One of the most misunderstood things in the digital space is how often you should be updating and auditing your website.
Listen – business gets in the way, I absolutely get that. I do find it essential to go through and audit your website atleast monthly and it doesn’t always have to be as in-depth or terrifying as it sounds.
I will say this: the longer you put it off, the more work the audit will be. You’ll end up finding things that haven’t worked in ages and trust us – you don’t want to find links that stopped working months ago. That means missed $$$!
Here are our top 5 quick things to do when performing a website audit (on any platform!)
Check your links! This goes for all links in the menu at the top and bottom of your website (aka: the header and footer), in every page (about page, FAQ, returns, etc), social media icons, and in the product descriptions.
Make sure your blog posts are populating. If you’ve been writing blog posts, you want to ensure they’re showing properly and organizing the way they should be. Are they categorized or tagged properly? Do they all have featured images? Are your comments replied to or approved / disapproved?
Check site speed. Visit pingdom.com/tools and type in the URL for you site to ensure it’s loading quickly enough! Pingdom is a fan favorite around here because it gives you actionable steps to speed up your site. A slow loading site may tell you that your apps / plugins need to be updated or javascript (nerd alert) is no longer functioning properly!
Update imagery. Even if you simply swap out a few homepage images, it’s great to tweak small items atleast monthly so that others know your website is active. When customers visit a website that hasn’t been updated recently, it feels as if the business is non-existent and slow moving.
Check mobile! Mobile is THE most important aspect of your website. In 2020, it’s estimated smartphone users to be at 45.4% of all website viewers! HOLY CRAP. Make sure your popups aren’t hindering users from accessing the website and ensure everything functions as it should.
Have questions? We’d love to help! Comment below or email hi@lovekait.com.
