Auditing is essential because not only does it provide credibility, but it also gives off a level of confidence that things are performing up to standard. Auditing a website will allow you to optimize your website to give users the best possible experience. Doing an audit can show you what is currently working and what is not, and if something is not working, it will allow you to figure out a way to make it work.
This week in class was all about content analysis and being able to complete a website content audit. After reading through some readings in addition to the textbook, I looked for a non-profit organization that I could do a website audit on. After looking through various lists, I stumbled upon Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit housing organization working in local communities across all 50 states and in more than 70 countries around the world. I chose to focus on Habitat for Humanity because not only was I involved with it while in high school, but I also love helping people, so I wanted to focus on something that can help people along with something that I had an interest in.
To better understand their analytics, I utilized a program called Screaming Frog SEO Spider Program. This program allowed me to analyze Habitat for Humanity’s website. I copied Habitat for Humanity’s URL and pasted it into the program. I then let the program do its job, which provided me with a lot of detail and information. With the results I was presented with, I focused primarily on page title elements, meta descriptions, header elements, alt tags, and accessibility.
Regarding title elements, I found that the site uses different titles for page links. Also found that the shortest title length was 12 characters while the longest was 268 characters. While the titles differ, some are basic and cryptic, while others are descriptive. The website also had a variety of texts for the meta descriptions. The shortest meta description length was six characters, while the longest was a whopping 783. The meta descriptions seemed mainly descriptive, with some being cryptic and dull. When it comes to the header elements, the site makes use of the HTML header elements while also helping describe the components of the page they are on. Using results from Screaming Frog SEO Spider, 98.19% of images have alt tags, while 1.81% do not. The writing for the images with alt tags is ok. Some are better than others. Of 5,200 total images, only 304, or 5.85%, are over 100 characters.
Next, I assessed the site’s accessibility using the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool. Using this tool, I discovered that the site had 32 contrast errors, 62 alerts relating to suspicious links, 21 features, with 15 of them being linked image with alternative text, and 65 structural elements. I also found that the contrast ratio for both standard and large text passed easily. Having many structural elements is crucial for success because it creates many options.
After analyzing all the information and gathering all my data, I created a business report. I started the business report by giving an overview of the organization. Habitat for Humanity works towards their vision “by building strength, stability, and self-reliance in partnership with families in need of decent and affordable housing.” By creating a business report, I identified content that would be engaging for Habitat for Humanity’s audience. This report allowed me to share my findings regarding what has been working and what has not, along with necessary changes and recommendations to improve the company. As a result of doing this business report, I have presented valuable information that will only lead to more positive things happening.
Please see the PDF of my Business Report Below