Wk37-Offer Website Audits
Audit Advantage
This time, let’s discuss a strategy that strengthens your business and delivers extra value to your clients.
Habit of the week:
Wk37-Offer Website Audits
Performing website audits is a habit that helps you provide valuable info to both potential and existing clients. Offering a complimentary audit to long-standing clients in need of redesigns can help you build trust, while charging new clients allows you to generate additional income.
Why it matters:
Providing website audits to new clients is a valuable service that can lead to potential projects by identifying areas where you can add immediate value. For existing clients, regular audits reinforce your role as their trusted web designer, helping you to maintain a steady flow of income and continuously improve their websites.
Quick Start Guide:
- Identify Clients: Review your client list and identify those who may benefit from a website audit based on their website's age, recent business changes, or SEO performance.
- Choose Your Tools: Analyze your clients' websites using tools like My Website Audit or Website Auditor. These tools can help identify SEO, performance, and usability issues and generate reports to share.
- Develop a Standard Audit Process: Outline a consistent audit approach that includes checking for on-page SEO issues, site speed, mobile responsiveness, and user experience.
- Prepare a Report: Compile your findings into a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand report. Include actionable recommendations and prioritize issues based on their impact and effort.
- Present the Audit: Schedule a meeting with your clients to present the audit findings, discuss the recommended changes, and suggest further services you can provide.
Cami's Tips
- Audit your own website first. Make sure you know how to fix issues before offering to others.
- For existing clients in need of a redesign, offer a complimentary audit to foster goodwill and open discussions for further work. And run it in advance of the offer to avoid surprises!
- For new clients, charge for audits to establish the value of your expertise and start the relationship on a professional note. I now offer tiered pricing for audits.
Routine Checkpoint:
Remember, regular audits can help you identify opportunities for ongoing work and keep your clients engaged with their website's needs.
What's Your Take?
Have you offered website audits to your clients before? How have they responded, and how did it impact your business?
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about the author
Cami MacNamara is a web designer and owner of WebCami LLC, a Seattle-based agency since 2002. She created Web Designer Habits to help solopreneurs build smarter systems, stay productive, and run a business that works for them.