Spring 2020 has come and gone. ‘Nuff Said. If you didn’t get around to your spring cleaning last season, no one will hold it against you. However, it is a good idea to review your online presence a couple times a year. In with the new and out with the old. Your website is your digital business card and needs to convey the message of your organization today, not the moment in time it was created. Is your web presence up to date?
If you haven’t looked objectively at your website and digital presence for a while, it is likely time that you did. Wingman has compiled a spring cleaning checklist to help you get started:
Website Usability
Ask your team to put on the “visitor hat” and navigate your site. How easy is it to navigate? Do all the links work? Can they easily get a hold of you if they are interested in interacting or purchasing? If the answer is anything short of an emphatic “yes”, you can bet your visitors are also having difficulty and telling you as much by leaving.
Responsive Design
One size does NOT fit all! It is imperative you check and confirm that your website is compatible on different devices like phones and tablets. The volume of searches generated from mobile devices surpassed PC/laptop searches a couple years ago, and that trend looks to be continuing well into the future. While more people are accessing the web from mobile devices than desktops, people still tend to spend more time on sites when they access them from non-mobile devices. As both devices have a place in your visitor’s world, you must ensure your web design is clear and clean for both size formats.
Old School Grammar and Jargon
Look through all your content for grammar, spelling, punctuation errors and industry jargon. If grammar is not your specialty, get a friend, family member or consultant to review all your content for readability and errors. In addition, the tone and style of your content should be consistent on each webpage and reflect the image and personality of your brand. A website that looks nice and is easy to use increases the time visitors spend on the website, thereby increasing their chance of converting.
Web Content
Does the content of your website still personify your company’s personality and mission? When was your last blog post or “news” item? Hopefully it was relatively recent. Consider writing and adding some new blog posts to your site. This will give your site fresh content that interests your customers and gets found by search engines.
Accuracy of Information
Double check your content for accuracy. Is your company’s contact information current? If you have pricing on your website, is it outdated? Do you still offer the services listed? For e-commerce websites with online ordering and a catalogue of products, make sure the description for each product is correct and updated. Be sure to display current inventory—not discontinued items.
Make Sure All Your Links Work
Outdated or broken links can lower your business’ credibility, trustworthiness and professional appearance. If the internal and external links point to pages that are either outdated or no longer exist, your page’s SEO and online visibility can suffer. You should click on each link on your website regularly.
Make Sure Third–Party Apps and Extensions Work
If third-party apps and extensions installed on your website fail to work properly, you can miss out on converting visitor awareness into sales. Are your company’s social media and RSS feeds properly linked to your website? Are third party on-page analytics trackers up and running? This is the biggest online advantage you have of understanding behavior of your website visitors. Without analytics data, it is hard to assess the areas of improvement.
Review Domain and Hosting Plan Expiry Dates
Like checking your fire detector batteries at Daylight Savings, you need to double-check expiry dates of your domains. You own your domain. It is your business’ life blood. You cannot afford to let it lapse. Ensure you know the timing of renewal. Also, it’s always a good idea to look at your website hosting plan each year. How was the service? Was there downtime? Did they provide adequate website protection? Were they responsive and easy to work with? Your website can’t function without a hosting provider. You need to be sure the one you choose one that is skilled, experienced, trustworthy and responsive.
Evaluate Your CTA
Are your calls to action (CTA) on each page clear? If it isn’t visible, noticeable or concise, your website visitors won’t know what to do, so will likely DO NOTHING. You spend time and resources to generate awareness to get your website found. Can your business afford to miss the conversions, purchases and e-newsletter subscriptions that should come from this traffic? When people come to your site, they not only want to quickly find the information they are looking for, but they also want to be told what to do with the information you provide.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Your spring cleaning efforts would be for naught if visitors are unable to find your website. Take the time to optimize your pages for search engines to find your website. Out of the points that we’ve listed in our blog, SEO will most likely consume the most amount of time. The good news is it doesn’t cost you a dime!
Don’t have the time or trained eye to optimize your pages? Wingman has your back! Book a consultation with us today and we’ll do the work for you.
Refreshed Look and Feel
Like your personal home décor preferences, your business needs to undergo a “spring cleaning” brand refresh from time to time. This doesn’t need to be done every year, but this is a good time to reflect on the last time you did so. Take this time to freshen its look to match your business’ evolving personality. It’s a good idea to work with a professional website designer, as they know how to use colors, typefaces, and sizes to create the desired emotional and/or psychological effects. In addition to changing the layout, typography and/or color scheme, consider adding new photos (that are optimized) along with fresh content.
Wrapping Up
Summer is a great time to clean up your website and breathe new life into your business. Whether you’re undergoing a major re-branding or simply making minor tweaks and improvements, the professionals at Wingman Direct Marketing have your back! We are a full-service digital marketing agency with professional developers, website designers, content and SEO specialists. Contact us today to learn more about we can help you with your website Spring cleaning (in Summer).