Spring Cleaning for Your Website
With March beginning and warmer weather arriving, many of us are feeling the spring cleaning itch! What you may not realize is that your fervor for organizing your cabinets and closets and cleaning up the yard should extend to your website, too! All websites need a periodic cleanup and a check-in to make sure everything is organized and operating smoothly, and spring is the perfect time to overhaul your site.
Spring Cleaning for your Website: Our Checklist
Take Your Website’s Temperature With Analytics
If you haven’t checked in on your Google Analytics account recently, now is the time! If you haven’t set up website analytics yet, spring is a great opportunity to get going. Tracking analytics is a vital first step in improving the health and value of your site. Think of it this way – if you wanted to improve your running skills, where would you start? The likely answer is that you would begin by timing yourself to assess your current speed and tracking things like heart rate and distance. It’s the same for your website – to improve in the future, you have to know where you’re starting from. Website analytics can also serve as the “canary in the coal mine” to inform you if your website has a problem. If you need help getting started with analytics, we have the tools to get you on your way! Check out this article to learn which metrics you should track, read this piece for the 3 essential Google Analytics reports small businesses need, or reach out to schedule an analytics consultation with us for targeted help and advice.
Perform a Maintenance Check
Are your plugins up to date? Do you have the most recent version of WordPress? Is your software ship-shape? If the answer to any of these questions is “Uhhhhh…I don’t know!” then it’s time for a maintenance check (and, moving forward, an ongoing maintenance plan). If your website isn’t maintained properly, it could easily develop security vulnerabilities. A website without regular maintenance is also much more likely to have broken functionality that frustrates potential customers. Need a long-term solution to make sure your WordPress website receives top-quality maintenance? We’ve got you covered with our fully managed website care plans.
Check for Broken Links, Buttons, or Elements and Fix Them
Speaking of broken stuff, spring cleaning for your website should always include an investigation of what is broken and needs fixing! Problems like broken links or buttons may seem like a minor issue, but they can quickly dissuade customers. Every broken element reduces trust and thus decreases the likelihood that website visitors will be willing to trust you with their time and money. It can be tedious, but going through each page of your website and making sure every interactive element (menus, videos, forms, buttons, and links) is one option. Want to save time and get a better idea of your website’s health? Let us perform a free website audit that will give you a comprehensive report on broken elements, website speed, and so much more.
Spring Cleaning for your Website: Audit and Improve Your Content
As painful as it may sound, now is the perfect time of year to take a look at all the content on your site and make sure it is not only up-to-date but also effective! Just as spring cleaning for your home may have you thinking about getting work down on your gutters, landscaping, or roof, the spring cleaning for your website should make you think about whether the important structural aspects of your online business engine are in their best possible shape. Start with your home page and product or service pages, the most critical areas of your site. Is your unique value clearly communicated? Does your branding and messaging align with your identity as a business? Is everything clear and appealing? After reviewing your key site pages, move on to your blog or additional content. Update anything outdated and get rid of anything that no longer aligns with your value and identity. Having a site that looks and feels more like you is a great way to attract and keep customers.
Organize Your Site With Better Navigation
A menu that is cluttered or difficult to understand can be one of the key factors in visitors making an early departure from a website. Make sure your prospective clients don’t take one look at your menu and hit the exit button! For clarity and impartiality, consider having a friend or other outside party review your navigation and give you their honest feedback. Someone who’s unfamiliar with your website and not as close to your business as yourself or your employees are will be able to tell you honestly whether it’s easy to find what they are looking for. Good navigation is a critical factor in making sure your visitors don’t slip away to your competitors.
Look for Opportunities for CTA’s and Internal Links
After you’ve cleared out the cobwebs of your website and gotten everything ready to go for the year, the last phase of spring cleaning for your website is looking for new opportunities to make your site even better. Look for places where you can insert new calls-to-action (CTA’s) and internal links to keep customers engaged and give your SEO a little boost.
Do you need help with spring cleaning for your website? Reach out to us to get on a maintenance plan or revamp your website today!