We’ve all been enjoying the holiday season and some of us haven’t given our website’s a second thought. But now that December is over and we’re getting ready for New Year’s Eve, it’s time to start thinking about how we can make sure our websites are in great shape when the new year hits. Here are some things you should consider doing before January 1st:
Website Cleanup After Christmas
The holidays are a great time to get together with family and friends, but they can also be a busy time for your website. If you’re not careful, all of the extra sales, banners, discounts, etc. can lead to a cluttered website that’s difficult to navigate.
To avoid this, take some time for a year-end cleanup. Here are a few tips to help you get your website ready for 2022:
Remove any banners, pop-ups or other promotions. Any sales you may have had around the holidays need to be over now. Take them down and remove links to coupons that are no longer available. If there’s anything your visitors want at this point, they can always contact you for more information!
Remove old content. If you haven’t updated or removed old content from your website in a while, it’s time to get rid of it. This will make your website easier to navigate and more user-friendly.
Remove empty pages. If there are any links on your site that don’t go anywhere – like a contact page with no contact info – remove them! It looks unprofessional when there is dead space on the screen of what should just be an informative resource page for customers who need it most. For those few items where this isn’t possible, such as legal disclaimers required by law, consider adding a note at the top of the page explaining how to get in touch with you for more information.
Think about your navigation. If you’ve made any changes to your website since last year, consider how they impact site-wide navigation and how visitors will get around on your site now that things may be in a different place than before. Also make sure there are no dead links or pages that lead to nowhere.
If you have too many links in your navigation bar, it can be difficult for your visitors to find what they’re looking for. Make sure you only have the most important links in there, and remove any that are no longer needed.
It’s also important to have a clear call-to-action in your navigation. Your users should know what to do when they get here, and that means you need to make it very obvious!
Check your website speed. A slow-loading website is a major turnoff for visitors, and it can also hurt your SEO ranking. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to see how well your website is performing, and make any necessary changes to improve its speed.
Make sure everything is up to date. Check all of your plugins, themes and other software to make sure they’re up to date with the latest security patches. Hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities, so it’s important to stay ahead of them by keeping your website protected.
Cleanup after Christmas isn’t just about getting rid of things that aren’t really needed anymore – sometimes it means adding in things that are. Make sure you have a strong call to action on your homepage, and consider adding some new content to keep your website fresh.
Update your website design. A fresh look can help keep your website feeling new and exciting. If it’s been a while since you updated your design, now is the time to do it!
Make any necessary changes to improve speed. Using Google’s PageSpeed Insights, you can see how well your website is performing and make any changes to improve its speed.
Add new content. If you haven’t added any new blog posts in a while, take some time to add them! Not only will this keep your visitors engaged and coming back for more, but it can also help with SEO if you write about what people in your industry are talking about right now.
Add video. Video content is huge right now, so it’s important to have some on your site. Not only will this keep your visitors engaged and coming back for more, but video can also help with SEO if you use the proper keywords when writing about what people in your industry are talking about right now.
Replace old photos. If you have any old photos on your website, replace them with new ones that are more up-to-date. This can help give your website a fresh look and make it feel more modern. Replace old photos of staff, products, or offices with new ones that are more current.
Live chat. Adding a live chat feature can be a huge help for customer service. It allows your visitors to get in touch with you immediately if they have any questions or problems, and it can make them feel like you’re always there to help.
Use a “mobile first” approach. With more and more people accessing websites on their smartphones, it’s important to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. If not already, switch to a “mobile first” approach by creating an optimized design for smaller screens like those found on smartphones and other handheld devices.
Look at your website analytics. If you’ve been seeing any pages or sections of your website that are getting more or less traffic than usual, take a closer look and see if there’s anything you can do to improve things.
User experience. Make sure your visitors have a great experience when they’re on your site. Make it easy to find what they’re looking for, and make the process of doing business with you as simple and efficient as possible – both in person and online!
Test your website. Make sure everything is working properly by testing your site from different browsers and devices, including mobile phones.
Add any information required by law or regulations on safety usage of products. If there are certain types of legal disclaimers that need to be added back onto your website, now is the time to do it!
That’s all for this year-end website cleanup post – we hope you found these tips helpful! If you have any questions, or need more help getting your website ready for 2022, don’t hesitate to contact us. Wishing you a happy, healthy and successful New Year!
