Your business website is always evolving.
While you may achieve a polished design or effective layout – a web developer and designer can be particularly useful for this – there are always opportunities for improvement to ensure your website is user-friendly, functional, and aligned with your goals.
As your business focus shifts or you pivot your offers, these changes tend to happen naturally. However, it’s also supportive to have a regularly scheduled check-in to audit and refine your site as a whole.
The start of a new year is a perfect opportunity to give your website this new look and feel.
Here are eight ways to refresh your website.
01: Update your content to reflect your current services, offers, policies, and business information.
As a business owner, you have likely refined your services, business information, and policies over time.
Whether this was in response to market changes, feedback from clients, or shifts in your personal goals and interests, these changes are important for the longevity of your business! They show a willingness to learn, grow, and evolve to best serve your clients and reach business goals.
However, it’s imperative that these changes are reflected through your website.
Take time to review your website pages to ensure all of the information you’re sharing is current and relevant.
- Audit your Services Page. Ensure your services and pricing are up-to-date, and that your package inclusions and timelines are reflective of your current offers.
- Update your contact information. Verify that your listed phone number, email address, and physical address are current.
- Refresh your About Page. Can you add any new designations, certificates, accomplishments, or awards to this section to showcase your authority and expertise?
- Revamp your FAQ Page as needed. Have your business policies changed? Can you provide further clarification on any of the questions listed? Can you add or remove questions based on what your audience has actually been asking about?
- Update any outdated or poor-quality images. Is it time for a new branding shoot?
Incorrect or irrelevant information can mislead or misinform customers. A comprehensive content overview like this can help you identify outdated information and pinpoint opportunities for improvement within your site as a whole.
02: Optimize your content for SEO.
If you have goals of growing your business in the new year, focusing on SEO can do wonders for your website visibility.
As you review your website content and pages, consider where you could add in relevant keywords to help improve your search engine rankings.
Other suggestions for creating an SEO friendly site include:
- Auditing your content length. Make sure each page on your website has at least 300 words of unique content.
- Regularly publishing blog posts. This can help increase your chances of being found online, and indicates to search engines like Google that your website is active and relevant.
- Optimizing images to reduce site load times.
- Prioritizing web accessibility. Online spaces need to comply with specific standards and practices to make them usable by as many people as possible.
I have multiple blog posts that go into more detail on SEO if this is a priority for you this year. Check out Improving Your SEO for More Traffic and Sales and Tips for SEO-Friendly Content for Your Website.
03: Align your homepage and navigation with your current business goals.
Your website homepage is a key landing spot for visitors to your site. Regular updates to your homepage can help you funnel traffic to specific pages, or encourage certain user actions, based on your current business goals.
To get started,
- Update and/or simplify your navigation. Ensure the 4-6 links you have listed are relevant to your current business offers and goals. Your menu should be intuitive and easy-to-navigate.
- Refresh your pop-up. Or, consider adding a pop-up if you don’t have one already. With appropriate design choices and a clear call-to-action, pop-ups can be an effective way to convert website visitors into subscribers or customers.
- Refresh your website banner. Or consider adding one if you don’t already have a banner (this is a static bar at the very top of your website which has a specific announcement or call-to-action). Which offer or service are you focused on promoting this year? Consider highlighting it here.
- Ensure your homepage content reflects your current offers and goals. At a quick glance, users should understand what you do and how you can help them. Your homepage is also a great place to highlight what’s new in your business. Whether that’s a new product, offer, or pricing structure, consider refreshing your homepage to reflect the exciting changes you’re working on this year.
Your homepage is often the first impression visitors will have of your company. It’s also a place that clients and customers will return to often, by default.
A regular refresh of this page can help both current and prospective customers stay informed about any changes to your business.
When designed strategically, it can also help you to hit your business goals through the inclusion of specific CTAs (calls-to-action), or the promotion of specific services.
04: Refresh the design of your website to reflect your brand.
Is the design of your website reflective of your current brand? The colours, fonts, and logo you use across all of your marketing should be consistent, to reassure your audience they’re in the right place.
These design decisions should also align with your business goals and brand identity – supporting your values, messaging, and storytelling. If your branding has evolved over the past year, your website should evolve too.
Alternatively, if your initial design choices were made without intentional branding in mind, this year could be the perfect time to establish a clear and cohesive brand identity and accompanying website.
- Update your brand logo if it has changed to ensure consistency.
- Revise your website’s colour palette to reflect your current brand identity.
- Adjust site fonts based on your current brand identity.
Subtle enhancements to modernize the look and feel of your business, improve readability, or refine your brand identity can make your website more appealing, engaging, and aligned with your vision for the new year.
However, keep in mind that frequent major changes to your logo, colour scheme, or overall brand identity can confuse your audience. Visual brand elements play a key role in building awareness and trust, so aim to maintain consistency while making any updates.
05: Evaluate your website performance and identify areas for improvement.
Aesthetic improvements to your website are great, but if your website is performing poorly these visual elements aren’t going to be enough to deliver results or keep visitors happy.
Take the time to analyze your website performance so you can identify areas of improvement.
- Check page loading times. Slow load times can frustrate your audience and cause a high bounce rate (people leaving your website). They can also negatively impact SEO. Optimize images, use a reliable hosting service, and limit your number of plugins to reduce load times. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help you test your pages.
- Monitor analytics. Use tools like Google Analytics to better understand user behaviour. Do particular pages have high bounce rates (indicating a possible issue with the page or irrelevant information)? Are users able to find the information they need quickly or do there seem to be problem areas in terms of user flow?
- Review top pages. How long are people spending on your website? Which pages are they spending the most time on? Are these pages updated? Is the content relevant to your current business goals? Are all links working?
- Analyze your conversion rate. Are your website visitors following through with your desired CTAs? For example, subscribing to your newsletter or booking a consultation call? A low conversion rate might indicate issues with a form, or a lack of alignment between your website visitors and your offers.
- Do you have any broken links or 404 error pages? Assess and fix these!
User behaviour is very telling. Use these insights to make relevant updates to your website structure and content.
06: Enhance security features to protect your website and business.
Cybersecurity continues to be an important area of focus for businesses of all sizes. Prioritizing web security can help protect your business and website users from a variety of threats – from data theft to phishing.
Safeguarding sensitive data through precautions such as an SSL certificate, updated plugins, and other security tools can help build trust and boost sales by reassuring visitors and maintaining brand reputation. These security measures will also support SEO, and can help prevent cyber attacks on your website and data.
As part of this new year audit,
- Change your passwords. Opt for strong passwords and avoid reusing the same password for multiple accounts or websites.
- Back-up your data. Regularly create website backups to protect against data loss in the case of an attack.
- Update software and plugins. This can help address vulnerabilities.
- Install anti-virus software to protect your devices from threats.
- Purchase or renew your SSL certificate. SSL is a protocol for encrypting Internet traffic and verifying server identity. These certificates enable websites to use HTTPS, which is more secure than HTTP.
A lot of small business owners overlook web security, but it’s essential for protecting your data and building consumer trust. By making time for these precautionary steps, you can help create a safer experience for yourself and your website users.
07: Confirm that the functional elements of your website are working.
The functional elements of your website play heavily into user experience.
From forms to buttons to general navigation, if parts of your website are not working as expected it can lead to lack of consumer trust and high bounce rates.
- Inspect your web pages to ensure everything looks as it should.
- Check and test your website forms. Do they function as expected?
- Test your website buttons. Do they take you to a relevant link? Would a different web page be better suited for this particular button?
- Test your website links. Are any broken or no longer relevant?
- Test your navigation. Is everything working as intended? Is your menu easy for users to navigate?
- Check your website on mobile. Does everything work as expected across devices? A responsive design helps ensure your website is accessible for all.
08: Consider adding new features or pages to support user experience.
With the design and function of your website in check, consider adding new features or pages to improve user experience!
For example,
- Blog or newsletter. If you don’t already have these elements in place, they can be a great opportunity to connect with your audience on a regular basis. Monthly blogs or emails can help you showcase your expertise and gain audience trust.
- Portfolio page. Adding testimonials, reviews, case studies, and/ or examples of your work to your website can help boost social proof and build trust with your audience. If you already have this, ensure it’s updated with recent projects and consumer feedback.
- Chatbot. Implementing a site chatbot can help provide support for visitor inquiries more quickly than a call or email.
- Interactive elements. Quizzes or fun calculators can help encourage visitor engagement, while also providing you with insights into customer behaviour and preferences.
Have fun! What would help your brand and website stand out? What has your audience been asking for? What would they appreciate seeing on your site?
Start the new year feeling refreshed
The new year offers a refreshing, “clean-slate” feeling across all areas of our lives, including our business.
So, take some time to dream big, set this year’s goals, and then audit and edit your website so it’s aligned with your vision and direction for the year. Thoughtful and intentional updates can help your website reflect your evolving brand.
By taking this process step-by-step you can create a site that’s visually appealing, functional, and user-friendly, without the overwhelm.
Of course, if you need additional guidance or support, I’m here to help. My Digital Marketing Audit is a great place to start.
