mobile site?
! Are the buttons and menus big enough to use?

19. Mobile"

20. STEP 7: Digital Community"
! Is there an opportunity to engage with other users?
! Blog
! Social media links
! On-site community
! Is it easy to use?
! How big is the community?
! Is there an Important Action designed for the community?
! Is there social proof?

21. Digital Community"

22. Thank You!