Spring... A time for renewal. A time
for new flowers, leaves, grass. A time for... yes, cleaning. Not
your house or garage - well, maybe they need it too, but I'm talking
about your website. Doing some 'Spring cleaning' on your website is
not only a good idea, it is critical to search engine optimization
and customer retention. Here are 10 tips to help you get started
with your website Spring cleaning.
1) Clean up, optimize, and change
images. It is important to keep images fresh. New images can
rejuvenate a site – make it look new and different. Images grab
attention and with new images you can grab the attention of even
regular visitors to your site. Also, pictures can become dated –
hair styles, cars, and furniture can show the age of an old site.
And old images may give the impression of neglect.
Images should also be optimized to
reduce load time – something that can really effect how fast your
pages load.
While you are reviewing images, you
should also work with your developer to review the 'alt' and 'title'
tags used with each image. The values used with these tags can
effect search engine results.
2) Figure out which pages are
performing well and which are not. Using analytics, check to see
which pages are getting the most hits per month and which are getting
the least. Are those least visited pages necessary? Can they be
re-purposed? If they are important, maybe reworking them (images and
copy) will help to boost their visits. This can create a better user
experience and boost your ratings with search engines.
If pages like your 'contact' page are
not getting hits, try adding call-to-action buttons to other pages
that encourage visitors to request more information.
3) Check for broken links. Broken
links have a big negative effect on your search engine rankings. And
they are really annoying to your human visitors. Pages may have been
added or deleted from your site. Are you sure that all the
navigation and reference links throughout your site were updated?
It's also important to check the links
to external web pages. Are the links still good? And if the links
do go somewhere, are you sure those pages are still relevant?
4) Have your developer check for old
code. In the past few years there have been many changes to code
that can speed up website loading and response times. Studies show
that users begin to lose interest in about 13 seconds. Ask your
developer if any of the code can be “minified.” (He / She should
know what that means).
Images can slow down a site
dramatically. In most cases, there is no need to have images load
below the viewable area in the browser. There are a few new methods
that will load the images only as the page is scrolled and they are
needed.
5) Refresh the description for products
and services. Your products and services may not have changed. But,
the words and phrases people use to search for them may have. Review
the descriptions you use for your products/services. Make sure they
include the most used search words and phrases (those keyword and
phrases you're always hearing about).
6) Evaluate your product offerings.
Are there products or services that just don't sell online? You may
consider removing them from the site to help streamline the website
as a whole. Or you may consider reordering things on catalog
listing pages, moving your best selling products to the top. Or
highlighting the best selling services on your home page.
If these poor performing
projects/services are your highest margin offerings and you would
really like to push them, can changes to their descriptions and
images make them more appealing? Consider special offers and call-to-action buttons on other areas of your site to highlight these
products/services.
7) Can you improve navigation. As
mentioned before, visitors begin to lose interest in about 13
seconds. If they can't find what they are looking for easily, they
will quickly lose interest and leave. Your navigation system should
be smartly thought out. Your most important links should be in the
main menu (usually at the top of the page). If you have more links
than can fit nicely in the main menu, consider a secondary menu in a
sidebar or in the footer – both common areas to find larger menus.
Also, if you decide to use drop-down or
popup menus off the main menu, pay attention to the number of items
and their order. The most visited pages should be listed at the top.
Likewise, list your best selling products or services in the most
prominent places in your navigation system.
8) Review links to your social media
pages. Marketing through social media content is more important than
ever. Internet users are much more likely to follow you on social
media than to visit your site. Make sure that visitors to your site
know you have a presence on their favorite social media site(s).
Place social media icons in an easy to find area of each page. Make
sure the links are valid. Social media sites often change their
APIs. Make sure your “like” and “share” links for those
sites work correctly.
9) Review your “About Us,” FAQ, and
“Contact Us” pages. Does your “About Us” page include the
latest information about your staff and your company? Are all the
questions and answers on your FAQ page still relevant? How about the
information on your “Contact Us” page?
Making your business more personable is
a proven way to impress and win over clients. Put some thought into
what you say about your business and your staff on your “About Us”
page. Replace 'cold facts and history' with a story-like
presentation. Show friendly pictures of your staff at work.
Don't let the FAQ page become bloated.
This slows down performance and makes it more difficult for users to
find the information they need. Remove all Q and A's that are no
longer relevant. If your list is still long, try some different
presentation methods and search options to make it easier for the
user to find what they are looking for.
Does your “Contact Us” page have
the latest information on how to contact you? Are contact forms
streamline and do they work? Are all the fields relevant? Visitors
are more likely to use your form if it is short and does not ask for
too much personal information.
10) Streamline checkout. If your site
uses a shopping cart checkout or if you allow clients to pay online,
make sure this process is as streamline and simple as possible. For
example, if you ask for a fax number, remove it. In 2016, it's just
not needed any more. If you have separate areas for billing and
shipping addresses, there should be a simple way to auto-fill one
after the information is entered in the other. If you already have a
button or checkbox for this, make sure it works.
When making a purchase, users expect to
have to provide more information. But, this process should be as
easy and quick as possible. Your visitors may put things in their
shopping cart and intent to purchase. But if your checkout process
is frustrating or too long, they are likely to leave. Online users
have come to expect 'easy and quick.' If your process is to
frustrating and long, they will go to your competitors.
A few small changes, some review time,
and some quick checks can revitalize your website and your visitors
experience. It's worth a little 'spring cleaning' time!
