A new year, a new outlook on life…perhaps even a new website is on the horizon for your business? If it’s been some time since you looked at your website closely, now is the perfect time to do so…unless you’re already taking action, in which case, congratulations! If not, or if you’re stumped on how best to get started, here’s a quick list from us on things to do for your website for the New Year.
Check Your Analytical Stats
Google Analytics and Search Console are your friends for this item on your itinerary, thanks to their in-depth options and details when it comes to analyzing your website’s statistics. Look at your website’s traffic, the most frequently visited pages and social media, etc. to get a good idea of what’s succeeding and doesn’t need to be changed, or failing and needs an update, pronto.
If neither Google Analytics nor Search Console are installed for your website, what are you waiting for? You can also add a Google Analytics plugin to your website if it’s a WordPress one, for optimum management.
Re-examine Your Website’s SEO
We can never stress it enough: optimization will help your website go a long, long way in increasing traffic, sales, and customer interest. When it comes to SEO, there’s no shortage of to-dos. These are the top ones you can get started with:
- Refresh your keyword research – try looking for synonyms in addition to the latest, hottest keywords and long-tails
- Review and rewrite title and meta description tags based on the keyword research refresh
- Review your image gallery’s alt text and filenames – are they descriptive enough?
- Install and update plugins (Yoast, Screaming Frog, Akismet etc. are good ones to start with)
- Add fresh content to your web pages (especially if they’re under 100 words; 300-500 would be the most ideal, but don’t jam it in if it’s unnecessary)
- Check for duplicate content – Google Search Console is your friend in this case
- Claim any business listings for reputation management’s sake, focusing on major networks to ensure no one else tries to claim your business’s name
This is just a starting point for the many, many tasks you ought to do for your website’s SEO this year. You may find this additional list to be of great benefit as well.
Examine or Re-evaluate Your Social Media
It’s not only important to have social media for your business, but also at this point there’s no longer an excuse to not have it for your business. Set up an account each on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ for starters. If you’ve already got these platforms set up, start forming new campaign plans. You can also look into setting up other social media accounts that you may not realize will boost your business’s online presence.
Check on and Update Your Plugins and Software
Honestly this task is one you should do every two weeks and not just once a year. It’s important to ensure your website’s software and plugins are secure and running smoothly on a regular basis. However, it’s not a bad idea to add this to your New Year’s itinerary anyway; it’s likely that some of the plugins you most frequently use or your software’s distributor may have initiated a new, upgraded version just for the New Year. In fact, signing up for regularly performed updates and maintenance for your software may be the best thing you do this year – especially if it really has been a while since you checked on it!
We want your website to be the best for this New Year, and we hope this list makes a good step forward. If you’re still floored by the amount of things to do to help update and manage your website, contact our team at V3 Media and we can help you get started today.