Website Checklist: 18 Design, Usability & Optimisation Questions to Answer

Comsys Web design offers unsurpassed quality websites in any niche.

Are you looking for ways to improve your business website? Want to identify areas you can make your site work harder for your business?

Finding Design shares its website checklist in this infographic.

Here are a few questions they ask:

Do you have great imagery and engaging copy?
Is it clear what your business does and what the benefits are?
Do you have a clear call to action?
Is your website design in line with your brand identity?
Is it clear what problem you are solving?
Is your contact information clearly listed?

Check out the infographic for more.

Website Checklist: 18 Design, Usability & Optimisation Questions to Answer [Infographic]

In today’s digital age, having a website is a necessity for businesses and individuals alike. Whether you’re creating a personal blog, an e-commerce platform, or a corporate website, it’s crucial to ensure that your site is well-designed, user-friendly, and optimized for performance.

To help you achieve this, we’ve compiled a comprehensive checklist of 18 essential questions to answer in three key areas: Design, Usability, and Optimization.

Do you have great imagery and engaging copy?

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a saying that holds true in the world of web design. High-quality imagery can captivate your audience and convey your message more effectively than paragraphs of text.

It’s essential to evaluate the imagery on your website and ensure it aligns with your brand and message.

Image Quality: Are your images high-resolution and visually appealing? Grainy or pixelated images can give the impression of a low-quality website.
Relevance: Do your images relate to your business or products? Irrelevant imagery can confuse visitors and make your website feel disjointed.
Consistency: Is there a consistent style or theme in your imagery? Consistency helps create a cohesive and professional look.

While images set the visual tone, engaging copy is what provides context and persuades visitors to take action.

Here are some questions to consider regarding your website’s copy:

Clarity: Is your copy clear and easy to understand? Avoid jargon and overly complex language.
Conciseness: Are you getting to the point quickly? Long paragraphs can overwhelm visitors.
Value Proposition: Does your copy communicate the unique benefits of your products or services? Explain how you can solve your customers’ problems or fulfill their needs.

Remember, a balance between compelling imagery and persuasive copy is key to creating a visually appealing and informative website.

Is it clear what your business does and what the benefits are?

When a visitor lands on your website, they should immediately understand who you are, what you do, and how you can benefit them.

If this information isn’t crystal clear, you risk losing potential customers. To ensure clarity, ask yourself these questions:

Headline and Tagline: Is your website’s headline and tagline concise and informative? They should convey your core message effectively.
Value Proposition: Do you clearly state the benefits of your products or services? Highlight what sets you apart from the competition.
Navigation: Are your menu and navigation labels straightforward? Users should easily find the information they’re looking for.
About Page: Is your “About” page compelling and informative? It should provide insight into your company’s history, mission, and values.
Product/Service Pages: Do your product or service pages offer detailed information? Include features, specifications, and benefits to help visitors make informed decisions.

Do you have a clear call to action?

Your website should guide visitors toward a specific action, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or contacting you. To encourage these actions, you must have clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs).

Evaluate your CTAs with these questions:

Visibility: Are your CTAs easily noticeable? Use contrasting colors, compelling text, or buttons to make them stand out.
Clarity: Is it clear what action you want visitors to take? Use specific and action-oriented language (e.g., “Buy Now,” “Subscribe,” “Get Started”).
Placement: Are CTAs strategically placed throughout your website, especially on high-traffic pages? Don’t make visitors hunt for them.
Relevance: Do the CTAs match the content of the page? CTAs should align with the visitor’s current stage in the customer journey.
Incentives: Are you offering any incentives to encourage action? Consider discounts, free trials, or valuable content in exchange for contact information.

Remember that effective CTAs can significantly impact your conversion rates and help you achieve your website’s goals.

Is your website design in line with your brand identity?

Consistency in branding is crucial for building trust and recognition. Your website’s design should align with your overall brand identity.

To ensure this harmony, consider the following questions:

Color Palette: Are you using your brand’s primary colors consistently throughout your website? Consistency helps reinforce brand recognition.
Typography: Is your choice of fonts in line with your brand guidelines? Use fonts that reflect your brand’s personality and style.
Logo Usage: Is your logo prominently displayed and consistent in its appearance? Ensure that your logo is clear and recognizable.
Visual Elements: Are you incorporating brand-specific icons, illustrations, or patterns? These elements can add a unique touch to your design.
Tone and Voice: Is your website’s tone and voice consistent with your brand’s personality? Whether formal, casual, or playful, maintain a unified voice.

Maintaining a consistent brand identity across all touchpoints, including your website, helps build trust and recognition among your audience.

Is it clear what problem you are solving?

Visitors come to your website because they have a problem or a need they believe you can address. To keep them engaged, it’s crucial to make it abundantly clear how your products or services can solve their problems.

Ask yourself these questions:

Problem Statement: Have you explicitly stated the problem you’re addressing? Use compelling language to emphasize the pain points your solutions alleviate.
Solution Explanation: Do you provide detailed information about how your products or services work and why they’re effective? Transparency builds trust.
Case Studies/Testimonials: Have you showcased real-world examples of how you’ve helped others? Case studies and testimonials validate your claims.
Visual Aids: Are there visual elements, such as infographics or videos, that illustrate your solutions in action? Visual aids can simplify complex concepts.
Comparisons: Have you compared your offerings to competitors or alternatives? Showcasing your advantages can sway potential customers.

Is your contact information clearly listed?

A common frustration for website visitors is not being able to find contact information when they need it. Accessibility to contact details is crucial for building trust and facilitating communication.

Review your website’s contact information with these questions:

Contact Page: Do you have a dedicated “Contact Us” page that is easy to locate in the navigation menu?
Contact Form: Is there a user-friendly contact form on your website for inquiries and messages?
Phone Number and Email: Are your phone number and email address visible on every page, such as in the header or footer?
Physical Address: If applicable, is your physical business address provided, especially if you have a brick-and-mortar presence?
Response Time: Have you set expectations for response times? Let visitors know when they can expect to hear back from you.
Social Media Links: Are your social media profiles linked on your website for additional ways to connect?

Clear and easily accessible contact information reassures visitors that they can reach out if they have questions or concerns.

Is it mobile responsive?

Today, more people access websites on mobile devices than on desktops. Ensuring your website is mobile responsive is crucial for providing a seamless user experience across all devices.

To evaluate this, consider the following questions:

Cross-Device Compatibility: Does your website display properly on various screen sizes and devices, including smartphones and tablets?
Touch-Friendly: Are interactive elements, such as buttons and menus, easily tappable on mobile screens?
Loading Speed: Does your website load quickly on mobile devices? Slow loading times can deter mobile users.
Content Readability: Is text legible without zooming in, and does it reflow appropriately on smaller screens?
Navigation: Is the mobile navigation intuitive and user-friendly? Ensure users can easily access all sections of your website.

Is it easy to use, and does it make sense to the user?

A user-friendly website is essential for retaining visitors and encouraging them to explore further.

Evaluate your website’s usability with these questions:

Intuitive Navigation: Is the menu structure clear, and can users easily find what they’re looking for?
Consistency: Do common design elements, such as buttons and links, behave consistently throughout the site?
Search Functionality: Is there a search bar to help users find specific content quickly?
Forms: Are forms user-friendly and error messages clear? Ensure a smooth experience for tasks like contact forms and registrations.
Error Handling: Do you provide helpful error messages when users encounter issues or input incorrectly?
Accessibility: Have you considered accessibility features for users with disabilities, such as alt text for images and proper HTML markup?
User Testing: Have you conducted usability testing or gathered feedback from real users to identify pain points and improve user experience?

Is there enough contrast? i.e., can it be easily read?

A visually accessible website is crucial for all users, including those with visual impairments. Proper color contrast ensures readability.

Assess your website’s contrast with these questions:

Text Readability: Is text content, including headings and body text, easy to read against the background?
Button Visibility: Do buttons and interactive elements stand out from the surrounding content?
Link Identification: Are hyperlinks clearly distinguishable from regular text, both in terms of color and underlining?
Color Choices: Have you avoided color combinations that may be challenging for colorblind individuals?
Testing Tools: Have you used accessibility testing tools or conducted manual checks for color contrast compliance?

Ensuring adequate contrast not only enhances usability but also helps your website comply with accessibility standards.

Do all the links work?

Broken links can frustrate users and negatively impact your website’s credibility. Regularly checking and maintaining your links is essential.

Use these questions to assess your website’s link integrity:

Internal Links: Have you checked that all internal links, leading to other pages within your website, are functional?
External Links: Are external links to other websites or resources still valid? Update or remove broken external links.
Media Links: Have you confirmed that links embedded in images, videos, or other media elements are active?
File Downloads: Are downloadable files, such as PDFs or documents, accessible and up-to-date?
404 Page: Do you have a customized 404 error page that helps users navigate back to relevant content when they encounter a broken link?

Regular link maintenance is crucial for providing a smooth browsing experience and maintaining user trust.

Have you considered the legal requirements? i.e., GDPR, privacy policy, terms & conditions?

Legal compliance is a non-negotiable aspect of running a website. Failing to address legal requirements can lead to legal consequences and damage your reputation.

Evaluate your website’s legal aspects with these questions:

Privacy Policy: Have you crafted a comprehensive privacy policy that outlines how user data is collected, used, and protected, in compliance with GDPR and other applicable data protection laws?
Terms & Conditions: Do you have clear and detailed terms and conditions that govern the use of your website and any transactions or interactions that occur on it?
Cookie Consent: Is there a mechanism for obtaining user consent for cookies and tracking technologies, in accordance with privacy regulations?
Accessibility Compliance: Have you ensured that your website is accessible to users with disabilities, in compliance with accessibility laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
Legal Review: Have you consulted with legal professionals or experts in web compliance to ensure your website meets all relevant legal requirements?

Legal compliance is an ongoing process, and it’s essential to stay up-to-date with changing laws and regulations.

Is the domain name available for the website, and is it also available on other platforms?

Choosing the right domain name is a critical step in establishing your online presence. It should be memorable, brandable, and available on various platforms.

Assess your domain name with these questions:

Domain Availability: Is the domain name you’ve chosen available for registration? Verify its availability through domain registrars.
Social Media Handles: Have you checked if the domain name is available as a username or handle on major social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)?
Consistency: Does your domain name align with your brand identity and website content? It should be relevant and easy to remember.
SEO Considerations: Have you considered the potential SEO benefits of your domain name, such as including relevant keywords?
Trademark Check: Have you ensured that your chosen domain name doesn’t infringe on trademarks or copyrights held by others?

Selecting the right domain name is a crucial decision that can impact your website’s success and brand recognition.

Have you researched and identified the keywords that you want to rank for on search engines?

Keyword research is the foundation of SEO. Identifying the right keywords allows you to target the topics and phrases your audience is actively searching for.

Evaluate your keyword strategy with these questions:

Keyword Relevance: Are the keywords you’ve chosen relevant to your business, products, or services?
Search Volume: Have you considered the search volume of your target keywords? Prioritize those with higher search volume for more significant impact.
Keyword Competition: Did you assess the competition for your target keywords? Focus on keywords where you have a realistic chance to rank.
Long-Tail Keywords: Have you included long-tail keywords that are specific and less competitive but highly relevant to your niche?
Keyword Variations: Are you using variations and synonyms of your primary keywords to capture a broader audience?
Local Keywords: If applicable, have you incorporated location-based keywords for local SEO?

Have you used your keywords naturally but consistently throughout your website?

Once you’ve identified your target keywords, it’s essential to incorporate them into your website’s content naturally. Keyword optimization helps search engines understand your content’s relevance.

Assess your keyword usage with these questions:

Keyword Placement: Have you placed keywords strategically in your page titles, headings, and body content?
Keyword Density: Is the keyword density (the ratio of keywords to total words) reasonable and not excessive? Overuse of keywords can be penalized by search engines.
LSI Keywords: Have you included Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords, which are related terms and phrases that support the main keywords?
Variation and Synonyms: Are you using variations and synonyms of your target keywords to make the content more natural and diverse?
User Experience: Does the use of keywords enhance the user experience and provide value, rather than feeling forced or spammy?

Does every image have alternative text?

Image alt text, also known as alt tags or alt attributes, is essential for accessibility and SEO. It provides descriptions of images for visually impaired users and search engines.

Ensure your image alt text is in order with these questions:

Alt Text Existence: Have you added descriptive alt text to every image on your website, including graphics and photos?
Descriptive Content: Is the alt text informative and accurately describes the image’s content and purpose?
Keyword Usage: Have you included relevant keywords in alt text where appropriate, without keyword stuffing?
Decorative Images: For purely decorative images, have you used empty alt attributes (alt=””) to indicate they don’t convey meaningful content?

Have you reduced the image file sizes?

Large image file sizes can slow down your website’s loading speed, which can harm user experience and SEO rankings.

Ensure your images are optimized with these questions:

Image Compression: Have you compressed and reduced the file sizes of images while maintaining acceptable quality?
Image Format: Are you using appropriate image formats (e.g., JPEG for photographs, PNG for transparency, SVG for vector graphics)?
Lazy Loading: Have you implemented lazy loading to defer the loading of off-screen images, improving page load times?
Image Dimensions: Are you displaying images at their intended dimensions, avoiding resizing them with HTML or CSS?
Image SEO: Have you added descriptive file names and used hyphens to separate words in image file names (e.g., “keyword-rich-image.jpg”)?

Have you completed the page meta descriptions?

Meta descriptions are concise summaries that appear in search engine results. Well-crafted meta descriptions can improve click-through rates and provide context to searchers.

Evaluate your meta descriptions with these questions:

Unique Descriptions: Do each of your website’s pages have unique meta descriptions that accurately represent their content?
Relevance: Have you incorporated relevant keywords in meta descriptions to attract search engine users?
Length: Are your meta descriptions within the recommended length limit (typically around 150-160 characters) to prevent truncation in search results?
Compelling Content: Do your meta descriptions entice users to click through to your website by highlighting the page’s value or unique offerings?
Call to Action: Have you included a clear call to action (CTA) when appropriate in your meta descriptions?

Do you have a plan to update your website regularly?

Content freshness is a factor in search engine rankings, and a regular update schedule keeps your website engaging and relevant.

Develop a plan for ongoing updates with these questions:

Content Calendar: Have you created a content calendar or schedule for publishing new blog posts, articles, or updates to existing content?
Quality Over Quantity: Are you prioritizing high-quality content updates rather than rushing to publish for the sake of frequency?
Evergreen Content: Have you identified and maintained evergreen content that remains relevant over time?
User Engagement: Are you encouraging user engagement through comments, social sharing, and feedback on your content?
Technical Updates: Do you have a process for regular technical updates, including software, plugins, and security patches?

Conclusion

Creating and maintaining a successful website involves meticulous attention to design, usability, and optimization. By answering these questions across these three key areas, you can ensure that your website not only looks great but also provides an excellent user experience and performs well in search engine rankings.

Regularly revisiting this checklist and making necessary adjustments will keep your website up-to-date and in top shape for the long haul.

Remember, your website is often the first point of contact for your audience, so investing in its design, usability, and optimization is an investment in your online success.

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