Spring Clean Your Website Content

Springtime is fighting its way through, with the sun shining brightly urging temperatures higher. Spring typically brings with it thoughts of renewing, refreshing and possibly restarting.  This makes it a great time to spring clean your website content.

Using your site analytics report and sitemap, navigate your way through, reading, really reading each page of your site as if it were the first time that you’ve visited (it should not be).  As you read each page, ask yourself three questions:

1. Is the content keeping within the content strategy set for the website? 
2. Is the content keeping with the company voice and branding messages?
3. Is the content connecting with the intended audience?

and a bonus question, is the content keeping with the keywords/keyword phrases designated for the page?

Content Strategy

Your content strategy is the guide you put together for your business around the planning, creation, delivery, and governance of content, useful content, to your audiences. If you don’t have one or are not sure where it is, now might be a good time spruce that as well.  Tools like an editorial calendar help with planning and delivery. The content strategy should include keywords or keyword phrases (think: long-tailed keywords) that the content should meet.  

Company Voice and Branding Messages

There may be multiple people providing content for your website and the social media channels where your content is distributed. The content that is created should reflect your company’s voice, tone, and values.  This includes the images and media like videos that are selected or created, as well as any curated (content from others) that is quoted or shared.

Connecting with the Intended Audience

You have a target market/audience/customer, perhaps more than one.  The content created should meet their needs, answer their questions or give them ideas they didn’t know they needed.  Earlier we touched on keywords and keyword phrases that the content should reflect.  This is important for your SEO strategy and reaching your audience.  The keywords and keyword phrases should be in the language of your audience.  How do they refer to your product or service when interacting with your business?  That is their language and how they will find you.

Now for the Cleaning Part

Now that you have read each and every page, checked them against your content strategy, company voice guidelines, and company tone guidelines, it's time to make changes.  Information that no longer fits should be removed or archived, with redirects added to head off 404 or not found errors.  Outdated blog posts or page content should be updated, noting the change for your visitor (good for the repeat visitor you want). While you're in there, add the new content that you've been meaning to post.  Switching out images and giving your look-and-feel an update will help your site feel renewed to the visitor old and new.  

Avoid keyword stuffing and other no-nos as you update or create content while keeping in mind your SEO strategy.  Write naturally in a way that your audience can connect with.  Remember, the content needs to meet a need or solve a problem, regardless of keywords.

If you don't already have regularly scheduled maintenance, take the time now to set it up.  This maintenance should include: 

• Software updates such as Joomla core 
• Server updates such as PHP and MySQL (note: your hosting company most likely takes care of this but you should be aware of that version you are using and if it is supported with security patches)
• Extension or plugin updates to make sure you are using supported versions, lessening site vulnerability.  Removing any that are not being used.
• Regularly scheduled backups, manual or automatic

Like the new outfit, a new car or how the first flower of the season, perks you up, a freshly "scrubbed" website, can perk up your visitors as well.

If you have questions or need help spring cleaning your website, content strategy or anything else mentioned in this post, please do not hesitate to contact us.