A Year-End Review for Your Website

Rockin’ New Year’s Eve, the CBS News year-end recap, a music count down on the radio, and the reply to the full series of Breaking Bad on AMC. At year end, the world seems chock full of reviewing and looking back. And while you’re may be just glad the holiday shopping is over and the last of the wrapping paper is put away, it is also a good time to look back yourself, conduct a year-end review and evaluate your own progress.

Progress compared to goals

Did you set personal goals or resolutions for 2013? Maybe it was to lose 20 pounds, quit a bad habit, or get to the gym more often. Maybe your goal was just to keep moving forward, and not slide backward. But if you’re like many small businesses and nonprofits, I bet you didn’t set a goal to keep your website current all year long. Websites are one of those marketing essentials that tend to get intense attention in bursts, say when you’re doing a redesign or a platform change, and then languish in between.

How about a little housekeeping?

Now that the holiday rush is over, take a few minutes to check over your website. I know, it seems like such a minor thing, but really look.

• Do you have recent news posted?
• Do you have any pages that are out of date?
• Are all your links still working?
• Are the documents in your media library up to date? Any changes to those PDFs or images?
• How about your social media accounts? Are you current?

A full year-end website review

Are there pages that should be removed? Check your team page is up to date with photos and bios. Did Jim get married three years ago but your website still says “just out of college?

Now that you are done checking the front end of the site, check the back end. Are all the users current? Do any passwords or permissions need to be changed? Be sure your website software is up to date, and you have the current versions of any plugins. Running an older version of WordPress or any website software and its plugins can be a major security risk.

Now, review your other important website settings. When do you need to renew your domain names? Your hosting? Recently, the City of Rutland, Vermont, lost its domain name because no one knew it was due for renewal. A cyber-squatter snatched up the domain and disrupted email and web services. The city will need to buy a new domain, and change everything with the old name. Imagine if that happened to you.

So, start the new year with a year-end website review, a little reflection, and some proactive planning.