Audits. While the word elicits excitement from few, doing an audit is as important for your web presence as it is for your finances. Regular audits of your website can ensure that your site is running smoothly and offering a user-friendly experience. But where do you start?

Here are five things to give you a starting point for auditing your website:

Broken Links and 404 Errors

It can be incredibly frustrating to click on links that do not work or that tell you the “Page Cannot Be Found”. These issues can steer users away and also affect the efficiency of your site. There are ways to correct for these errors while improving your SEO, such as redirecting users to the homepage in place of 404 errors, but the best way to deal with these issues is to do your research, be creative, and utilize the skills your team has.

Spelling and Grammar

It seems like an obvious suggestion, but spelling and grammar mistakes happen even for the best writers. It is important to check for common slip-ups such as incorrect subject-verb agreement, run on sentences, and missing punctuation.

Load Speed

In today’s world of instant gratification, users do not want to wait around for their web pages to load. The New York Times suggests that even a 250-millisecond difference can sway users between competing sites. Fortunately, there are many options for checking and improving load speed. One of our favorites is Google Developers’ Page Speed Insights.

External Links

While you never want to steer viewers away from your site, sometimes it can be helpful or necessary to include a link to another website. The key here is to make sure that your link opens a new tab or browser for the user, rather than open in your current window and therefore redirect him or her away from your site.

Mobile Capabilities

If your website isn’t mobile friendly, game over. More than ever before people are researching and shopping online from their phones. Your website should be just as functional and just as visual on your phone. Are the images displayed properly on the smaller screen size? Is it easy to navigate? Does clicking a phone number allow you to call that number directly? Look at your website on your own smart phone and make sure it is up to par.