Top 5 Tools To Measure Website Quality
Quality websites get better results, but what does “good quality” mean? There are a number of different areas, all with one focus: providing the best experience possible for the person visiting the site. This can be achieved in a number of different areas:
- Site loading speed. A site that takes ages to display pages and especially images will be frustrating and difficult to use.
- Site content. The content of your site needs to be the right balance – not too much to read, but not scarce on information either. It should be laid out in a practical and readable way.
- Design and navigation. These can be the hardest factors to quantify, but the design should make the purpose of the site self-evident, and clearly show where users need to click to get what they want.
With these in mind, there are a number of custom-made tools that can be used to measure the quality of your website.
MarketMuse. This tool allows you to identify content gaps on your website – especially useful for businesses looking to provide articles, resources or blog posts in order to be an authority in a certain area. It can make a complete audit of your site, and based on the keywords and topics you supply it, will identify areas where you lack content. It can also identify weak content for you to fix.
ClarityGrader. This tool measures the readability of your website, which is essential for keeping the attention of your visitors. It goes through your content and identifies long and wordy sentences, excessive use of passive terms, and overuse of jargon. It also checks for inconsistent terminology, such as switching between “client” and “customer”.
Nibbler. One key factor for search engines assessing page quality is word count. Nibbler totals up the number of words on 10 random pages of your site, and then gives you an average and a score based on this. Of course, you shouldn’t bulk up content on every single page if it doesn’t need it – rambling or waffle-filled pages don’t serve the user experience at all. Instead, look at adding value to other pages that suit having more content or information, so that you raise the overall average.
GTMetrix. Site loading times hugely influences the quality of the user experience on your website. GTMetrix provides a number of different insights relating to the performance of your website, include page size and speed. Not only that, it provides a list of actionable steps to take to increase efficiency, and tells you how much of a difference they will make.
UserTesting. Sometimes it’s hard to put a statistic or number on the efficiency of a website. That’s where UserTesting comes in. You can select the age, gender and interests of the person testing your website, and they’ll give you comprehensive feedback about their impression of your site. This will include ease of use and design, as well as more subjective feedback such as whether they understood the purpose of the site and how easy it was to use.
A good quality site is necessary for both search engine optimisation and providing an engaging user experience for visitors. There are many different areas to be aware of and to improve, and these tools will help you understand where the shortcomings are.
Quality websites get better results, but what does “good quality” mean? There are a number of different areas, all with one focus: providing the best experience possible for the person visiting the site. This can be achieved in a number of different areas:
