10 ideas to spring clean your website
When was the last time you updated your website content, look and feel? Keeping your website fresh and up-to-date shows customers you care about their online experience. Spring is the perfect time to review your content, make light improvements and bring customers back to your site.
Here are 10 ways to spring clean your website:
#1 Update your home page header
The home page header section is the first thing customers see when they land on your site. Use this space to quickly communicate the following:
What it is you offer (the problem you solve)
How it makes customers lives better (the outcome)
What they need to do to buy it (eg. Buy now button)
^ These are the questions customers are asking. If they can’t find out the answer to these things within about 10 seconds, they’ll lose interest and move onto the next site.
#2 Get better images
Have you ever visited a site and start cringing at the cliche photos being used? As more and more people skim read websites, photos choice is invaluable for communicating your message. Poor quality stock photos and mis-matched photos to text creates confusion and other negative emotions — that ultimately drive people away from your site instead of inviting them into your products and services.
Invest in some good quality photos. We recommend iStock, or paying a local photographer to visit your business and snap a few pictures of your products, team and operations. Which leads us to our next point…
#3 Update your team photos and bio
At LeaderWeb, we often come across businesses with outdated team bios and photos. Sometimes the employee doesn’t even work there anymore!
Your team is invaluable. If you’re a service based business, what customers are really buying is your team, because they’re the ones delivering the product or service.
When customers visit your Team About page, are they getting the best, up-to-date information? Are your team member photos clear, and are they smiling?! :D
If you’re based in Brisbane, we recommend Faith Thiang photography to update your team photos.
#4 Invite customers into a story
Are you talking about your product features and benefits? If that’s all your doing, you’re missing out on a TUN of sales. Stop selling and starting inviting customers into a story.
To do that, we suggest using the Storybrand & sales frameworks found at businessmadesimple.com to clarify your marketing message and create a ‘SalesScript’ that positions your product as a solution to your customer's problem. We asked them for a 7-day free trial which you can find here.
#5 Freshen up your brand
Are you making the best use of your brand’s unique identity and personality? Or is your brand in need of a revamp or refresh? Our friends at Yellow Duck Creative can help you out with that one.
This is a good time to go through your site and make sure your:
Website primary and secondary colours are correct
The right font is being used
Your logo is clear and not pixelated
#6 Check your T&Cs are up to date
Having appropriate website policies (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Cookie Policy) is foundational to meeting privacy laws set by governments, and therefore should not be neglected.
In Australia, businesses are subject to the ‘The Australian Privacy Principles’ (or APPs). These are the cornerstone of the privacy protection framework outlined in the Privacy Act of 1988. If you struggle with insomnia, you should try reading the Privacy Act legislation before bed… It will put you to sleep in no time!
To create a privacy policy and website terms online, we recommend GetTerms.io — For $150 (lifetime rate), you’ll have it sorted in just a few minutes.
#7 Clean up your SEO
When was the last time you checked your SEO score? With the right tools and help, you can keep track of important metrics such as:
Your overall website Health Score (SEO)
Your domain authority score
Referring domains and # of backlinks
Website traffic (organic, paid, direct, social)
Keyword searches
Investing in your SEO takes time, but it’s worth it in the long-run… and growing a small business is playing the long game!
Tip: Use this free broken link checker by ahrefs to find any broken links on your website.
If you’d like a full report of your website SEO and suggestions to improve it, talk to our team! We don’t offer full-suite SEO services or google advertising, but we can suggest great local businesses that do so.
#8 Update your Call To Actions
Do you have passive aggressive Call To Action’s (CTA’s) on your site? Take a moment now honestly review your website. Do your call to actions make sense? Is the language too weak or not clear enough?
Weak CTAs: ‘Get started’, ‘Let’s Connect’, ‘Hear from us’, ‘Learn more’
Strong CTAs: ‘Buy now’, ‘Schedule A Call’, ‘Order Online’, ‘Get A Quote’
Keep your CTAs clear and consistent across your website. Be confident when you call customers to action!
#9 Secure your domain extensions
Did you know the latest ‘.au’ domain extension is now available in Australia? Securing your relevant domain names is important to protect your brand from potential impersonation attacks online.
Here’s a simple checklist to copy-paste to your IT provider:
Secure all available extensions for our business name .com .com.au .net .au
Redirect all secondary domains to our primary domain
Ensure Multi-factor authentication is enabled on our domain ownership account
Likewise, securing the account that holds your domain keys is just as important.
For cyber security and domain name support, we recommend talking to the team at ShadowSafe Brisbane. You can book a free Domain Audit on their website right now.
#10 update your entire website, because let’s be honest — you probably need it
Is your website hosted on an old Wordpress theme or platform? Is it getting slow, clunky, or just feels out of date? Websites age fast, like most things online.
Oftentimes, it’s easier to just hit the reset and start from scratch.
There’s something wonderful about starting from a blank canvas! It gives you an opportunity to:
Clarify your brand message
Rethink your core product offering
Rebuild your site to how you want it to look and operate
Upgrade the technology that runs your site (eg. modern drag-drop builder)
Provide a better mobile user experience
Apply modern automation and integrations to your new site
Updating your website is a great investment. It professionalises your business and builds confidence to market your products and services to new and existing customers.
Plus, the Australian Government is backing you through their ‘Technology Investment Boost’ (May 22 budget)…
Small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50 million (so the majority of us), can invest in a new website or website improvements, and claim 120% of the cost as a deduction. — Budget.gov.au
Build your next site with Leader Web
A website shouldn’t cost you ten thousand dollars or ten weeks of your time.
When you choose Leader Web, you’ll get website your business needs today — designed and built for you on Squarespace, ready to go-live within 7 days.
All of our websites are fixed-price with inclusive benefits such as:
Customised design
Copywriting assistance
Go-Live support (connecting your domain etc.)
Get a quality website, at a fixed price, ready within a week.
Written by Lachlan Nicolson, based in Brisbane.
