New Year’s Resolutions For Your Website

As the New Year’s rolled around we’ve all had some time to think about what changes we’d like to make over the coming months. Have you perhaps made some resolutions? Have you already suffered a relapse?

One thing you can’t afford to ignore this year is your website.

The pace of change in digital design and development means that you can be quickly left behind. In the spirit of a new start here are my resolutions for your website. A few quick tips to help keep your site fighting fit in the New Year.

Learn Something New

Just like that gym membership you’re trying to forget you’ve got, when was the last time you actually went onto your website and had a good look around? When was the last time you went through the checkout procedure on your site? Have you ever been through the checkout procedure on your site!? Use it, you might see some potential for improvement, some outdated content or be pleasantly surprised about how usable, well designed and pleasant the experience is.

Lose Weight & Get Fit

Last year saw Google introduce it’s PageSpeed Insights tool allowing website owners to check how fast their site loads on a mobile and desktop device. If your website’s been well built then there shouldn’t be much work to do but there’s no doubt that a faster-loading, user–friendly site will help your audience and assist in gaining search engine rankings. Plus if Google’s telling you to do something, it’s probably best that you do it!

De-Clutter

As time goes by the temptation to keep adding and adding different bits and pieces to your website becomes compelling. You’re de-cluttering your house, why not your website? Make it easy for your users to find the information relevant to them without being overwhelmed with content that has accumulated over time. Ask yourself; do you still need that 2012 regional business of the year runner-up emblem that has been taking up valuable space on your homepage? Does what’s on each page enhance that page? If not you’re probably better off removing it.

Help Others

Last year it’s possible that the traditional desktop computer was not the most common device people accessed your website on. Visitor statistics have shown that people using touch-screen mobile and tablet devices out-numbered those using desktop computers for the first time. This begs the question of how your site performs on those devices, do you have a separate mobile site or does your website respond to display differently on different screen sizes or does your site display the same across all platforms? Help your audience by tailoring your website to them and the platform they’re accessing it on.

For more advice on any aspect of your website contact [email protected].