Ready Your Website for the New Year (Any Time of Year)
Simple steps to ensure your website stands out all year round
The fall weather is settling in here in the Midwest; crisp, cool air, vibrant red, orange, and yellow leaves falling about, and snuggly evenings in a cozy blanket with hot tea are abundant. As we embrace the changing seasons, the excitement and anxiety of the upcoming holiday hustle is among us. For business owners, this often means frantically pulling together Black Friday deals and end-of-year sales.
But amidst all the holiday preparation and serving your clients, it’s crucial not to neglect your own website. It is often the first point of contact potential customers have with your brand. Ensuring it’s updated and fully functional can make the difference between a bounce and a conversion. A website that is visually appealing and runs smoothly can leave a lasting impression, fostering trust and encouraging visitors to engage further with your content.
Let’s ensure your website continues to captivate visitors both visually and functionally. Make it easy for potential customers to work with or buy from you.
In this article
Does your brand need a refresh?
Do your main pages reflect any changes to services or products?
Update Images and Verify Alt Text
Replace Testimonials Throughout Your Website
Check All Your Links and Buttons
Does your brand need a refresh?
First impressions matter, especially in the digital world. If your website looks outdated or doesn’t align with your current brand identity, it may be time for a refresh. Start by reviewing your color schemes, fonts, and main messaging. Consistency is key here. A cohesive look across all your digital platforms reinforces your brand’s identity and helps build trust with your audience.
Some people spend a lot of time, and possibly money, carefully building their brand, doing tons of research and Pinterest boards galore. But many entrepreneurs are more excited to jump into the day-to-day grind and start making money that they just pick a random website template and snag a logo design from Canva and get to work.
Regardless of how you started, taking some time to revisit your branding is a necessity to ensure your website still reflects your current business and clientele.
As we touch on each of these brand elements, keep in mind these items should be consistent across any platforms and materials you use for your business (i.e. social media, brochures, letter- head, etc.).
The parts of your brand to revisit are
Colors: Do your brand colors still resonate and represent your current business? If yes, great! Check colors off your list and move on to the next tip. If not, it’s time to reassess. Consider how you want your customers to feel when they visit your website AND WHO they are. Working mostly with men, but using soft pastel colors? Dark bold colors might be worth a thought. Selling to artists but you are currently using a neutral palette? Vibrant colors could gain more interest for that demographic.
You also need to consider how YOU feel when you look at your website. Maybe it just feels old or just isn’t your style any more. That is OK. This is your business, and you need to feel proud and connected to it because it not only represents your business, but it also represents you.
Fonts: Most people understand the importance of choosing legible fonts when building their website. But maybe you let creativity take a hold of you and you currently have a…..interesting….more decorative font choice happening.
Fun fonts have their place, but it’s not in your body text and should be used sparingly elsewhere. I can of course recommend the traditional easy to read fonts like Arial, Verdana, or Times New Roman, but we all know there are countless fonts available these days. So, when choosing your font(s) just make sure the letters aren’t spaced too close or too far apart, letters shouldn’t be too bloated or too thin, and the minimum text size for standard body text should be 16pt.
Messaging: If someone lands on your home page, will they know what you do, who you help, and the results your product or services offer within the first FIVE SECONDS?
Yep, you only have about five seconds.
This part of your branding is arguably more important than its visual appearance. You need to be concise and clearly let people know immediately when landing on your website that they are in the right place for the problem they need solved. Use 1-2 sentences and avoid any technical language that your average visitor wouldn’t immediately understand.
Note: This could apply to your services page or any other important page that people could be directed to when searching for your business.
Do your main pages reflect any changes to services or products?
As your business evolves, so should your website. Make sure your main pages, such as your homepage, services, and product pages, accurately reflect any updates or changes. Highlight new services or products and remove any that are no longer available. This not only provides clear information to your visitors but also boosts your SEO by keeping your content fresh and relevant.
For those in the e-commerce space, regularly updating your website with new products might already be part of your routine. But if you are a small shop with only a few items or run a service-based business, when was the last time you ensured your most valuable offers were front and center on your website?
It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day tasks. As our businesses evolve and we find our stride, we often make changes to our target audience, the services we offer, and the pricing of our products or services.
Take a moment to review the two or three most important pages of your website. Are your best current offers being showcased? Now is the perfect time to reflect on which products or services are in high demand and ditch the low performers. Also, now is a great time to consider updating your pricing for the upcoming year.
Update Images and Verify Alt Text
A big part of updating your branding and website every few years is replacing the images throughout your site. Using high quality images that integrate well with your brand is imperative. Remember you only have those five seconds to make an impression, and images are a huge part of that.
Hiring a professional photographer to take photos of you, your office or shop, products, interactions with customers, etc. is the best option to get a consistent look. If that isn’t in your budget and you are using stock image sites, paid or not, try searching by photographer or collection to make sure the images you choose work together.
I would be remissed to not encourage you to have at least one image of yourself on your website. Customers are more likely to buy from companies run by people willing to put their own face to the work they do.
As you are adding new images to your website (or confirming you like what is already there) verify EVERY image has alt text, an image description, or marked correctly as decorative. This not only improves your SEO but is crucial so people using screen readers can access your content the way you intend them to. Just because you added the alt text when you built your website doesn’t mean it is still there. This is one of those techy thigs that sometimes has a mind of its own and can disappear for no good reason, so even if you have no intension of changing the images on your site be sure to verify they all still have alt text, an image description, or are marked decorative.
If you’d like to learn about alt text and image descriptions and the art of writing them check out this article,
Replace Testimonials Throughout Your Website
Having testimonials on your website is a powerful proof of investment. While it might seem boastful to rave about yourself, when clients do it for you, it builds trust, showcases value, and can be highly persuasive.
It used to be quite popular to have an entire page dedicated to testimonials. However, given our shortened attention span these days, endlessly scrolling through such a page isn’t as effective. If you have one, I say leave it as a link in your footer for those who really want to do their research on you before they buy.
Best practices for testimonials:
Integrate them throughout your site: Aim to have at least two testimonials on each main page (home, services, about). Choose ones that highlight specific problems clients had, how you solved them, and the overall experience of working with you.
Include personal details: With permission, add the customer’s name and photo. This personal touch increases credibility and relatability.
Placement is key: Position testimonials near calls to action (CTAs) like “Buy Now” or “Work with Me.” This placement can significantly enhance conversion rates, as new customers are more likely to engage after reading positive reviews.
Updating testimonials should ideally be a quarterly task. However, if you can only manage it once a year, that’s still better than nothing. Fresh testimonials ensure your site stays relevant and reflective of your current client success stories.
Check All Your Links and Buttons
How many times have you been scrolling a blog post or sales page, and you come across a link where you can learn more, check someone’s sources, or maybe even you are ready to buy something and BOOM! You get the dreaded error page.
Nothing is more frustrating as the client or as the small business owner who thinks they have it all together and was sure they checked that link at least three times before posting it (yes maybe I am venting as someone who has done this and certainly experienced it).
But don’t worry, it happens to the best of us, and it isn’t always our fault. Our internal links might not change that often, but any type of external link can change at anytime and no one is going to tell you that it did.
Google search bots and more importantly customers don’t like landing on a broken link, so verifying your links and buttons all lead to where they are supposed to is a must do. In a perfect world you should check this every month, but it is more realistic to put this on a quarterly or annual to-do list.
There are a number of tools that can help you with this task. My two favorite tools are Broken Link Check and the Broken Link Checker Chrome Extension.
This can be a tedious task, but taking the time to ensure your site remains functional and user-friendly makes for a smoother experience for everyone.
Update Your 404 Error Page
Since we're talking about errors, let's take a look at your 404 error page. This often-overlooked page can be a hidden gem on your website. While we hope customers never land on this page, if they do, we need to ensure we don’t lose them.
Many people don’t even know they can customize their 404 error page. This page should be branded just like any other page on your site. Never ever leave it as the generic “this page cannot be found.”
Since customers are finding this page instead of what they really wanted, it is a good idea to infuse a little humor and personality. Don’t be afraid to admit there was an error and give them options to get to where they need to go.
Make sure there is a search bar, links to your most popular products/services, and most recent blog posts. Make it extra easy by having a” Back Button,” and bonus points if you give them a way to contact you for help and submit a broken link problem.
Are Your Legal Docs Up to Date?
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, it is just a general reminder to check any legal documents you have for your business, especially those linked on your website on a regular basis. If you have any specific questions you should consult with a lawyer in your state or country.
Which legal disclaimers you need on your website vary by location and type of business. The most popular ones are a privacy policy, terms and conditions (different versions for services vs product sales), an accessibility statement or VPAT, affiliate and referral terms, and general disclaimers. When each of these documents are created and added to your website they should be dated. As you make any updates to a document make sure the “updated as of” date is changed.
Each of these legal documents are important for various reasons but they are all meant to protect you and your customers, so it is imperative you obtain them from reputable sources and keep them up to date.
One last tip is to be sure to update the copyright year on your website each year. Some people prefer to show the year the business started to the current year. At a minimum you need to have the current calendar year reflected. This is a great task to add to your calendar to repeat each year, so you don’t forget this small but important update.
Wrapping it All Up: Your Year-End Website Checklist
To ensure your website is ready for the new year, here’s a concise checklist:
Refresh Your Branding: Update colors, fonts, and main messaging to reflect your current business identity.
Showcase Bestselling Products and Services: Highlight your top offerings prominently.
Update Images and Verify Alt Text: Ensure all visuals are high-quality and accessible.
Replace Old Testimonials: Feature fresh, relevant customer reviews throughout your site.
Check All Links and Buttons: Verify they work and lead to the correct destinations.
Jazz Up Your 404 Error Page: Make it helpful and engaging.
Ensure Legal Docs Are Up to Date: Regularly review and update your privacy policy, terms, and other legal documents.
Update Your Website’s Copyright Year: Reflect the current year to keep your site relevent.
By following this checklist, you’ll ensure your website is not only visually appealing but also functional and up-to-date, ready to impress visitors and convert them into loyal customers.
