It’s that time of year where many in the world are thinking ahead to winter and how to weatherize their home against the cold elements. There are windows to be caulked, storm doors to put in place and furnaces to clean and inspect. As a webmaster, this is also a good time to begin winterizing your website.
The logistics of Internet traffic
As the temperature drops and people put away their bathing suits and bicycles and barbeque grills, they turn to the Internet for entertainment and insight. The world’s population is using the Internet more frequently than it ever has and those numbers only go up during cold weather months. As a website owner, you can capitalize on weather shifts by putting firm plans in place now.
Preparation
Just as home owners are sealing leaks and adjusting thermostats, you also need to be in a state of preparation. Webmasters should take this time to go over each page of their site and make sure it’s functioning as it should. Watch for problem areas like:
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Non-working links
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Misspelled words
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Non-functioning contact forms
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Site slowdowns
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HTML and coding errors
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Poorly performing scripts
Test everything and then test it again. Tightening up these things can help to decrease the amount of time it takes for your website to load and increase your visitor’s satisfaction level.
Turn up the heat on keywords
Are your keywords working for you? Could you do better? Go over your traffic logs and really nail down how visitors found you. If some keywords are working better than others, it may be time to make a few changes. Google Keyword Toolbox is a good place to start figuring out what’s working for you and what isn’t.
Get the word out
Your traffic building techniques can drive visitors to your page or away from it. What are you doing to bring the masses to you? Do you need to work on any of these areas?
Make sure your furnace is operating properly
Your web hosting server is what fuels your website. If it’s not functioning 100%, your website isn’t either. Can you rely on your web hosting company? Are you able to reach support when you need it? Do your pages load quickly?
If you’re having difficulty with your web hosting company, this is a good time to begin considering other options. Reliable web hosts are out there and you should never settle for sub par service.
Don’t wait until the New Year to resolve to better your website. You can start putting plans in place today that will guarantee that when the temperature drops, your PageRank won’t go with it.