Boost your website’s performance with a revamp

It has been a tough year for everyone, for obvious reasons. Whilst we continue to adjust to our "new normal", it is important to use every possible opportunity to adapt to the current circumstances in order to move forwards. With a greater focus on the online world than ever before, ensuring your website is up to scratch is one crucial way to do that.

With a New Year comes a new look, and that includes your website. Although you should look to have a brand new website built every couple of years, a website refresh doesn't necessarily mean a top to bottom overhaul; it can be something as simple as giving it a few tweaks in key areas. Think of it like this: if your website was a house, a refresh might include repainting a couple of rooms and getting some new curtains.

So here are a few useful and straightforward refresh tips to get your website 2021 ready.

Give your website a facelift with new images

Images have such a massive impact on the look and feel of a website, and changing them is one of the quickest, easiest and cheapest modifications you can do. Take some new photos of your business if you have some skill in this department or hire a professional photographer. Even if you're using stock photography, you should periodically change the images and check they still accurately reflect your business.

Also, ensure any photos of team members or products you offer are correct and up to date.

For more on this topic, look back over last month's newsletter, Selecting the Perfect Images For Your Website.

Ensure your about us page is current

If you haven't looked at your About Us page or your team profiles for a while, there's a good chance some of it is out of date. These are often the first areas a website visitor will go to before deciding whether to use your services, therefore it is crucial that the information is accurate, up to date and a true reflection of your business and your brand.

Add a blog

To increase the visibility and credibility of your business, start writing a regular blog. There are many reasons why this will be a worthwhile investment in time and resources. For example:

• To demonstrate your authority in your sector by providing helpful information about relevant topics
• To keep visitors returning to your website
• To improve your site's ranking - Google and other search engines love fresh and relevant content that people are linking to and reading
   

Add current case studies and/or testimonials

Depending on your sector, visitors to your website may want to read about your past projects, who you have helped and how. This can be a really good way of resonating with a prospective client and highlighting how you could help them too.

If case studies are not relevant or appropriate for your business, you should consider showing testimonials on your website instead. These can be just as valuable in showing prospects why they should choose you.

Whether you use case studies or testimonials, or both, it is crucial that you keep adding to them. Having the same information on these pages year after year, even if you have a wealth of rave reviews, will put visitors off rather than inspire confidence.

Update your SEO

When was the last time you checked your keyphrases? Are they still relevant to your business, products and services? Your keyphrase strategy from 2018 might not be as effective for 2021. When you are updating your content, do so with search engine optimisation in mind; otherwise, you could lose the all-important Google rankings.

Review your current keyphrases, and if they are still relevant and working well, keep them. For others, draw up a list of potential primary, secondary, short-tail and long-tail keyphrases for use in the New Year. Use a tool like Google Keyword Planner to determine the best keyphrases for your business.

Recap…Refreshing your website is a great way to prepare your business for the year ahead. With updated images, text and SEO, you'll have a revitalised new interface to your clients that can help attract more business.

PS: Although we are discussing getting your website 2021 ready, we recommend you review and refresh it every three months. Then every two years, we advise a full upgrade to a brand new website.