Whether you have an ecommerce site or a content delivery network, take advantage of the post-holiday season to tune up your website and make some necessary changes. Those weeks after the holidays are the least busy times for the majority of industries, since retail spending goes down and Internet usage overall tends to peak during the holiday season. This window of time offers a unique opportunity to make improvements or redesigns to your site.
Look through your Analytic Data
Your data you gather on your site is only helpful if you actually put it to use to make your site more streamlined and user-friendly. The post-holiday season is the perfect time to go through your statistics and demographic information to determine whether you need to make any changes to reach a broader audience. At the same time, you can make sure your search engine optimization is still working as intended and identify any errors or broken links that may have developed.
Install All of your Software Updates
Ideally, you should always be running the most current version of your software. However, like many companies, you may have put off upgrading your software until after the holidays are over. This is actually a smart choice, but don’t put it off any longer. Upgrading your software is still an essential process. Ensure that your website and any applicable extensions, modules and themes are up to date.
Update your Hosting Plan
Looking into new content management system (CMS) or content delivery network (CDN) hosting services is best done following the holiday season. If you need to update your hosting plan, it’s always best to do so when your traffic is at its lowest. Updating your plan doesn’t have to be a difficult process. Many hosting companies offer seamless transitions, but you should still be cautious about the process and schedule it appropriately just in case errors or accidents occur.
Check Out the Competition
The online environment can change very quickly. Checking out your competition is the perfect way to ensure that you’re staying competitive. Trends or new developments may have simply flown under your radar during the past year.
Update your Content as Necessary
Updating your content is one of the best ways to improve a website. Add new content, clean up the existing stuff, optimize older content for search engines and explore the keywords that are currently trending. In general, tightening up your website overall is an excellent way to ensure that it remains current and stays on a search engine’s radar.
Keep yourself Updated
Reading the top technology magazines is the perfect way to keep abreast of what’s happening in the online industries. It’s important to be knowledgeable to ensure your website is still up to current standards, since falling behind will lead to low amounts of traffic and a poor showing on search engines.
Your post-holiday site tune-up doesn’t have to consist of a single session of changes. Use the opportunity to create an actionable plan for the rest of the year, into the next holiday season. Having a clear technology strategy will let you take the entire process step by step and distribute larger tasks throughout a longer period of time.
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