Websites are like wardrobes. You’ve got your favourite fit-outs that work really hard. There are practical pieces that everyone simply has to have. Then there are the items that are out-of-date and totally unflattering. They’re hanging there because you haven’t had the time or nerve to cull them.
With websites your unflattering items can be found any time by visitors. And they’ll judge you by them. It’s like going to an important meeting in your wardrobe’s worst components; the too-tight shirt and too-short pants, plus the pinchy shoes you bought online eight years ago.
A shortcut to help with spring cleaning your website content
Because your website is the foundational piece for your brand and marketing activities, it’s essential to give it a regular once over. That means looking at every page visitors can access, including the ones you don’t know about.
Here’s a shortcut for auditing your website:
- In Google, type site: before your domain name and hit search. All your accessible pages will show in the search results.
- Look at each one of these pages to ensure content is accurate and up-to-date.
- At the same time, look at the title tags and meta descriptions for each page. These need to contain relevant key words for SEO.
- The content of the page also needs to include important key words. It’s possible you’ll need to do key word research to identify the best key words and long-tail phrases.
- Then consider the purpose of each page and judge whether the content is optimised for conversion. There’s no point having pages that rank highly on Google if they aren’t converting visitors into customers.
Draw up a website refresh action plan
After a thorough audit, even the slickest website will have a ‘to do’ list. Prioritise top level pages – home page and landing pages. These are your most valuable players for SEO. Next on the list should be pages that drive sales; the most influential areas of your site. From a hygiene perspective, you also need to cull any pages that deliver 404 crawl errors.
Don’t stop until your site is pristine, persuasive and pulling in the visitors. Then set a diary reminder to do the whole process again next year. The business with the best web wardrobe wins.
If you need a copywriter in Auckland for help with SEO web writing that converts, you know where to find me.