As the festivities subside, and thoughts turn to maximising business opportunities throughout the new year, there’s no better month than January to review your website – your virtual showcase – establish your website goals and hit refresh.
Technology is moving faster than ever before, so it’s crucial to stay ahead of the competition and ensure your website and digital marketing are optimised, with a belt and braces approach. Absolutely every single one of your website’s features or digital campaigns should align with your business objectives. Typical website goals and objectives examples include improving lead quality, conversions, increasing revenue and client retention.
If you are considering an audit and setting website objectives for your SME, ready to hit the ground running for the year ahead, our small business website goals checklist will make a helpful reference point.
User experience (UX)
Assessing how easy it is for visitors to navigate your website is crucial, as research suggests website design influences 94% of first impressions. In addition to this, 88% of visitors are less likely to come back to a website following a bad experience. The following UX features need to be audited:
- Usability. This constitutes reviewing the clarity of information, navigation and overall flow of the user journey.
- Visual design. Look at visual elements, including fonts and colours, and how well they align with your brand identity for a consistent and recognisable image. And consider layout. Do your website pages look striking? Interesting? Is it all easy to read or view? Is it all logical and laid out in the right order?
- Content. Ensure that all content is of high quality, that it’s relevant and up to date. Align with website development trends 2025 where possible for greater effect and to remain competitive.
Update evergreen content to keep things fresh. Search engines like fresh content. And repurpose information in different ways – video or podcasts, for example. Both are expected to be big again this year. And use interactive content to keep things interesting. Think polls and calculators. Interactive and more personalised content is set to be increasingly expected throughout 2025.
Carry out a content gap analysis to check for any missing content, or any that needs improvement. With search engines prioritising user intent, it’s important for maximising opportunities.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO). Be continually aware of SEO trends. It’s important for favourable rankings. This year, we expect search engines to prioritise content matching user intent. Your website’s metadata needs to be up to date, and you’ll need to target relevant keyphrases. Use only valuable content that speaks to website visitors, answering questions they need or want to know.
- Accessibility compliance. Be mindful of being inclusive. Make your website accessible to those with disabilities. Refer to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for guidance.
- Interaction. Ensure features such as ‘click here’ buttons and forms are responsive and provide a smooth interaction for users.
- Links. Check links are relevant and working properly. Fix any broken links for a smooth user experience.
- Page speed. Evaluate and optimise loading times to keep visitors engaged. 40% of users will abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load.
- Mobile friendliness. Global smartphone users increased by no less than 115% between 2019 and 2024. The trend is showing no signs of slowing. So, the necessity for mobile responsiveness is real. Your website needs to look and work well on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to reach prospective clients on the go. Test across devices and optimise accordingly.
- Compliance. It’s vital your website is compliant with legal obligations, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requirements.
- Analytics. Evaluate how your website design is working towards your business goals and user experience objectives. Check that it makes for a favourable client pathway. And use the data to establish typical user behaviour and engagement so you can tweak your website accordingly, if necessary.
Personalisation and AI
With more personalised experiences expected across all forms of digital marketing, this year, AI is moving fast and becoming easier than ever to use. Embrace this by working personalisation and AI tools into your marketing strategy to drive engagement and conversions.
- AI-generated visuals. These are becoming increasingly more recognised as advantageous due to their time and resource-saving properties.
- Personalised experiences. Use data insights to tailor experiences based on your website visitors’ behaviour and preferences.
- Chatbots. As visitor expectations grow, it’s important to meet them wherever possible. Consider using a chatbot so that you can maintain an online presence 24/7 that offers personalised support.
- AI powered ads and dynamic content. Platforms such as Google Ads enable you to tailor your ads around real time user behaviour and preferences. And dynamic content adapts according to user data. Use them to better engage and convert potential clients.
Optimum results can only come from a fully optimised website. The WEBPRO team can help.
Other marketing trends for 2025
- User-generated content (UGC). UGC includes client photos, testimonials in video form and social media posts. These are all influential ways of promoting your business.
- Working with micro-influencers. ‘Real’ company ambassadors are now frequently turned to in place of celebrity endorsers. Those who have used and support your business provide a credible and reassuring perspective to prospective clients.
- Webinars. Done well, these not only show you as a thought leader in your field, they also engage audiences and provide you the opportunity to connect with potential clients.
Recap: Our checklist should help as you audit and optimise your website, ensuring it’s ready to facilitate meeting – even exceeding – your 2025 business goals. Making your website as user-friendly as possible and incorporating the trends we anticipate for this year should bring about an increase in website visitors, engagement, conversions and, ultimately, sales. If you need any assistance, our team of website professionals can save you time, have your refreshed website up and running fast, and will be happy to help.
WEBRPO knows
83% of internet users expect websites to load in three seconds or less.
