5 Quick Ways to Get Your Website Ready for 2017
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Can you believe we’re in the home stretch of 2016 already? In just a few short weeks, we’ll be ringing in the new year. Will your website be ready? If not, read on for 5 quick ways to get your website ready for 2017.
5 Easy Ways to Get Your Website Ready for 2017
1. Update Your Content
If your business has been around for some time and you haven’t updated your site lately, chances are good that your content is outdated. Nothing will cost you customers faster than content that contains incorrect or missing contact information, or products and services that are no longer available.
Additionally, if you created your content before the days of SEO, or you haven’t revamped it with current SEO practices in mind, then it’s time to freshen it up.
And speaking of content . . .
2. Start a Blog
If you don’t already have a blog, adding one is one of the easiest ways to get your website ready for 2017. Not only do they boost your search engine rankings, they attract new and repeat visitors and keep them on your site longer.
In an industry where the word ‘blog’ is a turn off? Call it something else! Industry News, Latest Trends, and New Resources work well and will keep your information relevant and your content fresh.
3. Optimize Your Site for Mobile
According to a 2016 study conducted by We Are Social, 39% of web visits happen on a mobile device. That’s up from 33% in 2015! And when it comes to searches for local businesses, over half are performed on a mobile device.
In the US alone, 25% of us only access the internet on our mobile devices!
The world has definitely gone mobile with no signs of going back. So if your website isn’t responsive on tablets and smart phones, now is the time for a mobile-friendly makeover.
4. Clear Out the Clutter
First impressions are everything – especially on your website. Recent studies suggest that you have a mere .05 seconds to get your most important message across. A busy, cluttered page full of unnecessary content, links, ads, or images will drown out your message, and ultimately cost you conversions.
Easy Ways to Clean Up Your Design
• Use lots of white space – especially around graphics
• Limit the number of fonts you use to 3
• Make navigation simple with intuitive and clearly labeled menus
5. Speed It Up
Today’s world is all about easy and convenient access, and nowhere is
this more true than websites. In fact, Akamai and Dynatrace.com found that almost half of web users expect a site to load in less than 2 seconds and will leave a site that doesn’t load within 3 seconds!
Easy Ways to Speed Up Your Website
• Use an image optimizer to compress your graphics to the minimum possible size
• Remove any plugin that isn’t absolutely necessary
So which of these tips will you be doing first? We’d love to hear how it works out in the comments!
And don’t forget, we’re here to help if you need it. Get in touch with us here. We’d love to help make 2017 a great year for your business!