5 Ways to Update Your Website For The New Year

January is my favorite month. There’s nothing better than decluttering, organizing & prepping for the new year. Whether your goal for the new year is to have a brand new website, or just refresh your current one – the start of a new year is the perfect time to focus on your business goals & update your most important asset – your website.

It’s the hub of your business that helps you build trust with your audience, converts leads, and brings in more profit. It needs to be maintained to ensure it’s benefitting you. If you’re not sure where to begin, read this post to see the 5 ways you can update your website!

Updated Outdated Information

Visit your website & ensure everything is still accurate and up-to-date. Some of this includes:

• Copyright Date: Having a date from years ago will make it seem like the website is not updated frequently, or that you’re not an active business.
• Privacy Policy: Is it up-to-date with new privacy law changes? Is there anything missing? If you don’t currently have a privacy policy, this might be a good time to get one to avoid fines in the future! Read my blog post to see if you need one – Do you really need a privacy policy?
• Contact Information/Address
• Service Pricing
• Social Media Links
• Other Information: Have you added a new team member? Do you list dates/number of clients you’ve served? Those are all elements you can update.

Fix Website Errors & Broken Links

Errors happen! Sometimes you delete a page or update a URL and links no longer work. Instead of having visitors potentially land on a 404 page, check all of your websites for errors and redirect URLs if needed.

Analyze Your Website’s Performance

It’s always important to know how your website is performing. This should technically be done every month, but even more important at the start of the year! What’s working/needs improvement, how visitors are finding your website, what pages are popular, etc.

Great platforms to use for website data includes:

• Google Analytics – A great way to see user data about your website visitors.
• Google Search Console – Track your search engine performance & ranking.
• HotJar – Want to see how visitors act on your website? Watch them in real-time as they scroll through your website, and what they click on.
• Pingdom Speed – Check your website speed.

Update Your Website Design

Does your website design still make you feel confident? Are you proud to show it off whenever someone asks for your website link? If you’re slightly embarrassed or feel it’s not up to date with your competitors and trends, this may be your sign that your website design needs a refresh!

In today’s digital age, consumers expect businesses to have a strong online presence, and a well-designed website is the cornerstone of that presence. I typically recommend having your website redesigned at least every 2-3 years. The digital world is constantly evolving, which means it’s more important than ever to have a website that will make you stand out from others.

If you’re in need a website design:

• Custom Design: Perfect if you’ve been in business for a while, and ready to make the best return on investment for your business. View my website design services right here.
• Website Template – Perfect if you’re a new business that just needs a website up, or if you’re not looking to make a big investment at this time. It’s fully customizable for your business, and you’ll be able to start off with a design/layout that was created by a professional designer. Shop my affordable pre-made Showit website templates right here.

Add The New Content

If you’re like most people, there’s probably a ton of new testimonials or portfolio pieces that need to be added to your website – but you just haven’t had the time to add them in. Now’s the perfect time to update all of those important aspects of your website!

NEED HELP UPDATING YOUR WEBSITE?

If you’re still wanting to check other aspects of your website, I recommend getting my free Website Audit checklist, which contains all of the information you’ll need to know on what should be updated on your website.