When having a website created for you, it is important to know that a good job is being done. A good website does not just look good on the outside, but the inside (code) as well and functions should be done in such a way that your website loads faster, is cleaner, and generally better accepted by search engines.
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Free website testing tool
A free and universally accepted website testing tool, which also happens to be one of the most popular, is one such tool as GTmetrix. This is a service that checks how your website performs, as well as reveals why it’s slow and helps discover optimization opportunities.
How to use
Simply go the GTmetrix url and enter the url of your website. It will take a few seconds to analyze and eventually give you a report. Most great website are graded with either an A or a B. A “C” may be acceptable depending on the size and features of your website, however most website designers should try and get it rated as high as possible. Even so, we have seen websites created from “premium” web design agencies that likely charged in the thousands of dollars, look amazing, but still get graded with an “F”. This is mostly due to laziness or possibly negligence on the website designer’s part.
Often times, knowing this information as a business owner is one way to be able to talk to your website designer and let them know what improvements can be made. Even so, you can send them a screenshot of the report and ask for them to try and get you graded as high as possible.
How to tell what website designer cares about this grade?
Really the best way to tell is to just ask up front. Let them know you care about your GTmetrix score and want to be rated as high as possible. Most effective and professional website designers already know about this and automatically include this in their McAllen web design services.
Should I use a content delivery network?
A content delivery network is another generally recommended service to use to help speed up your website. Rather than have your website hosted or loaded from 1 single location, it gets distributed around an area, usually your country or even the world, so that when someone clicks on your website, it gets loaded faster from an area closer to them.
This can be a great way to speed up your website load times and there are some free options available. If you are mostly serving local customers or get your business from your local area, you may not need a CDN. You can ask your web designer in McAllen for suggestions on this matter. Not all website use a CDN and you can definitely rank higher and first without a CDN provider.
What else do I need to know?
Ask your web designer what they do to help your business website perform better aside from creating a pretty website. A premium website host, SSL certificate, and social media integration are just some of the examples that may help your website perform better.
