This month we have been spring cleaning all the things we need to make our business as effective as possible. Today we are tackling your website. If you haven’t reviewed your website in a while, now is a great time to make sure it’s working for you.

 

Check Your Domain Name and Hosting Plan

 

There are a ton of hosting plans. There are some that used to be amazing and then all of a sudden they were not. Maybe they got overwhelmed with business and their customer service went in the tank. Whatever the reason, check and make sure you have the best hosting plan for you. 

 

If you need hosting, we recommend Page One. They host our website and we recommend them to everyone. They are so easy to work with and include edits in their hosting plan. Need a tweak to your page? You can email it to Page One and they will take care of it. Most hosting plans do not include this so it’s a great deal.

 

Make sure your domain is on auto-renew. You don’t want to lose your domain to some squatter because it took you a day to renew. Then they try to sell it back to you for $2,000. It sounds horrible but it absolutely happens. 

 

Keep Your Site Secure

It’s hard to believe that we still have to say this one, but your site has to be secure. It’s shocking how many websites don’t have their SSL installed. To be clear, if you don’t have that little lock icon beside your URL, Google doesn’t want to let people see it. If it does allow them to go to your site it will give them a warning that your site is not secure so any information they enter there is not secure either. This will severely limit your ability to collect emails or do any kind of business through your website. 

 

Test Your Website on All Browsers and Devices

 

You really need to make sure your website is functional on a mobile browser. Maybe your site looks great on your laptop but you get on your phone and it’s a mess. The trend is to go to sites directly from your phone so if you don’t perform well on a mobile device you are shooting yourself in the foot. 

 

Check Your Links

 

Check all the links including your social media icons and any external links on your website. Does your Facebook link really take people to your Facebook page or does it mistakenly take them to your Facebook profile? If you click on a link and it takes you right back to the website, your link is disconnected. Sometimes a link will get disconnected through no fault of your own but you won’t know it unless you are periodically checking your links. This is also a great time to add new links. If you started a YouTube channel and the link isn’t on your website yet, add it now.

 

Update Your Contact Information

Is your contact information correct? Does your contact page work? Sometimes a simple update to your contact page can be life-changing. Maybe you aren’t asking the right question or asking for the right information. Make sure your information is correct and you are easy to find. If you have moved to a new building but haven’t updated your website and someone comes to the old location looking for you, that is very frustrating for them and could cost you a client. 

 

Test the Functionality of Your Forms

 

If someone submits a form on your site but it doesn’t come to you, it does you no good. It just wastes their time. It comes down to reliability. People will only buy from you if they trust you and this is a breach of trust. In their mind, they gave you information and you didn’t do what you said you would do with it. 

 

Proofread Your Whole Website

 

Yes, the entire website. Especially check the homepage and your contact information. Typos on your website make you seem like a company that doesn’t pay attention to detail. If you don’t already use Grammarly, now is a good time to install it. 

 

Review Your Pricing

 

Do you have old prices on your website? Do you list your minimum price on your website so people don’t waste their time if you are not in their budget? If your minimum pricing is $1,000 per month, you don’t need to spend time on calls with clients looking to spend $50 or $100 per month. It wastes their time and yours. 

 

Consider Consistency

 

Is your brand the same across all platforms? It should be. You need the same user name, colors, font, logo, and messaging on each platform. This includes your website. If your website is all red and black but your Instagram is pink and purple, people are going to wonder if they’re in the right place when they go there. It needs to match so make sure that it does. 

 

Conduct a Content Audit to See What’s Working

 

This is where you want to dig into your analytics. Make sure your content is working for your business. We produce one blog per week. The best way to see if it’s working is to go to Google Analytics and check the numbers for each page. Are people going to your services page? Are they spending time on your homepage or do they bounce? That’s something you need to know. If people bounce on your homepage, something is wrong with your homepage. If you have a form where people can get a free something and no one is signing up, something is broken. This is an opportunity to find out and address these things.

 

Update News or Add Your Blog

 

Have you ever gone to a website and saw the section for News and the last article was posted in 2013? Yikes. That doesn’t look good. It means that they haven’t updated their website in 8 years. So, if you have a News tab, make sure your news is up to date. 

 

If you don’t have a blog, why not? Do you know what a blog will do for your SEO? It’s like magic. Blogs make it so much easier to find you because they are super searchable and are updated regularly, which Google loves. If you haven’t started a blog, now is the time. 50 is the magic number. When you hit 50 blogs that’s when Google really starts to tune in to your SEO. Work those keywords into your blog and it will really help drive traffic to your site. 

 

Check Your Analytics

We kind of touched on this in the content audit, but now I’m talking about actually making those edits. If something isn’t working for you, get rid of it. If people aren’t using your website, it isn’t useful for you and all the money you’re spending on it isn’t helping you at all. 

 

Verify Your Call to Action

 

Make sure your call to action is up to date. It has to make sense. You don’t want to confuse your clients. You should have a singular call to action repeated on your homepage. You can have a free download at the bottom, but the rest of the page needs to be the same. Our homepage will prompt you to schedule a call 3 times while you’re scrolling. Calendly is a free tool that integrates directly with your website and allows people to set up quick 15 minute calls with you. This has been very helpful for our business

 

Ask for Feedback

 

Find out what people think. Do your clients like your website? Do they think it’s too crowded or messy? Do they have a hard time navigating? When someone has a hard time navigating your site, they usually aren’t coming back. If you have a customer service survey, include this question in your survey. This will help you improve your overall customer experience. 

 

Get Your Website in Gear

 

Follow these steps to check out your website and make sure you aren’t losing business over something that could be an easy fix. Check back next week for spring cleaning your marketing plan!