This Valentine’s Day, why not show your website some love?!
Websites are so often seen as “once and done” when they are actually a work in constant progress. Pretty much like your business. And so often the changes in your business are not reflected across your website. So set aside some time this week to shower your website with the love and attention it deserves.
Check everything is up to date
One of the easiest ways to keep your WordPress website safe and secure is to keep the core software, themes, and any plugins you use up to date.
And the best way to do it? Schedule a weekly login to the back end of your website to carry out any updates. They’ll be clearly signposted in the WordPress dashboard.
WordPress also has a built-in site health tool which will scans your website for common security and performance issues. It then grades it as either “Good” or “Should be improved” and shows you a list of issues that need attention.
Run a broken link check
Broken links are links that no longer work, where the webpage you were linking to has been deleted or moved. They create 404 “not found” errors and can negatively impact user experience and SEO.
There are plenty of tools available – I use www.brokenlinkcheck.com. You want to pick one that offers to search your whole site.
If you have any broken links, your chosen tool should list them, and you can go to work fixing them.
Check internal and external links
Another link-related tip for you. Go through your website and make sure that internal links i.e. those that link to other pages within your website, open in the same tab. External links, on the other hand, those that take people off your website, should open in a new tab.
Remember, the aim is to keep people on your website.
Change your login password
One of the easiest ways to protect your WordPress website is by having a strong login password. And preferably one that you DON’T use anywhere else!
Strong passwords help guard your website from brute force attacks which can overload your server, slow down the site, and even cause it to crash.
Changing your password in WordPress is a piece of cake…
- Select Users > Profile from the main dashboard menu.
- Scroll down to the Account Management section and click the Set New Password button.
- And hey presto, WordPress will generate you a new strong password.
I would highly recommend storing this password somewhere safe, like a password manager – check out the options from Google and Norton.
Make your contact details clickable
Want to make it super easy for people to get in touch with you? Make all your contact details clickable, including telephone numbers.
This means that someone viewing your website on a mobile phone can call you with one click.
If you’re happy editing HTML, here is a code snippet to make phone numbers clickable:
<a href="tel:"01234567890">01234567890 </a>
Simply change the numbers as appropriate.
Add new testimonials
Remember all those happy clients you worked with last year? And those glowing testimonials they gave you? Did you add them to your website?
No?! Well, this is your reminder!
And if you don’t have any new testimonials to add, go out and ask for them.
Review your services
Have a read through your website and check that all the services you offer are listed on your website.
And while you’re at it, see whether any services you don’t offer are lurking around there too.
Your website is a powerful selling tool that represents you and your business to the rest of the world. Anyone visiting it wants to know exactly what you do and how you can help them with the problem or need they have. Preferably quickly and in language they understand.
If all this love-giving has left you overwhelmed and you’ve unearthed some issues you would like help with, please get in touch via email at hello@wisegenius.co.uk or send me a message on LinkedIn. I’m always up for some website troubleshooting!
Image credits: Ryan ‘O’ Niel | visuals | Syafiril Dwi norhafa all on Unsplash