What better time to review your website and do a little cleaning than the start of a new year? Now that we’re just a couple weeks into 2016, it’s a great time to go through your site, do some testing, and remove the clutter. Here’s a quick website checklist you can use today today to be sure your site is ready for 2016:
– Test All External Links.
Links can change, and often do. Are you still pointing to content on the web that has since moved? Check the links throughout your site to ensure users will not encounter the frustration of a 404 error.
– Remove Outdated Content.
Are you still advertising an event that has since passed? Be sure to remove any old or outdated content to ensure your website appears fresh and current to site visitors. Do you have articles published that are no longer pertinent? Perhaps you have content about an old fundraiser that has since ended, or a program that you no longer support. Archive old content in case you need it for internal purposes in the future, but be sure all of your publicly available content is current and applicable to your visitors.
– Test Functionality.
Have you tested your registration process recently? Do you know that it works? Is it as intuitive as it can possibly be? Take a quick walk through your functionality from the perspective of a first-time guest. Be sure the signup process goes smoothly and you don’t encounter any errors. Have you checked your email signup form recently? Run a quick test to be sure you’re correctly added to the appropriate mailing list.
– Update Footer Content.
Does your website footer still have a 2015 copyright? Be sure to update this to include the current year.
– Review Donation Categories.
Do you allow your donors to give to a variety of funds or categories? Are these all still current? Go through your donation process to be sure to hide any seasonal funds that are no longer applicable, and remove any funds that you are no longer using.
– Perform a Technical Audit.
Have you recently checked your site to be sure you’re free of any malware or harmful files? Now is a great time to bring in an IT person to take a look at your overall hosting account to be sure you’re site is secure and healthy. Have them check to be sure your CMS, components and plugins are up-to-date, and your not approaching any hosting quotas that would cause space issues on your server.
– View your Site from Multiple Devices.
Have you recently gone through your site on a variety of browsers and devices? Browsers are updated constantly, so it’s a good idea to check out how your site looks on a few different browsers and a few different devices to make sure everything looks as expected.
– Review Images and Video.
Scan through the images and videos on your site. Are they current, or do they look like they were shot in a different time period? Older videos and images can definitely be helpful to show what you’ve done over the years, but if your site is lacking in fresh images and videos, now is the time to start adding some current visual content.
Do you have any key areas you frequently audit on a website checklist of your own? Let us know in the comments below.