Time to Spring Clean Your Website?

Spring might finally have arrived … who knows, it may even stop raining soon. Now is an ideal time to take stock and look again at your website in all that fresh, lovely daylight. We’ve weathered the winter, and just as with your home, it makes a lot of sense to pause and review your online offering. Ask yourself, is it time to spring clean your website?

Like a comfy pair of slippers, it’s tempting not to think too hard about your own website. You know it inside out and it offers no surprises. You spent the money, the developers got it finished, right? So it’s good.

But every now and then, you should step back to try, if you can, to look at your website afresh as a new or infrequent visitor. You’ve made the investment, it pays to make sure it really measures up to your competitors.

The results might surprise you.

Why Spring Clean Your Website?

Improve Your Users’ Experience

Your website is often the first point of contact between your business and potential customers. But don’t forget design and user experience are developing all the time. What seemed like a logical call to action and customer flow when you last looked may have become outdated or clunky now.

Don’t forget, website users bore easily. A slight delay or confusion, and they are off. Tools like Hotjar are easy to install and can offer you profound insights into how people are interacting with your website.

Improve Site Performance

Website speed and efficiency are critical to retaining interest. Expected standards for speed and performance increase all the time. What was fast a year ago may not be now.

Outdated plugins, excessive code, and large, unoptimised images can slow down your site. Check your site with a free tool like GTMetrix. You may need a thorough review and clean to help streamline your site’s speed and performance.

Enhance Security

Like a bear, you may have drowsed the winter through: but hackers didn’t. With cyber threats growing more sophisticated, an annual review of your website’s security measures is essential (if not more frequently).

Updating software, plugins, and security protocols are all essential to protect your site from new vulnerabilities. Online tools like intruder.io can help you identify vulnerabilities you had never thought of.

If you’re collecting user data this is essential. The damage to income and reputation when websites are hacked frequently destroys the parent company.

Update Your Content

Outdated content reflects poorly on your company. At it’s best it can make it look like you look inattentive and at it’s worst it can make it look as if you are no longer trading.

Google loves fresh content – get it right, and it should improve your rankings.

How to Spring Clean Your Website

Audit Your Content

Start with a comprehensive content audit. Categorise content as keep, update, or delete. Remove anything outdated, incorrect or no longer reflects your brand‘s direction.

Enhance pages that generate traffic but may need a refresh to stay current and useful.

Pay particular attention to announcements, banners and news – they date quickly and should be removed from your homepage once no longer relevant. If it’s historic but is valuable content, make sure it is clearly marked as such.

Add fresh content and make that prominent.

Review and Re-Optimise for SEO

Search trends change all the time. Searches have got longer and more sophisticated ‘Curry Sheffield’ has become ‘best Gujerati restaurant in central Sheffield’. Unless you continually work on your SEO (or pay someone to do so), it is likely the strategies employed when your site was created will have soured by now.

Analyse your site’s search engine optimisation (SEO), we can do this for you, or consider a tool like SemRush. Update meta descriptions, tags, and URLs if necessary. Consider new keywords that reflect current trends in your industry and integrate them into your content.

Refresh the Design

Visual appeal can make or break a visitor’s interest. If your website looks dated, it might be time for a design overhaul. Has your logo changed? Your site needs to reflect that. Modernise your layout, update your colour scheme, and ensure your design is responsive across all devices.

Consider the screen sizes used to view the site. In general, screens are getting bigger (both mobile and desktop). Consider modifying your site to exploit this.

Small changes to the design, executed well can brighten a website: improving it‘s appearance and making it easier to use.

Simplify Your Navigation

Evaluate the structure and navigation of your site – again, Hotjar is a great tool for this. The goal is to ensure that users can find what they’re looking for with minimal clicks. Simplify your menus, reorganise pages under appropriate categories, and ensure a logical flow that enhances user experience.

Review your site search (or consider adding it). Is it helping your users get to where you want them?

Check for Functionality

You might be losing leads without knowing it. It’s taken time and effort to get those visitors. If they raise their hand, make sure you‘re ready to answer.

Test all forms, checkout processes, and interactive elements to ensure they work correctly. Repair or replace any features that malfunction.

Renew Graphics and Media

Images and video may be slowing your site down. Image technology has improved in recent years. This could be a quick win.

Replace old images and videos with new, high-quality media that better represent your brand and message. Ensure all media files are optimised for quick loading. If you’re not using it already, implement lazy loading wherever possible.

Your site speed should improve dramatically.

Upgrade Technology

If your site is running on outdated platforms or plugins, it’s time to upgrade. This can improve both functionality and security. Check for the latest versions and compatibility.

Review Compliance

Laws change all the time. Your website won’t without your intervention.

Make sure your website complies with the latest legal requirements, including GDPR guidelines for privacy and data protection. Update your privacy policy and terms of service as needed.

Conclusion

Spring cleaning your website isn’t just about aesthetics.

It needn’t be spring, but a thorough review is a crucial practice that enhances user experience, improves performance, boosts security and ensures your content remains relevant.

This season, take the time to meticulously refine your website – your digital presence will be all the better for it. Whether you manage this internally or seek external expertise, investing in your website’s health is essential for maintaining an engaging and competitive online presence.