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Wondering how to get your website ready for the New Year?

As a business owner, your website is your shop window and often the first impression a potential customer will have of your brand. So, taking time to check it looks inviting and is performing to its full potential going into 2025 is a super savvy business move.

While it’s prudent to regularly give your website the once over, December/January is the perfect time for a review, setting your business up for a fantastic start to the New Year. 

Why should I update my Website?

Consider this: If the dresses in a shop window looked like Cinderella’s pre-fairy godmother makeover, would you go in? That’s what I thought…. Just like outdated images, irrelevant content and broken links won’t convince or convert your website visitors.

(I’m personally more of a sparkly ball gown girl too – well, at least with the right invitation I would be, so consider this your official invitation to the website clean up party of the year!)

An online presence with a first-class user experience will give you a competitive edge in today’s saturated digital world. You have something amazing to offer, so let’s have your website shout that out.

The good news is it doesn’t take long, and in these few simple steps, your website will be refreshed and ready to help you smash your New Year goals. 

Easy ways to get your website ready for the New Year

Filter through old content and blog posts

    • Review and declutter old content that no longer serves your business, removing outdated references and information to freshen up your site.
    • Update your services and prices if they have changed.
    • Repurpose old blog posts by updating content with fresh insights, redating and republishing.

    In addition to simplifying site navigation (no one likes trawling through a messy site), your newly up-to-date information will help you get higher rankings on Google.

    Fix any broken links

      • Use a free tool like Google Search Console to check for broken internal and external links. 
      • Remove broken links that are no longer relevant or to pages that no longer exist.
      • Fix relevant links by correcting typos or updating to correct/new URLs.

      While creating a custom 404 error page with broken links is possible and easy to do in most website platforms (all our Showit Templates come with on-brand, customisable 404 pages), it’s much better to regularly check for broken links and deal with them immediately. 

      Broken links can be frustrating for user experience and likely result in potential customers leaving your site. Check your links to keep your site professional and visitors browsing (and buying!)!

      Swap any photos for a fresh look

        • Delete old photos and replace them with updated ones that reflect where your brand is now. Don’t forget to update photos for new products and remove any outdated ones.
        • Use top-quality, professional photos to keep your website looking sharp and credible. 
        • Don’t forget to add SEO essential alt-tags to each image –  a brief but specific description of your image giving context to search engines and screen readers.

        Updating your photos ensures your site stays engaging and visually appealing. Showing potential customers you’re on top of your game and serious about pushing your brand forward. 

        If you don’t have the time or budget for a professional brand shoot right now, the following are my favourite stock photography sites at the moment with beautiful, aesthetic collections:

        1. Editorial Stock Images ($)
        2. Haute Stock ($)
        3. Vistyle Studio ($)
        4. Elevae Visuals ($)
        5. Pexels (free)
        6. Unsplash (free)

        How To Get New Brand Images For the New Year

        Review any plug-ins

          • Update plug-ins to the latest versions. (You can set this on automatic updates in WordPress too in case you don’t want to deal with this again which, is totally understandable)
          • Deactivate any that are no longer being used.

          Decluttering and updating plug-ins will help maintain a quick page loading time and ensure you work with the most up-to-date practices (such as SEO plug-ins).  On top of that, it’s paramount to maintain website security.

          What else can you do to prepare your website for the New Year?

          Review your site health and loading time

            The steps above are all essential to keep your site healthy and functioning smoothly. But how can you check the loading time and health of your website?

            Tools are available to test for critical factors in your overall website health, inc. mobile friendliness, how well your site is optimised for SEO, key performance metrics and website security. 

            Once highlighted, issues can be swiftly dealt with, and you’ll be back on track in no time.

            Update legal pages and change the copyright date in the footer

              • Check that all business information on legal pages is accurate. Are the business names, registration numbers, contact details, etc, still correct? You don’t want inquiries getting lost in an inbox that doesn’t exist anymore.
              • Update any necessary changes to reflect the latest legal requirements, if applicable.
              • Change the copyright date in your footer to reflect the upcoming new year. This lets visitors know your website is current and still active.

              Why do you need to do this? Besides staying on the right side of the law (!), these updates are fantastic for SEO (Google loves an updated page) and show professionalism to potential customers.

              Do you want your website to work harder for you in the new year (so you don’t have to)?

              Upgrade your website design

              Does your website need more appeal? Would you like more website traffic and conversions? Then, it might be time to take the plunge and upgrade with a professional website design.

              Don’t panic if you think you’ve left it too late for the new year; our VIP week is precisely what you need. Incorporating stylish Showit website templates, we can create a powerful conversion tool purposefully designed and optimised for your brand all within a week. It can be done, I promise! 

              Your brand deserves an enticing, high-converting website that stands apart from your competitors: complete with a super stylish design, a fast loading time, and fully optimised to look equally magnificent on a mobile device as a desktop.  

              And the new year is the perfect time for not just stepping but catapulting your magnificent brand into a new year full of exciting potential. 

              One more thing, while you still have your digital feather duster in hand…

              BONUS TIP! Clean up your email list for a final digital declutter

                • Delete all cold email subscribers from your email list. Cold subscribers have signed up but don’t open your emails or click on any links within them.
                • Consider an email campaign to those identified as cold subscribers, politely asking if they’d like to be removed from your email list. And for those that don’t respond, delete!

                Tidying up your email list for the new year will save you time and money, and that can only be a good thing, right? 

                Are you ready to take your business to the next level and see the sales roll in? Book your  VIP experience and bring your digital vision to life with Studio Designs in 2025. 

                How To Get Your Website Ready for The New Year - champagne glass
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