HOW ARE WE ALREADY IN WEEK THREE DOING A WEBSITE AUDIT?
If you remember, last week we chatted about cleaning up your social media presence and getting on track to stay organized. I’m excited to announce that later this week, I’ll be launching Socially Automated – my fun guide that shows you how I automate my ENTIRE social media presence.
And along with this challenge, week three is going to be big.
This week, I’m asking you to take control of something that overwhelms you: your website. Calm down, it won’t be that bad..I promise. We’ll be going through each aspect of your website performing an audit so that you can get yourself organized in the new year.
So, let’s dive in!
Step 1: Update older photos.
If you’re like me, you have moments where your images are far more outdated than they should. Scheduling photoshoots can get a little tedious but as soon as you have the time, I highly suggest doing so to have updated images on your website. If you aren’t able to (or your website doesn’t need images of you), you can visit stocksy.com for GORGEOUS high-resolution imagery. When you can, it’s important to go through and update any images you feel are off-brand.
Step 2: Update your portfolio.
Throughout the year, I know you’ve added work to your portfolio. Take the time to go through and update all of your portfolio to reflect your current work. The same applies for any press you’ve garnered in the last year – you may want to add that as well.
Step 3: Ensure your contact page is working and updated.
There is NOTHING worse on a website than being unable to actually contact the person or business. Test your contact form and ensure it’s working. Also, ensure it’s easily findable in your menu.
Step 4: Update your footer copyright.
If your copyright year isn’t automated, ensure that’s updated to reflect the current year. The same applies for privacy policies and terms & conditions pages.
Step 5: Remove pages that you don’t need.
Throughout the year, we have events, press, blog posts, products, and a multitude of other things. Our pages can get a little cluttered and even if they aren’t published and publicly visible, it can create stress for us.
On Squarespace, you’re able to organize your older pages into unpublished folders. So, if you have multiple about page layouts, you can organize them into a folder labeled About Pages. If you’re on Showit, you can rename your duplicated pages to reflect what they’re of. For example, instead of a page labeled “Homepage-5” due to duplicating pages, you can name it something like “Homepage Example 5” while the published homepage is labeled “Home”. You’ll have to see what your platform allows you to do but if you plan on keeping the pages, you just want to ensure everything is organized so you don’t feel overwhelmed each time you login.
Step 6: Refresh your homepage a bit.
Whether you’re a shop or a service provider, sometimes all you need is quick website audit & refresh. I love adding new images, my latest blog posts, my latest launch, or even just updating the colors of my homepage for a quick refresh. If you want something fresh & clean just to break things up, try changing the first large image on your website to something new and fun. You can even add a neutral color behind one of the areas to break the homepage up a bit.
Step 7: Ensure SEO is on point!
If you haven’t been focusing on search engine optimization at all, it’s important to begin this year on a new foot. If Instagram or Facebook were to disappear tomorrow, you need to have backups for how your customers could find you and ensuring you’re found on search engines is one of the top ways (aside from email lists, of course!)
To begin, go through one page at a time ensuring you’ve added keywords to the content and alt text to the images. If you’re a blogger, I suggest starting today with Yoast SEO to implement good practices. If you must go back through old blog posts, try updating your most popular first.
Step 8: Update your landing pages.
If you have sales landing pages or instagram landing pages, update those to reflect new links and ensure everything is working properly on mobile. And, ensure all of your links in social media are correct!
Step 9: Remove old products.
While I don’t recommend deleting sold out products that performed well due to search engine reasons, I do recommend hiding them. Take some time to go through your products, unpublishing those that are sold out or older. You can even reorganize the products in each collection to update it and give it a refreshed look.
Step 10: Triple check links.
This can seem obvious but it can slip everyone’s mind from time to time. Links can get broken from time to time as we update pages and move things around. Go through your menu and ensure they work, make sure your social media links work, and also that your menu reflects the thought process of your customers or clients.
That’s it! This quick website audit should take you about an hour, truthfully. I’d love to hear any comments or questions you have in the comments below.
