Almost every buyer, whether they’re buying a product or service, will head to a company’s website to scope things out. If the website seems janky, they won’t buy anything or listen to anything the business has to say. One of the best ways to provide an optimal user experience: a professional website that screams “you can trust us”.
A brand’s website has to be:
- easy to navigate
- load quickly as they move throughout the website
- have links that work
- provide a safe platform to enter payment information
How can a business create a positive user experience on their website? By spending time every quarter performing a bit of “housecleaning” with a WordPress Cleanup!
Before Starting a Website Cleansing
Although it’s extremely important to cleanse your website, it’s even more important to perform a complete backup of your WordPress website before diving in. If you haven’t backed up before, no judgement. We know it’s not always something a business owner would think to do.
Many site owners allow the host company to perform backups, which is great. However, it’s always a good idea to do your own, and save backups in different places. You never know what will result in data loss, or maybe even something is corrupted. Take a minute to install a backup plugin like Updraft so you can perform backups on your own, especially before doing any major changes or plugin and theme updates.
Performing WordPress backups means you’ll be able to restore everything if, heaven forbid, you break something. Once you’ve done your backup, you can start cleaning!
Perform Important WordPress & Plugin Updates
A healthy WordPress site has the most updated WordPress Core. Along with the most recent WordPress Core release, a WP website should have themes and plugins that are safe to update.
☐ Update WordPress Core
☐ Update WordPress Themes (including your ‘alternate’ theme)
☐ Test Out the Core and Theme Updates
☐ Update Plugins
☐ Take a Moment to Set Weekly Reminders to Check for Updates
☐ Or, Hire a Trusted WordPress Maintenance Professional to Perform Monitoring and Maintenance
When new releases come out, there’s always a period of time bugs need to be worked out. Our team is well-trained and have been maintaining and updating websites for years. We know which developers are quick to code fixes and release patches so website owners can feel safe doing the updates. We’re also deeply involved in forums where chatter is always happening about all the newest information, so we know when to update and when to wait!
Conduct Necessary Website Audits
Every component of your website should provide a positive contribution to its overall performance and security. If a plugin no longer makes sense, or is completely outdated, it needs to be removed. There’s 20 well-developed and supported plugins for every one that’s no longer relevant. We’re spit-balling there, I don’t know if those numbers are 100 percent accurate, but you get the idea – there’s always going to be another plugin you can install. And if there isn’t, our team will happily develop one! Or, hard code the same functionality for your WP site.
When going through your site, pay close attention to whether the theme or plugin’s functionality, performance, and safety. Sadly, many hackers will break into your site through an outdated theme or plugin, because those are the most vulnerable areas of a website.
Be sure to:
☐ Review Plugins
☐ Check Themes
☐ Look for warnings in your dashboard indicating you may have an outdated PHP version
Audits are a necessary part of running a WordPress site. If it’s done properly and regularly, WordPress is the safest platform you can utilize for your business.
Reduce Attack Surfaces
Online threats are a scary part of running a website. Creating a safe WordPress environment helps sustain a reliable user interface that enhances the user experience. Keep your WP website safe by:
☐ (If you don’t already) Implementing SSL Certification
☐ Changing Passwords
☐ Updating User Permissions
☐ Conducting a Security Scan
☐ Installing Security Plugins
The cornerstone of success for any online presence: safety. If your potential buyer doesn’t feel safe visiting your site, it won’t buy from it. Make your piece of the internet a safe space for your ideal audience so they feel comfortable entering payment information!
Audit Your Website’s SEO Health
If you want people to find you, have the ultimate experience once they find you, and regularly attract visitors, healthy SEO is a must for your WordPress site. Search Engine Optimization is not just about keywords anymore. Your content must match the user’s search intent so they don’t bounce off your site, leaving them feeling misled and manipulated. Once they are on your site, you have to make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for, so your site’s architecture has to be a priority.
Healthy SEO incorporates a variety of elements. When doing an SEO health audit, be sure to:
☐ Review Keywords and Long Tail Keywords (yes, they are still important, but not the MAIN focus anymore)
☐ Check for Broken Links
☐ Optimize Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions
☐ Utilize Social Media Links
☐ Increase the Number of Backlinks from Quality Websites
When your SEO isn’t working, no one will find your website when searching for solutions to their problems. All of your efforts should be based on who your ideal client is and how you want to solve their problems.
Review Site Structure & Content
How your content is structured and laid out matters if you want to provide an enjoyable user experience. Ask yourself if your content is relevant and up-to-date. Does your content encourage visitors to spend time on your site, make return visits, and most important, buy from you?
To maintain an environment people want to return to:
☐ Check for Outdated Information (references, resources, statistics, percentages, etc.)
☐ Review Layout and Formatting
☐ Freshen Up Imagery
☐ Improve Existing Content
☐ Update Hyperlinks
A site that has a structure that makes sense to viewers and is easy to navigate so they can find what they’re looking for, can only increase SEO helping it rank higher in Google searches!
Optimize WordPress Website’s Speed & Performance
As we all know, humans hate waiting. We all want things quickly and easily. When a visitor arrives on your website, they want to see “all the things” and do not want to wait for videos to load up so they can watch them!
It’s been proven fast loading websites convert better, so it’s important to:
☐ Optimize Imagery
☐ Optimize Themes
☐ Optimize Databases (remove the bloat caused by saved spam comments, post revisions, etc)
When your website’s running at its optimal level, it’ll be fast and furious, providing a pleasant and memorable user experience to your hard won organic search visitors.
Check Desktop and Mobile User Experience
More people are surfing the net on mobile devices, so these days it isn’t just about making a website mobile friendly. We’re developing websites with mobile-first design elements. However, it’s imperative to make sure both desktop and mobile versions look and function seamlessly between both spaces. You’ll have more engagement and happier online guests.
Always:
☐ Check Various Devices for Functionality on Different Platforms (Desktop, Smartphone, Tablet)
☐ Make Sure Your Navigation is Touch Friendly
The more places your audience can easily surf your site, the better your SEO will be, which makes it easier to find even more customers and make more money!
Strategize a Plan for Future Content & Important Website Updates
All search engines look for regularly updated fresh content. Keeping a regular schedule lets visitors know when to expect new content, and return regularly to consume what you’re dishing out. Just remember, quality over quantity. Consistency is key. And doing a bit of “freshening up” by adding new features, or streamlining your design, goes a long way to improve your online presence.
To achieve consistent engagement and receive higher rankings in search results:
☐ Review and Perform Content Updates (If your contact information changed, update it.)
☐ Plan Major Site Updates (Sometimes you need to redesign and restructure.)
☐ Monitor Content and Be Willing to Pivot (Review analytics so you know what content works or does NOT work for your audience so you can adjust accordingly.)
Partner With a WordPress Professional So You Can Work On Your Business Instead of In Your Business
Providing a reliable website to your visitors requires the most updated themes and plugins. A positive user experience builds trust in your brand, and when people trust you they will buy from you. Partner with companies like Preflight WP to deliver a user experience that has visitors returning and buying!
