Read Your Own Website

It is essential that you have a complete understanding of the page structure and the content of your website. You don’t have to memorise every page, but you need to read and check that every page is relevant to the message you want to deliver and the actions you want your visitors to take while on your website.

The first thing you need to do is map your site in broad terms. This doesn’t mean map the detail of every page, but as you can see from the attached example of a typical site, understand what each page has on it and why it is there.

Once you have mapped your site, take some time and read the pages. If you have lots of pages, this is best broken down into main headings and detail pages. Start with the main heading pages.

By ‘read’, I do not mean just sit at your computer and read the information on the screen using the voice in your head. I mean read it out loud. By reading it out loud you will hear what the words are saying, and you will hear if they ring true for you.

I use software for this. I use a program called Natural Reader (it is a free download – I have the paid version, but the free one has enough features for you to use - https://www.naturalreaders.com). I copy and paste the text from my site (and writings) into it and listen to a voice read it to me. It is fantastic for finding errors. I also use Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com/) in addition to the grammar checker in Word. I am dyslexic, and I do struggle with words, so all the help you can get, so much the better. These tools stop you making silly and often easily missed errors.

I would like to ask you to print out the main pages of your site, these would include Home, About, Contact, Services (products) Intro, Testimonials and a service or product detail page. This will be handy so you can review things in the future.

Once you have ‘read’ your site, it is time to think and analyse if the pages are as you expected them to be, but more importantly, if they are like your customers expect them to be.

You need to read your website like this at least monthly so that you know what and how you are telling potential customers.