A twenty-item checklist to start the year right.
Is your website ready for the new year? We pose this question each year because we know how important your website is to how customers see and interact with your business. We hear often from small businesses that they don’t know when it is time for a website redesign. The new year is the perfect time to tackle any updates that you may have put off in the last year.
As you set your business goals for the new year—in this case, the new decade—you need to ensure that your website is in line with your goals. A good website can support and reinforce those goals, or it can undermine them, depending on the design, message, and functionality it offers. We understand that it may be hard to evaluate if your website is ready. Maybe it’s been a few years since your last redesign, but you think it’s still “ok.” To help determine if your ok-website is actually sufficient for the task, we’ve created a 20-item checklist.
When to Redesign Your Website
A Checklist
If you answer YES to at least 15 of these items, you are in good shape for the coming year. We do suggest you focus on fine-tuning any areas where you answered NO. However, if you fell below the 15 mark, your website needs some focus in the new year.
- Is your website mobile-friendly?
- Is it secure (does it have an SSL certificate installed)?
- Is your service and products information up-to-date?
- Are your team profiles and pictures up-to-date?
- Is it easy to navigate and find information?
- Do you get compliments from your customers on your website? (if you get complaints, this is a NO)
- Was it redesigned in the last 3 years?
- Does the messaging match your current and future business direction?
- Does the site’s functionality match your business needs?
- Do you have a clear call-to-action and multiple ways for a user to reach you?
- Do you have analytics installed so that you can monitor your traffic and track your progress?
- Do you have Search Console verified?
- Do you have unique, SEO-friendly titles and descriptions on all of your most valuable content?
- Are you maintaining your WordPress updates to keep it secure (WordPress, themes, and plugins)?
- Do all the parts of your website function properly, particularly outside tools installed on the site?
- Have you posted to your news section in the last 60 days?
- Are the links to your social profiles accurate and complete?
- Is your website better than your major competitors?
- Does your site design feel fresh and current?
- Can your customers and potential customers find your website easily?
How did you do? We are here to help if you found some areas that need attention. We love to work with small businesses to create and implement fresh ideas to make the most of your online presence. Your website should be your hardest working business asset. We can help make that happen.
