SEO Guides, Tips & More!

Hip hip hooray! We are officially in full swing of Spring. The ground has thawed, the skies are blue, flowers are blooming and the craze of April’s tax season has passed. While it may seem like a good time to sit back and relax a bit, it’s a great time to consider doing a clean-up of your website. There’s no better time to tackle some basic maintenance and freshening up than now.

To some this may seem stressful, but in essence it’s a relatively simple process that does not involve intense labor or ridiculous amounts of time. So, just how is this all accomplished? Follow the five simple steps below:

1. Is your firm’s site compatible with all browsers?
   This question should’ve been answered with a “yes” when your site was first built. However, as technology advances and new browser versions are released there are often changes that need to be considered. Going through various browsers to double-check is simply reinforcement that nothing has changed. Often sites that were optimized for a particular browser have a way of losing that perfection over time. The process is as easy as using all the major browsers such as: Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer. Of course, you should look at it in Safari if you like Apple 😉 On each browser, click around your firm’s site and check various pages and documents to make sure everything is in order and looks as it should.
2. Is your firm’s site still mobile-friendly?
   While the site is most likely working fine, a little bit of time should be taken to be certain, and the process is simple. So many people conduct business research using a mobile device (remember this also means tablets like i-pads) so it is important to ensure the site is rendering properly.  It’s important to use multiple brands and styles of mobile devices – Apple iPhone and iPad, Samsung Galaxy Note and Tablet.
3. Update and refresh website features.
   This step is extremely important and is overlooked far too often. Don’t let this happen because when it does, your firm’s site becomes an easy target for hackers. Taking a bit of time now to perform this simple maintenance can save time now and expense later. Check for updates to plug-ins, themes and everything else that may need to be refreshed. While you’re at it, consider changing logins and passwords, using combinations that are hard to guess, to make sure only authorized users have access.
4. Proofread the entire site.
   Information changes over time and a firm’s site – including a recently redesigned site – may contain data and information that is not reflective of your current team and firm status. Therefore, it’s a good idea to spend the time thoroughly reading through your site for typos, outdated bios, areas you’d like to update or highlight, pages to add and even contact information that may need to be changed.
5. Check links to external pages.
   One of the fastest ways to lose traffic on your site is to have a viewer click a link that’s important to them only to have the link no longer work, give an error message or even be a dead page. Methodically go through your site and follow each link – both internal and external – making sure each link is working, clicks through to the correct information and destination.

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Using the above steps is a great way to ensure your site is fresh and up-to-date. It’s not overly difficult and can ensure potential issues are found by you vs. an existing and even worse, a potential client. Should you encounter an issue that you are unsure how to fix or need assistance with, FlashPoint Marketing can help you work it out. Contact us today.