Digital New Year’s Resolutions
The gyms are packed. The grocery stores are full of organic fruit and vegetables. Office supply stores are advertising new ways to de-clutter your life. And for a period of time, people are determined to better their lives. However, there are more ways to use these resolutions than you might think. Here are a few ideas on how to apply some of those common New Year’s resolutions to your digital life.
Lose [Web] Weight
Has your website become a cluster of images and graphics so dense you can’t tell where one image ends and the next one starts? While it is important to constantly be creating new content, it is crucial to display them in an aesthetically appealing way. The saying “Less is More” holds true in your digital life now more than ever as the design trends are moving towards a cleaner, more minimalistic look. Set limitations on your content and website overall. Strive for balance to reach the largest audience. It is okay to have white space between elements on your website to make your pages easier for customers to navigate.
Learn Something New
How will your company grow if you never make changes? Hint: it won’t. Take time to learn more about your industry through blogs, studying competitors, reaching out to your customers to find out what they need and how they perceive your company. Don’t be afraid to apply what you’ve learned on your website. Some things will work, and some won’t. You need to experiment to find what speaks best to your specific audience. Once you feel you have a good handle on industry insights, start commenting on blog posts, tweets, etc. and start writing from your own perspective. It is important to position yourself as an industry leader.
Get Organized
When was the last time you took a look through your website analytics? How is your website performing? Review the assets and pages. Try to declutter and simplify. Make sure you only have relevant and timely content on your website. There is no need to have articles from 2009. It is recommended to only have about six months’ worth of news articles on your website. Most likely, the majority of your customers will not sit on your website and read about the golf outing your company did in August of 2008. However, they could be more interested in the holiday food drive your company did last month.
Try Something New
Keeping your website fresh and exciting can be fun. Read about new techniques and improve your content. While you are researching industry news and studying competitors, take note of any new, creative, or different projects on a website or blog. Create videos for a new product or service line, incorporate pictures into your company blogs and social media posts, or re-purpose your blog articles into a newsletter.
Your website is a digital extension of your company and the people that work there. And just like yourself, you should want to improve and better your website so people can get the most information out of every visit to your site.