Ecommerce Website Audit Checklist - Step by step guide

Are you looking to evaluate the effectiveness of your ecommerce website? A website audit is a great way to assess how well your website is performing, identify areas for improvement, and increase your ecommerce sales. It can be a daunting task, but with a comprehensive audit checklist, you can easily follow a step by step guide to ensure a thorough analysis. In this blog post, we will provide you with an ecommerce website audit checklist that can help you uncover hidden opportunities and weaknesses in your ecommerce website. We will discuss the importance of website audits and explain each step of the audit process in detail. Our checklist will provide you with a comprehensive list of questions and tasks to help you audit your website. With this guide, you will have the knowledge and tools to assess your website and make the necessary improvements that can lead to increased ecommerce sales.

Review the overall website design and layout

Reviewing the overall website design and layout is an essential step in the ecommerce website audit process. You should take the time to look at the user experience, navigation, and visual aspects of the website. Ask yourself, is the website easy to navigate, are all the elements well placed, and is the website aesthetically pleasing? Additionally, you should review the website on different devices and browsers to make sure that the website looks and functions the same way on all devices. Make sure to check the website performance on mobile devices and tablets, so that customers can have a seamless shopping experience.

Test website speed and performance

To ensure your ecommerce website is running as quickly and efficiently as possible, it's important to check your website speed and performance regularly. Website speed and performance can be affected by many factors, including the hosting provider, coding, and third-party plug-ins. To get an accurate picture of your website's speed and performance, you can use tools such as Google's PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse to monitor performance and identify areas of improvement. Additionally, you can use Pingdom and WebPageTest to analyze website loading time and other performance-related metrics. By regularly testing your website speed and performance, you can ensure that your customers have a smooth and pleasant shopping experience.

Check for mobile-friendliness and responsiveness

Before launching your ecommerce website, you must check for mobile-friendliness and responsiveness. Responsive design means that the website layout adjusts to the dimensions of the device, so it looks perfect on any device, be it a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. Mobile-friendliness is even more important now, given the surge in mobile usage. Mobile-friendly websites offer a better user experience, which leads to better conversion rates. To check if your website is mobile-friendly, you can use free tools like Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.

Analyze the user experience and navigation

When auditing an ecommerce website, it is important to analyze the user experience and navigation. Check that the navigation is clear, intuitive, and easy to use. Does the website have a search function and is it easy to use? Are there any dead links, broken pages, or slow loading times that can frustrate users? Are the website menus and category organization well-structured and easy to comprehend? Is there a logical path for users to follow when looking for products? Are there any extra steps that can be removed to simplify the process? Analyzing the user experience and navigation of an ecommerce website can help to identify areas for improvement and ensure customers have a positive experience.

Check the security of the website and payment gateways

Now that you've finished assessing the technical aspects of your ecommerce website, it's time to check the security of the website and payment gateways. Website security involves protecting your website from potential cyberattacks, while payment gateway security involves protecting the customer's credit card information. You should make sure that your website encrypts customer data, that all payment gateways are PCI compliant, and have secure protocols in place to protect against fraud. You should also ensure that your website is regularly scanned for malware, and that you have a secure backup system in place in case of any unexpected issues.

In conclusion, a website audit checklist like the one outlined in this article is an invaluable tool for any ecommerce business. It helps ensure that you are up to date with the latest optimization techniques and that your website is running at peak efficiency. By regularly reviewing the checklist and making the necessary changes and updates, you can ensure that your ecommerce website is ready to meet the needs of your customers and grow your business.

Liked the article?

Follow me on twitter to learn more about conversion optimization, design and ecommerce growth.