No matter how busy you are, checking your website at least once a year is a good thing to do. Some of the checklist items below are just a 5 minute job, while others will be a little more time consuming. Some you can easily do yourself, others you will need the help of your web designer. Have a look at the items below, have a look at your website and check how you can improve your website and make it an even better marketing/communication tool.
Company information
Do you have a staff listing? Is it still up-to-date with the correct names, titles, and other contact information? Check your ‘Contact ‘or ‘About’ page or similar pages that discusses your company history, make sure it’s up-to-date, check time references such as ‘we’ve been in business for ten years.’
Contact Information
Check all contact information on your website. Are phone and fax numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses listed still up-to-date?
Don’t forget your social networks!
Email Routing
If you’re using info@yourdomain.co.nz as the main email address on your site, is it being routed to the correct person? If your shopping cart sends order information to sales@yourdomain.co.nz, is that going where it needs to go?
Contact Forms
Check your contact form(s) and make sure they work the way you want. Are they easy to use? Need they be updated? You might want to add extra fields; how did people found your site or extra information (company name, country, address etc). Also, try to submit without the required information and check what error messages are given.
Shopping Cart
Do you have an online shop? Test your cart functionality and all checkout forms. Don’t forget the contact details and content of the transactional emails.
Prices
Check your pricing. Make sure that any prices mentioned on your website are current.
Social Profiles
Check all of your online (social) profiles (Facebook, YouTube, twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest etc). Is it time to update them? Are they consistent? Make sure you’re using the same avatar across all our social media for better branding.
Directory Listings
Check your profile, contact details, photos and links for your online directory listings. Are the categories you’ve submitted the website to still up-to-date?
Essential online NZ directories to submit your website to
About Pages
Make sure the about page is still accurate. Does it need any new images? Think of new staff, company cars, signage, office interior, etc
Products & Services Pages
Check if all products and services are still current. Have you added any new products or services? Are the product photos used still up-to-date? What about pricing, descriptions, specifications?
Portfolios and Photo Galleries
Do you have a portfolio or photo gallery on your website? Check if your portfolio or gallery shows your latest/best work.
Outgoing links
It’s a source of frustration when clicking on links that don’t work. Plus it’s not good for your search engine rankings. Check all (outgoing) links on your site.
Password Protected Areas
If you have any password-protected areas, do the passwords need to be changed? If you had staff changes, this might be a good idea.
Search Engine Rankings
Check your search engine rankings. Search engines can bring you traffic, but rankings change. Check your ranking for your main keywords. Does it need some tweaking?
Time References
Update time references. Information with specific time reference on your website need to up to date.
Domain name(s)
What domain name(s) do you currently own? If you’re serious about protecting your brand, company name and/or trade mark you might want to look at other domain name extensions or name variations as well.
Privacy Policy & Terms
Check your privacy policy, terms & conditions, and disclaimers to ensure they are up to date and reflect your current company policies.
Website Content
Have a real good look at the content on your website. Check for outdated or incorrect content. Think of how you can improve your website.
Social Media
If you are not yet utilizing social media networks (Facebook, YouTube, twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest etc), maybe now it’s time to have a go. Start thinking how you can utilize these ‘new’ social media websites.
We’ve published a handy Facebook Business Guide to get you started with Facebook.
Web Statistics
Perform a review of your website statistics (compare across previous years). What can you do to increase your website traffic? Are there ways to add more keywords to content? Which pages perform okay and which don’t.
Overall Website Review
This is definitely not a ‘once a year task’ but something you should do regularly. How fresh is the content on my site? Do any pages need to be updated? Do I need to add pages? Can I improve the website by adding new features (gallery, newsletter, blog, online shop). How does the website look? Is it time for a different design? Is the design and/or layout outdated? Does it still reflect your company image?
Contact us if you need any help with the above items.
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