Many people who sell online say that the main tool that keeps their sites relevant is the audit. They’re right because it identifies issues with the website and offers ways to resolve them. By issues, I don’t mean only technical errors but also sales opportunities!

In other words, a website audit is huge in eCommerce. Especially if the store has been running for some time. Security threats, slow loading pages, and poor SEO performance are more likely to appear as the site becomes older.

Obviously, an audit has to be effectively conducted in order to keep your business on top of the game. If you could use some help with that, you can read auditing tips in this article.

Ready to become a Jedi of eCommerce WordPress Website Audit?

Product Organization

This is one of the most important aspects of the audit because it evaluates how potential customers get around the website. It aims to answer the question: “can they find needed products easily?” Here are the tips to make sure that customers’ experience is as great as it can be.

• Don’t rely on your own logic when auditing a website. Your actions need to be driven by the logic of the customers. That’s why you should employ usability testing;
• Identify the aspects of customer experience that play a critical part in ensuring easy navigation (menus, product categories etc.). Customers today tend to make quick decisions, so a complex structure of the website is not an option. Also, check for concise and effective descriptions of categories and products;
• See what you can learn by analyzing the website’s backend and frontend. Are there any specific patterns in navigation? Do customers use the search function a lot? If they don’t, it might be an indication of poorly designed search.

Analysis of Keywords

This analysis allows determining your position and positions of your competitors in organic search rankings. To perform it properly, follow the steps below.

• Identify the keywords of your competitors by using keywords research tools like SEMrush and SpyFu (sign up for a free trial if needed)
• Identify the keywords you’re ranking for
• Compare how you perform against the competitors.

The results of this analysis will show whether the keywords you’re using are pushing your business forward. Make changes if needed, and track progress.

Images

The imagery on an eCommerce website should also be thoroughly tested. “Who wants to be greeted by a stock photo of a person with an unnatural smile on the front page?” – says Henrik Swenson, a web designer from Awriter. “Every business should strive to make each image on the website unique.”

Let’s see major areas of the audit that you should pay attention to.

• The imagery must be aspirational. Avoid using stock photos because it’s very likely they have already been used by other eCommerce sites. Strive to be unique and invest in original imagery; for example, produce or purchase original images that help customers to see how the products can be used in daily life. Remember: right content helps to inspire customers to buy
• Some characteristics of products such as size are better understood with visual help. Try to produce images that show products in relation to other objects and from different angles. This way, the customers will be confident in the products they are getting
• Image alt tags are another critical component in content strategy. They optimize the images, thus making it easier to locate them. WooCommerce allows performing this task easily.

Google Search Optimization

Your eCommerce website should appear in Google search results in order potential customers can discover it. To see whether it’s showing up nicely, you can perform a simple procedure: open Google and enter: “sites:yoursite.com”

As the result, the system will display your page and the first paragraph of text, so you can see whether some tweaking is required. If you need some tools to fix the issues with positioning in Google search, try using Yoast SEO plugin.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Does the plugin show that the sitemap is functional and clean?
• Are there are any pages excluded from the sitemap?
• What pages should you underperform and improve?

Mobile Optimization

It’s critical for an eCommerce site to be mobile-friendly these days because now more than 50 percent of all internet traffic is coming from a mobile device. Clearly, if you want to make your eCommerce site successful and popular, you absolutely must ensure that the customer can view it on the mobile.

• Locate some reliable tools to test your site your mobile-friendliness (Mobile Friendly Audit Tool or Mobile-Friendly tool from Google).
• Check your top five traffic pages to see how they perform
• Visit your site on a mobile device (smartphone, tablet etc.) to confirm the results of the test.

If the result of the testing is unsatisfactory, you should consider installing mobile plugins like WPtouch. It automatically adds an elegant mobile theme for mobile visitors to the website.

What’s next?

Now you know how to conduct an audit like a Jedi! Be ready to have a lot of tasks on your to-do list after the audit, though. Prioritize them according to their significance and assign deadlines to address everything.

Also, don’t forget to look beyond the website and check shipping, data management, and logistics (e.g., can you make delivery less expensive?).

If you have recently conducted an audit on WordPress website, feel free to share your experiences with us!