It’s crazy to think that 2020 is already here. Yet another year (and decade) has gone by so quickly!
Website Audit Time!
From a business perspective, there are a lot of New Year tasks that you have to complete. One thing you might want to add to your list is an audit of your website. Most people hear the word “audit” and shudder with fear of the IRS. If you prefer calling it a review or update to make it sound less painful, that’s fine with me.
The point is you (or someone important) should be taking the time to go through your entire website at least once or twice a year. Being that this is the beginning of the year, it’s a good reminder to accomplish this particular task.
Some websites are more in-depth and complex than others, so how long it will take will depend partially on the site itself. It should take as long as it needs to take to do it properly.
Why You Should Periodically Review Your Site
The goal of a website audit is to review everything to make sure it works, while necessary updates, revisions and corrections based on anything that has changed since the last time you went through it.
Go page by page and read all the content. Is it all still valid? Does the verbiage need changing or updating? Does content need to be added? Look it over carefully. Sometimes it’s just a good idea to make some edits while you are in there. It can help your content from becoming too stagnant. Even a few minor wording tweaks here and there can ultimately help with SEO.
At the same time, look at the design elements and functional aspects on every page of the site. Do all the links work? Do the pictures look right (clear images that are proportioned properly)? Are the colors, fonts and branding elements consistent? Make sure everything looks good and works appropriately. Think about the consumer experience when they visit the site. It should be easy to navigate and all the features should function as intended.
Other Tips
Don’t forget to look at the site on all platforms, including desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices. Try different web browsers, as well.If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you are already missing out on a ton of opportunities. Just because it looks good one place doesn’t mean it looks good everywhere.
If you have a blog with a lot of regular activity, you probably don’t need to go back and review every single post. That can be extremely time consuming. At least look at the main blog feed page to confirm that things are displaying properly with feature images, titles and intro blurbs. Also, you may notice some articles that are no longer valid or are way outdated. It may be time to delete them or update as needed.
If things are way out-of-date with your website as a whole, it may be time to consider a complete overhaul of the site or building a new one altogether. No website is designed to last forever, especially as technology keeps changing and altering the way the Internet is consumed. Updating the content regularly is a start, but eventually comes a time when you want to do something new.
If you would like an objective audit of your small business website, NextGear Marketing is here to help. Contact me today for more information about the process.
NextGear Marketing 