New Year’s Website Cleanup
January has always been the time when we look at changing things up. We make New Year’s resolutions, maybe decide to start eating better, get a bit more exercise, or, as business owners, looking at what we can change in our business to make it more profitable and efficient.
One thing that we should always be looking at is our website.
As one of your most powerful marketing elements, your website is selling for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. People looking for your services will almost always check out your website first, often forming an opinion about your business at that first look.
Unfortunately, websites can be woefully forgotten and can become stale and outdated.
If you haven’t looked at your website lately, now is a great time to give it the once-over.
Here are a few things you can do to ensure your website remains shiny and new.
Update Your Photo
If you have a photo of yourself or photos of your staff, make sure they are current. Hair and clothing styles change, you may have started wearing glasses, maybe you shaved your beard (or have grown one), etc. If your photo is over a year old, it’s time for an update.
Update Your BIO
Do you have new certifications or credentials? Did you get promoted? Did you get married or have a child? Did you win an award? Have a read through your existing BIO and make sure that the information is up to date.
Add Testimonials
Do you have glowing testimonials from clients? It’s time to add them to your website. A bit of bragging isn’t a bad thing, and testimonials can go a long way in gaining a potential client’s trust.
Remove Outdated Information
Do you have any outdated promotions on your website? Are there any old sales pages that should be removed? Are your prices up to date? Have your business hours changed? Are you displaying information about products or services that you no longer offer? Take a good look at every page of your website and make sure all of the information is up to date and any old data is removed.
Test Your Contact Form(s)
If you have any forms on your website, now is an excellent time to make sure they are all working correctly. Have you changed your email address? Are any forms going to employees that have left your company? Take a few minutes to test all your forms to be sure they are being received by the proper people.
Check Your Phone Number(s)
Have you added (or removed) a toll-free number for your business? Has your fax number changed? Do you have a phone number for an employee that no longer works for you? This doesn’t happen very often, but it’s worth taking a moment to make sure your contact numbers are correct.
Check Your Social Media Link(s)
Have you added a Social Media network? Have you jumped on Instagram but forgot to add it to your website? Take a moment to make sure you have added all of your Social Media links to your website, and ensure that all the links are correct.
Check Your Newsletter Sign Up Form(s)
If you have a newsletter, have someone in your organization (or a friend) sign up for your newsletter. Was the sign-up process easy? Did they receive the proper email responses? Did they get added to the correct list? Did they get a confirmation email? If you are giving anything away (E.G. a PDF download), did they receive the download link? Did the link work properly? Take a few minutes to make sure this is all working correctly.
Check Your Written Content
Take some time to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors on your website. One great way of doing this in to use an application called Grammarly. It’s a great application we now use when checking all of our written content. It’s saved us from more than a few embarrassing spelling and grammar mistakes.
What will you do to clean up up your website this year? Our team is always available to assist you with design, copywriting, and photography. Drop us a line if you’d like to chat.
