Hi friends 👋🏻

One of my favorite quick-win projects for new nonprofit clients is an introductory website audit. I ran one of these last week, and it reminded me how much fun they are, and how much value they can deliver. So I'm going to talk about that this week!

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"Uhh, our website definitely needs attention, but we're not sure where to start."

👆🏻 This is a common starting point when I get an email that leads to a website audit.

Perhaps its a website manager that reaches out first. Or other times, an Executive Director.

The initial email is often focused on one particular pain point, so I offer a quick free consult call to see what would be helpful.

When that one pain point spills over into five or six other questions, that's when I know a website audit is the right place to start.

Sidenote: I don't love the word audit. It sounds technical, and vaguely like you're in trouble. You're being audited . I don't mean it like that. If anyone has suggestions for a better term, let me know.

What do I cover in a website audit?

It's a little different for every client, and that flexibility is key. It allows me to adapt the report and the review conversation to focus on whatever specific needs are top of mind.

That said, I have a list of topics that I'll look at for every website, that I'll list below. In my report, I open each topic with a quick description of the relevant goal, and my thoughts on why it matters. For example, here's the intro to the section where I review the email subscription flow:

For sections that cover key website functionality, I test the whole process. On a desktop computer and separately on a mobile device, I'll start screen recording and then walk through the entire sign-up process, looking at what users see on screen and at what emails they receive in their inbox. If the website has analytics set up, I'll look at the events recorded there as well.

When clients get the screen recordings, it's amazing how often we identify basic opportunities for improvement. Things like customizing the default form submission confirmation message, or ensuring the double opt-in email has branding applied.

Back to the list of topics: here's what I like to check on every site:

• Technologies and Tools (e.g. website builder or CMS, third-party tools for email, donations, analytics, etc.)
• Website Audiences
• Priority Actions on the Website
• Website Navigation
• Email List Subscription Functionality
• Online Donations Functionality
• Social Media Links
• Legal Compliance Features
• Website Accessibility
• Website Performance
• Website Analytics Data and Reporting
• Visibility in Organic Search Results
• Website Usability for Internal Users
• Website Basic Information (recording details of domain registration, DNS, hosting, primary contacts)

Every time I've gone through this process, it uncovers at least a handful for high 🔴 priority recommendations. And then typically upwards of 20 medium 🟠 and low 🟡 priority recommendations. All listed in the report.

And by the end of the process, I feel like I've got to know the organization IN DETAIL. I've dug through all their program pages, joined the email list, made a donation, visited all their social channels. It's a fun opportunity to a do a deep dive, and see what advice I can share to ensure the website is powering their work forward.

Want to do this for your website?

If you think this might uncover helpful information about your website, I typically have time for a couple of these each month. I'm currently booking audits for July, but could chat about your needs on a free consult call before then and get you scheduled. Here's the link if you're interested.

If you'd rather do this yourself but need some structure, check out the link below. This DIY workbook will walk you through the process I described above, with helpful resources and tips along the way.

Nonprofit Website Audit Workbook START TODAY

Until next time ✨

— Ed Harris (your digital strategy guide)

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