Time to do a little website spring cleaning and rewarding!
I love spring cleaning because it always offers me a fresh new look on the abundance of my life. All the things I have and have accomplished come to the surface to be polished and appreciated. This is true with my home, business and my website! So today we are going to chat about website spring cleaning and how to make it simple, easy and fun!
Check out this Facebook Live where I share with you 5 steps to look to give your website a spring cleaning refresh!
Time for a little digital decluttering and website spring cleaning! Join me to learn 5 steps you can take to make your website even harder for you and your biz!
Posted by Teresa Schlup, Web Design on Wednesday, 3 April 2019
As our business grows so does our website. New products, services and aspects of our story begin to emerge and we feel compelled to share it. Adding to our websites is natural, and important as we begin to shift and change, but how often do we take the time to clear it up?
Many of us, myself included spend most of our time focused on growth with little focus on what we are leaving behind. And what we are leaving behind could very easily be old and outdated information that can create confusion with our online visitors.
So today I thought I would share with you all my top five declutter steps that I do an a very regular basis to ensure my online message is clear, concise and focused on who you are today.
Step 1: Remove Unused Themes & Templates
I thought we would start with the easiest decluttering tip to complete as it literally takes minutes to do. Most commonly used web design platforms provide themes to make building a website easier. Finding the right theme to fit your needs can be a little bit of trial and error. So during the initial design phases it is common to install a few before finding the one that fits your needs best. Added to that, some web design platforms will offer multiple pre-installed themes as a suggestion to help you in making your selection.
Having these unused extra themes installed can take up space and introduce vulnerabilities if they are not properly maintained. Take a few minutes reviewing the templates installed and remove those you aren’t using.
Each website platform handles this a little bit differently. WordPress uses themes, Squarespace use templates, and Wix allows you to create multiple sites with different templates. Check out the links below to see how to remove the unnecessary themes and templates on your website.
Help Removing WordPress Themes
How to SquareSpace Template
How to remove unused Wix sites
Doing this is an investment in the health of your website and your business so go and grab yourself an extra cup of coffee because you have earned a break!
Step 2: Remove Unused Plug-ins & Apps
Plugins and apps are software add-ons you can use to increase the functionality of your website. Like themes and templates it can take a little trial and error to find which ones you want to use to make the most out of your website. They also can take up space and introduce vulnerabilities in your website, as well as add confusion for your website visitors.
This step can take a little more time, but removing those unused plug-ins and apps is time well spent! Take a look at these links to help you get it done.
Remove WordPress Plug-ins
Remove Wix apps
Be sure to review your website after you remove each plugin to ensure it didn’t cause any on site issues.
This is another important investment in the health of your website and your business so why now reward yourself with a walk outside and enjoy the fresh spring air. Go ahead, you’ve earned it!
Step 3: Update Your Logos
Over time logos can change. These changes may be minor or they could be quite different. Either way you want to make sure you are updating the logos across your website and social media content to ensure that your most recent logo is the one being found.
Bonus points when you take a little time to refresh your printed materials as well from business cards, stationary, flyers and anything else you use on a regular basis.
This is a huge investment in then health of your branding and your business. It demonstrates you care about what you are doing and who you are serving, and that you truly value all you are building. So why not reward yourself by calling a friend for lunch! You can use the time out of the office to distribute your new business cards.
Step 4: Remove Your Unused Media
Now this decluttering step can take a little extra time, especially if you haven’t done it for a while, but it is one that can help keep your website running smoothly and loading without delays. Media files can take up a lot of space on your website, particularly the large images, audio and video files. They also may be searchable items that no longer represent your brand very well, which can cause confusion to your website visitors.
Spend some time reviewing the media files on your website and delete any that are not in use. This step may take a little longer and you may want to do it in a few sessions depending on how many images you have.
Deleting Media in WordPress
Managing Files in SquareSpace
Deleting Media in Wix
This is a huge investment in the overall functionality of your website as well as your brand! Having these unused images out there take up space and offer visuals of you that may not be true anymore. So pour yourself a glass of wine, sip and enjoy!
5. Value of Your Content
As your business has shifted and changed, so has your content. Over time it is pretty common to build up a collection of pages that offer outdated and sometimes even conflicting information to our website visitors. If your website visitors read outdated details they may very well have unrealistic expectations as to how you can serve them. And if they come across conflicting information, they are much more likely to leave.
As you review the content on your website ask yourself “does this offer value?” If no, it’s time to make a choice. Update the content to offer value, or remove the page. One thing to note removing pages can impact your SEO visibility to make sure the page can’t be repurposed before deleting.