From time to time, you’ll want to change content on your website. This could be to reflect an upcoming event or a promotion. Perhaps you have a new product or service that is launching.
Whether you’re making the changes yourself or you’re working with your web designer, it’s really important to plan them effectively.
So what do you need to consider when planning to make changes to your website?
Here’s five tips to help you make effective changes and avoid any issues:
- Plan early - Start planning early. At least 1-2 months in advance is always a good rule of thumb. There’s nothing worse than rushing to make changes before a tight deadline. Planning early helps you to stay in control. Don’t forget to add in some buffer time in case of any unexpected issues.
- Be clear - The more descriptive you can be about the changes you’d like to make, the easier it will be for them to be implemented. Be clear with your planning and be sure about your timescales. Something that seems like an easy change on the surface, may need a lot more time than you think.
- Think “content” - Think about any content that needs to be created. You’ll want to have this written in advance, so that it’s ready to be added to your website. Will you need blog posts, emails or social media posts? What about images - are there any images that need to be created, produced or purchased?
- Backup your site - Before making any changes, make sure your website is backed up. A website backup protects you in case something goes wrong and you need to quickly restore your site from a backup. If you’re on a care plan or website maintenance plan with your designer, then this might be something they’re looking after for you.
- Avoid busy times - When you or your designer are making the changes to your website, make sure you avoid busy times. You don’t want an issue to take your site offline temporarily and cause your visitors to see an error message. Try to make sure any changes are made at the quietest times.
Making changes to your website doesn’t have to be a difficult process. The length of time needed really depends on the changes that you want to make.
If you plan early, you’ll find that you can easily avoid any issues and have a stress free process. Yes, there may be something unexpected that pops up from time to time, but you’ve given yourself time to deal with them.
From a planning perspective, you may even find it really beneficial to plan content updates and changes for your website each quarter. This will help you to stay on top of what’s coming next at every stage of the year.
If there are any changes that you’re looking to make to your website in the next few months, feel free to reach out. I’d be more than happy to talk about those with you.
