Spring Into Action: 7 Easy Ways to Revamp Your Website
Is your website looking a bit tired and cluttered? Perhaps it’s time to revamp your website! Just like your home, your website can benefit from an annual spring cleaning to clear out the clutter and give it a fresh new look.
While it may take some time and effort, the results will be well worth it, creating a more welcoming and engaging experience for your visitors. Here at ACM Digital Marketing, a web design company in Jacksonville, FL, we’ve compiled a list of easy tasks that business owners can do themselves to spruce up their website for the season ahead.
Check for Broken Links and Slow Pages
Broken links and slow-loading pages can frustrate visitors and harm your site’s ranking. Use free online tools like Google Search Console or Dead Link Checker. If you have Google Search Console connected to your domain, you can use the “Coverage” report to identify any crawl errors, including broken links. (This is our team’s preferred method because it gives you a ton of information about your site.) If not, Dead Link Checker is a free and easy-to-use alternative.
Use Google Lighthouse or Page Speed Online to identify and fix any speed issues. Improving page speed not only enhances user experience but also boosts your site’s SEO performance.
Clear Out the Clutter
Clearing out clutter on a website involves removing unnecessary elements that distract or confuse visitors while retaining content and features that add value and enhance user experience. Here are some tips to help you distinguish between clutter and helpful content on your website:
Focus on User Goals:
Consider the primary goals and objectives of your website visitors. Are they looking for information about your products or services? Are they seeking answers to common questions? Streamline your content to prioritize information that directly supports these user goals.
Evaluate Content Relevance:
Review each piece of content on your website and assess its relevance to your target audience. Ask yourself if the content provides valuable information, solves a problem, or addresses a specific need. If the content does not serve a clear purpose or is outdated, consider removing or updating it.
Simplify Navigation:
Examine your website’s navigation menus and structure to ensure they are clear, intuitive, and easy to use. Limit the number of menu items and avoid overcrowding navigation menus with unnecessary links. Focus on organizing content logically and guiding visitors to key pages or actions.
Consider Visual Design:
Pay attention to the visual website design and identify elements that may contribute to clutter. This includes excessive use of colors, fonts, and graphics, as well as intrusive pop-ups or advertisements. Strive for a clean and cohesive website design that enhances readability and usability.
Review User Engagement:
Analyze user engagement metrics, such as bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rate, to identify areas of your website that may be cluttered or ineffective. High bounce rates or low engagement may indicate that visitors are struggling to find relevant information or are being overwhelmed by clutter.
Seek Feedback:
Gather feedback from users, colleagues, or industry experts to gain insights into how your website is perceived. Conduct usability testing or surveys to identify pain points and areas for improvement. Pay attention to common complaints or suggestions for simplifying the user experience.
Prioritize Key Information:
Highlight important information or calls-to-action (CTAs) that align with your business objectives. Place critical content, such as contact information or product/service offerings, prominently on your website to ensure it is easily accessible to visitors.
Ultimately, the key to clearing out clutter on your website is to prioritize user experience and focus on delivering valuable, relevant content. By regularly reviewing and refining your website’s design and content, you can create a cleaner, more user-friendly experience that resonates with your audience.
Ensure Scannability
Make your website easy to scan by using short blocks of text. Our rule of thumb is after 3 sentences or three lines start a new paragraph. This makes content easier to read on a mobile device.
Using clear headlines and visual hierarchy also helps improve scannability. Chances are, no one is going to read your entire website. By making your content scannable, people can easily find what they are looking for and get the information they need.
Ever see a website that is just a wall of text? Does it make you want to stop and read it? No, it probably doesn’t invite you to read it. Incorporate relevant images, icons, and graphics to complement your content and reinforce key messages. Visual elements can help break up text-heavy pages, add visual interest, and guide visitors’ attention to important sections.
Be sure to use persuasive calls-to-action (CTAs) that motivate visitors to take the next step. Place the most important information and calls to action prominently on your website, ideally above the fold (visible without scrolling). Visitors should be able to quickly identify what your website offers and how they can take action.
Remove Outdated Information
This one’s a bit of a no-brainer. When was the last time you checked to make sure your content was up to date on your website? Do you have old team members on your About page? Are your hours and contact information up to date? Expired events, discontinued products, services you no longer offer – all of these are outdated content that needs to be removed.
Outdated content can harm your site’s credibility and search engine ranking. It gives potential customers (and Google) the impression that your website is neglected or not actively maintained, which may erode trust and credibility with your audience. Outdated content may undermine perceptions of expertise and industry relevance, particularly if competitors are providing more timely and accurate information.
Remove or update this content to ensure that your site remains fresh, relevant, and useful to visitors.
Refresh Content, Particularly Blog Posts
Take the time to refresh and update your blog content, focusing on evergreen topics, time-sensitive information, and high-performing posts. Repurpose and repackage existing content to reach new audiences and maximize its impact. Ensure that all content is optimized for search engines with updated metadata, alt text, and keywords.
Keep your website fresh and engaging by regularly adding new content, such as testimonials, case studies, project descriptions, and videos. Highlight recent achievements and client successes to showcase your expertise and credibility to visitors. All of this fresh content helps improve the user experience on your website and also helps improve your SEO with search engines like Google.
Update Imagery, Especially on Your Homepage
Refresh your website’s imagery to create a visually appealing and dynamic experience for visitors. Start by reviewing the existing images on your website. Identify any outdated photos, graphics, or illustrations that no longer align with your brand identity or messaging. Look for opportunities to replace or update these images with fresh, high-quality visuals.
Consider the personality and tone of your brand that you are trying to convey in your website design. Are you aiming for a professional and polished look, or do you prefer a more casual and approachable style? Define your brand’s personality traits, values, and visual aesthetic to guide your image selection process.
Understand your target audience and their preferences. What types of images are most likely to resonate with them? Consider factors such as age, gender, interests, and lifestyle when selecting imagery that will appeal to your target demographic.
Before uploading new images to your website, optimize them for web use to ensure fast loading times and optimal performance. Use image editing software to resize and compress images without sacrificing quality. Aim for file sizes that are as small as possible while still maintaining clarity and detail.
Confirm Mobile Optimization and Responsive Design
With a growing number of users accessing websites on mobile devices, it’s essential to ensure that your site is mobile-friendly. Test your website’s mobile optimization using tools like Google Lighthouse.
Ensure that your site features responsive design. Responsive design is an approach to web design and development that aims to create websites that provide an optimal viewing and interaction experience across a wide range of devices and screen sizes, from desktop computers to mobile phones.
It’s important to have readable text, simple navigation, and fast loading times on mobile devices, so take a look at your website today and see if it meets this criteria.
Revamp Your Website with a Little Spring Cleaning
Once you’ve completed your website spring cleaning, take a final look at your website to ensure that it’s easy to navigate, visually appealing, and inviting to visitors. Ask for feedback from others, ideally someone unfamiliar with your site, to gain fresh perspectives and identify any areas for improvement.
And remember, if you ever need professional assistance from a website design company, ACM Digital Marketing is here to help. Happy spring cleaning!
