Real-Time Website Analysis: TOPScorer #semrushchat

Liza Perstneva Real-Time Website Analysis: TOPScorer #semrushchat 74 Wow-Score The Wow-Score shows how engaging a blog post is. It is calculated based on the correlation between users’ active reading time, their scrolling speed and the article’s length. Learn more Real-Time Website Analysis: TOPScorer #semrushchat Liza Perstneva

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As our regular SEMrush Chat readers may know, sometimes we pick a website and evaluate it in real time. This time, we chose to analyze TOPScorer, an online knowledge platform for students from grades 1 to 10. Our chat guests shared what they like and don’t like about this site as well as tips on what can be done to improve its online performance.

In the digital marketing space, users have high expectations of websites. You need to provide your site visitors with the most optimal, the fastest, and the most efficient user experience possible to enjoy a higher rate of visitor engagement, retention, and conversion.

TopScorer Home Page

Let’s analyze the TOPScorer website and figure out what can be done to improve its performance.

Q1: At first glance, what is one thing you like about TOPScorer?

To begin, we asked our chat guests to name elements that they liked on www.topscorer.com.

  • The website’s appearance

This website looks visually appealing, which is its strongest advantage. Your site reflects your business, products and services. It may be the first and only impression that your potential customers receive of your company. Therefore, your site’s appearance is one of the key elements of its success.

Aamina Suleman @thinkdesignvis mentioned that its colors strike visitors’ interest: “I like the colors actually, the green and white strike interest, however, there's a downside to it.” Besides colors, some of our chat participants liked its parrot mascot on the home page.

.@semrush A1: Website's appearance is good, everything is in sorted way. Easy to understand. SSL secured. #semrushchat

— RankWatch (@RankWatch) February 22, 2017

Sarah Romero also pointed out that this website has a clean layout and is not overloaded with text.

A1: Clean layout. #semrushchat

— Sarah Romero (@iHeartDates) February 22, 2017

  • Friendly UX and easy navigation

TOPScorer.com is easy to navigate, which is important for a smooth user experience. To make sure that people will stay on your site and make the most out of their time there, you need to provide a great user experience by making it effective and easy-to-use.

A1: Very friendly #UX and clean and easy to follow navigation #semrushchat

— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) February 22, 2017

  • The content describes their business well

As an increasing amount of content becomes available online, more marketers and site owners have to struggle to come up with conversion-worthy content. You need to craft your content in a way that speaks to your target audience and appeal to their needs and wants. Samantha Torres‏ pointed out that the content on the homepage of TOPScorer.com effectively explains the site’s purpose. However, visitors can find this useful information only after scrolling through the page.

Ajit Upadhyaya‏ @UpadhyayaAjit also noticed that all the available courses are above the fold, so its users can easily find what they’re looking for.

A1. The content AFTER (unfortunately) scrolling – section below the hero does a good job explaining the site's purpose #semrushchat

— Samantha Torres (@SamTorresSEO) February 22, 2017

  • Eye-catching CTA

The main purpose of call-to-action buttons (CTA) is to get your visitors to do something that you want them to do. They should be attractive and easy to read and fit the overall design of your website. PolePositionMkg‏ believes that the CTA on TOPScorer.com catches visitors’ attention right off the bat.

A1 The CTA immediately catches your attention #semrushchat

— PolePositionMkg (@PolePositionMkg) February 22, 2017

  • HTTPS

Andrew Epperson pointed out that this website uses HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), which is intended to protect the integrity and confidentiality of data between your website and your users. During one of our previous chats, we discussed how to secure your website and safely move it from HTTP to HTTPS. You can check out its recap.

A1: HTTPS #semrushchat

— Andrew Epperson (@eppand) February 22, 2017

Let’s sum up the following key points.

SEMrush Chat Recap Responses Q1

TOPScorer.com has several good elements, such as a clean layout, simple navigation, and a nice-looking design; however, there’s still some work to do.

Q2: Out of the top three issues we detected with our site audit tool, which one should the company fix ASAP?

Using the SEMrush Site Audit tool, we detected three major issues on TOPScorer.com, which are:

  • 2898 images without alt attributes

  • 59 pages with duplicate meta descriptions

  • 57 pages with a low text-to-HTML ratio

We asked our chat participants which issue they would recommend fixing first. Their opinions were divided. Nevertheless, most of them suppose that the site’s owners should rewrite its meta descriptions.

A2 Meta Descriptions need to be rewritten to be descriptive; include keywords pages are optimized for, be engaging & Persuasive #SEMRushchat

— Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) February 22, 2017

Your site's meta descriptions determine its snippets in search results and influence its click-through rate. Although it doesn’t influence its page ranking directly, having a unique and engaging meta description can entice people to visit your site. Therefore, you need to make your meta descriptions meaningful, unique, and attractive to your users. “Update the meta descriptions first. I don't see images or text/html ratio being as important in this case,” tweeted Rachel Howe‏ @R8chel_Marie. JP Sherman @jpsherman said that, first of all, the site’s owners should improve its content for their users, and only then for search engines: “Fix metadata to support new content.”

A2. 1) Meta 2) text-html 3) image alts . #2 and #3 aren't hurting that much, but #1 is impacting SERP clickthrough. #semrushchat

— Martin Weinberg (@MartinWeinberg) February 22, 2017

However, some of our chat participants think that duplicate meta descriptions are not TOPScorer's top priority, and that they should pay attention to images without alt attributes, as they provide great opportunities to improve your site’s performance. Alt attributes add alternative information to your image, if a site visitor cannot view it for one reason or another.

A2: Definitely add alt text to images. It's actually been very helpful for us when it comes to search traffic. #semrushchat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) February 22, 2017

Also, alt tags help you strengthen your message to search engine bots. Google and other search engines cannot see images on websites. However, they can use the information that alt attributes provide in order to determine the best image to display for a user’s search query. “Alt tags should be corrected first, as they will help Google better understand the image,” tweeted Sayan Sarkar @SayanTheGeek.

At the same time, ThinkSEM @ThinkSEM pointed out that missing alt tags are quite easy to fix: “That said, nearly 3,000 images not having ALT text is a relatively easy fix with the most change.”

A2. Alt image tags are the biggest opportunity. #semrushchat

— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) February 22, 2017

WildShark SEO‏ remarked that the low text-to-HTML ratio issue can result in a Google penalty; therefore, TOPScorer needs to fix this as soon as possible.

A2 – text/html ratio (thin content) = penalties = most important. Meta desc poor CTR. Google Image unlikely traffic for courses #semrushchat

— WildShark SEO (@wildsharkseo) February 22, 2017

Check out a few other answers from our chat participants in the following recap.

SEMrush Chat Recap Responses Q2

What would you advise that the site owners fix first? We’d love to hear any tips you may have!

Q3: What features/UX issues/content mistakes could be setting them back?

To stay ahead of their rivals in a highly competitive space, online businesses need to pay attention to multiple elements on their websites. When analyzing TOPScores.com, our chat guests noticed five things that might be setting the company back. Here they are.

1. Unclear purpose and lack of value proposition

Developing a clear and compelling value proposition helps you make sure that your users will listen to you and, eventually, buy from you. It explains how your product solves your audience’s problems or fulfills their needs and tells your ideal customer why he or she should buy your product or service.

Our chat participants said that when you first enter TOPScorer.com, it’s difficult to understand what it offers. Its visitors have to scroll down and search for information. The site’s owners need to make sure that the most important information about their business can be easily accessed. And then they should provide a clear value proposition to explain to their users how they can benefit from purchasing their service.

A3) WTH do they sell? Not immediate. Why should I buy from them? I keep thinking the site is to do with sport #semrushchat

— David Rosam (@davidrosam) February 22, 2017

2. Thin content

Thin content provides little or no value at all to your site visitors. It may be full of keywords and copy, but doesn’t provide any useful information. The more unique, high-quality content you produce, the more satisfied both search engines and your users will be. WildShark SEO pointed out that potential thin content may set them back and recommended providing greater clarity on what they do.

A3: It's interesting that courses have star ratings yet most aren't rated. Thin content/info gap is really only the beginning. #SemrushChat

— Angi Bowman (@Lucky__Angi) February 22, 2017

Brandon Seymour shared his opinion, saying that TOPScorer needs more textual content to describe its individual courses more thoroughly.

A3 It'd be helpful if they had more text content that described the individual courses, rather than just the videos #semrushchat

— Brandon Seymour (@Beymour) February 22, 2017

3. Lack of testimonials from clients

Customer testimonials can be a powerful tool for your online marketing campaign, as they deliver a strong message and serve as genuine endorsements of your products or services. Our chat participants noticed that the analyzed website lacks trustworthy testimonials from the company’s previous clients. “The customer reviews scream "fake" and need to be authentic with real customer images,” tweeted Danny Ray Lima.

Candid testimonials seem personal, relatable, and motivational and, as a result, can significantly strengthen your other marketing efforts.

A3. Buried value prop, load is AWFUL, site architecture could use drastic improvements, testimonials from previous students #semrushchat

— Samantha Torres (@SamTorresSEO) February 22, 2017

4. A PHP error message

Emma Bennett shared her experience of how she tried to use the free demo that the website offered. However, when she logged in with her Google account, a PHP error message appeared on her screen. The site’s owners need to work through their error messages and provide their users with a smooth, pleasant user experience.

A3: just tried to use the free demo after logging in with google and got this #semrushchat pic.twitter.com/bSttL3YFMM

— Emma Bennett (@emm_benn) February 22, 2017

5. Grammar and spelling errors

Our chat participants noticed a few grammar and spelling mistakes on this website. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s a fact. However, these seemingly small mistakes can drive your potential customers away from your site and prevent them from making a purchase. It’s important to be careful and double check what you post on your website, social pages, blogs, etc.

a3: being a bit picky here, but i am counting several grammatical errors on the homepage ex: "Dedicate app for mobile/tablet" #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) February 22, 2017

Let’s sum up!

SEMrush Chat Recap Responses Q3

There are multiple elements on this website that could actually be damaging its online performance. When creating a website, you should try to put yourself in your users’ shoes to figure out how you can make it more effective and useful for them.

Q4: How would you rate their mobile website on a scale from 1 to 10, and why?

Studies show that an increasing number of users surf the Internet and browse websites on their mobile devices. Small businesses should be on top of this trend in order to attract more users to their sites.

When analyzing TOPScorer, we asked our chat participants to rate its mobile site on a scale from one to ten. We received various ratings.

Sean Van Guilder gave the site only one point out of ten, because of its excessive number of tap targets (e.g., buttons, links, etc.) and slow load time.

A4: 1/10. too many tap targets and the feedback button overlays them. and the site is painfully slow #semrushchat

— Sean Van Guilder (@seanvanguilder) February 22, 2017

When it comes to the site’s speed, many of our chat guests also mentioned that this website is too slow.

A4 Downgrading to a 4 after clicking around to check on speed issues people mentioned #semrushchat

— PolePositionMkg (@PolePositionMkg) February 22, 2017

Lead Tagger gave the site six points, saying that its content is poorly structured and doesn’t guide users to a single CTA. Having a webpage with a clear call to action and a high-value, relevant offer increases your chances of impressing your site visitors and persuading them to complete your desired action.

@semrush A4: I'd rate it a 6. Site speed is slow and the content is structured in a way that doesn't guide me to a single CTA. #semrushchat

— Lead Tagger (@LeadTagger) February 22, 2017

However, some of our chat participants believe that TOPScorer’s mobile version deserves seven to eight points, because it looks nice, loads fast, and has purposeful buttons. Reva Minkoff also pointed out that there’s too much content on its mobile page.

It’s important to provide enough information to make sure that your visitors can quickly understand the main purpose of your business. However, too much information may be distracting and frustrating to a mobile user viewing your site on a small screen.

A4. 7. Looks nice, loads fast, large and clear buttons – just so much content and the app should be up front: why is it buried? #semrushchat

— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) February 22, 2017

Colt SebastianTaylor liked that the site is straightforward and easy to navigate.

A4: #Semrushchat I'd say 8. Straightforward, easy to navigate, fits on my screen. pic.twitter.com/RQb76KtQJG

— Colt SebastianTaylor (@ColtSTaylor) February 22, 2017

Assuming that TOPScorer is an educational website, JP Sherman recommended using schema markup to enhance its courses.

SEMrush Chat Recap Responses Q4

As you can see, our guests opinions were divided. Anyway, any site owners need to keep their mobile site simple, consistent, fast, and easily navigable.

Q5: TOPScorer doesn’t have SERP features linking to the domain for any KWs they rank for. How can that change?

We noticed that TOPScorer doesn’t have SERP features that are linking to the domain for any keywords it ranks for. Here’re several tips for how they can change this.

  • Implement schema markup

Structured data is an important element that helps make your website look better to Google and boosts its visibility. Schema markup allows you to tell the search engine how to display your information. Therefore, it’s recommended that you use it to boost your traffic. “Rich Snippets equals higher CTR. Get more eyeballs,” tweeted ThinkSEM.

A5: My favorite word "Schema" would help a lot! & optimizing the website for question intent searches with authentic answers #semrushchat

— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) February 22, 2017

  • Answer questions that people ask using natural language

Search engines are trying to take searching for information to a new level — in line with everyday conversations. Today, when searching for what they need, more people tend to use a natural language. Users phrase questions as they would ask when talking to a real person. Optimizing your content for natural language search can help you gain more visibility for your website. Select questions that your target audience will ask and answer them.

A5 To earn featured snippets, the site should show questions people commonly ask in natural language, & answers to those #SEMRushChat

— Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) February 22, 2017

  • Answer questions with bullets

Rachel Howe also advised answering your users’ questions with bullets to get your content in a featured snippet. “How to” searches often appear in featured snippets in the form of a list. You can try to structure your content effectively and create a list to increase your chances of getting into a featured snippet.

A5: Optimize images. Answer questions with bullets to get featured snippets. Add schema markup. #semrushchat

— Rachel Howe (@R8chel_Marie) February 22, 2017

  • Optimize images

We’ve already mentioned that this website has 2,898 images without alt attributes. To help Google better understand your website and figure out what’s depicted on your images, you should add alt tags to them.

@semrush A5: add image alt tags and include an image site map. Add schema markup. 👍🏼 #semrushchat

— Lead Tagger (@LeadTagger) February 22, 2017

Let’s sum up.

SEMrush Chat Recap Responses Q5

And so we’ve analyzed yet another site together with the help of our chat participants. Thanks to everyone who joined us for our real-time website analysis!

The issues that we discussed in this post appear on many websites. It’s worth conducting site audits on a regular basis to find out if there are any issues that can damage your online performance. Also, you need make sure that your site provides your users with a smooth and pleasant experience.

Read the original article here

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