Over the past two decades, as the online world has experienced exponential growth, websites have become increasingly complex. Web pages have evolved from simple HTML pages with a few graphics to responsive, personalized pages that focus on the user experience. In tandem with the growing sophistication of websites, customers’ quality standards have also matured.
For example, customers have come to expect that websites load quickly, regardless of the device they are using. In 2009, a mere 5 percent of people expected load times of one second or less on e-commerce sites. Six years later, in 2015, a survey found that this number had increased to nearly a third of all customers, with 30 percent expecting pages to load in one second or less.
As web pages have evolved, however, the potential for problems has increased. Even seemingly small issues can drastically impact site performance, hindering visitors’ ability to find the content and information they want. Such site issues can quickly damage the reputation of brands in the eyes of customers — not to mention damage web traffic and hurt search engine rankings.
Given the competitive nature of the digital ecosystem, no organization can afford unchecked issues that will hurt their ability to engage their audience. Avoiding such problems comes down to a thorough site and content audit, allowing brands to correct issues and errors before they hurt site growth. Ideally, problems can be uncovered in content and web pages before they go live. Audits also empower brands to continue to manage what the customer sees and ensure organizational departments are working in tandem on site projects.
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