5 Ways To Give Your Website A Refresh
The start of the new year is a clean slate and a time when many people make resolutions and freshen up their lives. The new year isn’t just a time for improving your personal life- it’s a great opportunity to go through your website to see what changes and updates you can make. If it’s been awhile since you have cleaned up your website and given it a refresh, now is the perfect time to do so. Here are 5 areas to review going into the new year.
Website Response:
Having a website that loads quickly is very, very important. Your audience wants to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, and lagging response times can drive them away. Running your website through a site like Google’s PageSpeed Insights is a quick and easy way to see how your website is doing on all devices to ensure that your audience is getting the best experience.
Look At Your Fonts:
While some fonts are classics, others are more trendy and tend to look dated after awhile. Your fonts should reflect your overall brand image- make sure that it is easy to read and fits your personality. For example, the children’s brand Toys-R-Us uses softer, larger fonts that help give their website a fun tone while luxury brand Saint Laurent uses small, sharp fonts to keep their website classy with the emphasis on their photographs. If you are unsure if you should update your fonts, take a look at some of your competitors and see what stands out to you compared to your own website, and what fonts you are not drawn to.
Check Your Consistency:
Creating a consistent website can be hard, as your information and needs vary from page to page. However, it should be very clear to users that they are still on the same website that they started out on. While your pages do not need to be identical, they do need to be cohesive. It is easy to overlook little things and miss pages that do not match the rest of your website, so take some time to comb through and find anything that might be out of place.
Inspire Trust:
Building trust is especially important for those website visitors who have not purchased from you before. Adding trust icons helps you easily communicate the safety precautions you take to keep your customer’s information safe and cared for. If you have a safety certification, money-back guarantee, locally made products, or any other benefits, list them! Adding and updating customer testimonials is also a great way to boost trust on your website. When doing your website refresh, take a look at any of these areas and see if they can be updated or replaced.
Update Your Media:
Updating the photos and videos on your website is an easy way to refresh your pages. Once or twice a year, take a look at what you currently have and see what can be switched out with newer content. If you have products that change or update frequently, you will need to do this more often. Even if there is nothing wrong or inaccurate with your old content, updating it helps keep your site fresh and exciting for returning customers, and shows that you are active in maintaining your website.
Website refreshes are an excellent way to keep your site up-to-date and accurate. Even simple changes can make a big difference! If one of your changes isn’t working for you, experiment and try something else until you have a website that your audience loves.