Just like you, your web site needs an annual check-up to make sure that it’s in the pink of health… so to speak. Many business owners forget that their web sites need tender loving care and maintenance every once in a while, at least once a year. Now is a good time to give your web site an annual check up if you haven’t done it before. Here’s how to do it:
Find out your site’s loading time
Web sites that take a long time to load do not perform well in search engine results and piss off visitors. This is especially true for Flash-based web sites. Ideally, every page in your web site should load in 10 seconds or less. Check your site’s loading time here: http://www.1-hit.com/all-in-one/tool.loading-time-checker.htm
Check for broken links
Nothing says unprofessional than a web site with broken or bad links. When users click on links published in your web site, it should go to the page that you want it to go. Even if you didn’t make any revisions to your web pages, it’s still a good idea to check for broken links as part of your check up. You can easily do it using free broken links checkers. You can use any one in the small list we have below.
- W3C Link Checker
- Online Broken Link Checker
- iWebTool’s Broken Link Checker
- Submit Express Broken Link Checker Tool
- Webmaster Toolkit Link Checker
Test your Contact Form
Send a test email via your contact form and take note of the difference between the time you sent the test and the time you received it. Hopefully, it does not take hours before it lands in your inbox. If you’re using WordPress for your web site, it’s a good time to update the plug-in you’re using to generate a contact form.
While you’re at it, make sure that visitors can easily find the link to your contact form. If you’re not using a contact form, make sure that all contact details, i.e. email address, telephone numbers, and fax numbers, are right.
Check your web site email addresses
Your business probably has several business email addresses that’s using your domain name, e.g. webmaster@smartfoxes.ca. Make a list of all such email addresses in use and send test emails to make sure that they are all working and nothing’s bouncing back to the sender.
Update your autoresponders
This is related to the two tips mentioned above. If someone sends you an email or sends you a message using the contact form in your web site, he or she will receive an email confirming that their message has been received. This is called an autoresponder. Make sure that it is working and that it’s worded and formatted correctly. If you don’t have one set-up yet, now is a good time to do so.
Update your copyright info
You can often find the copyright info in the footer or bottom part of the web site. Make sure that it’s up to date. Doing this will let your visitors know that someone is updating and taking care of the web site.
Evaluate the content of your web site
Your web site copy is very important. Update the “About Us” page with significant developments in your business. Make sure that keywords you want to rank for are scattered in your content. Watch out for spelling and grammatical errors. In short, proofread your content.
Make sure your meta data is correct
The easiest way to do this is to right click on your home page and view page source. Find your meta data — title, description, and keywords. See if it fits with your current marketing plans. We’re including this because sometimes businesses change the keywords and description they use in their online marketing efforts and forget to change their meta data.
Visit your web site using different browsers
If your web site is designed well, then it should look the same across different web browsers – Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari. If it doesn’t, contact your web developer to rectify the matter
Make sure your web site is mobile-ready
More and more people are using their mobile devices and smart phones to surf the Internet. Check how your web site looks from a mobile phone. If it looks awful, you know what to do.