Once your blog feed is officially launched, it can be easy to check it off your to-do list and not think about it again. However, it’s always important to go in with a fresh set of eyes periodically throughout the year to do an evaluation of your feed, see how its performing and adjust content strategy accordingly.
In this blog, we're going to dive into 5 warning signs to pay attention to when determining if your website blog is in dire need of a revamp and refresh.
1) Outdated design
The world of website design is constantly changing and it can easily become overwhelming to try to stay up-to-date and on-trend. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying every trend needs to be embraced, but if your blog feed looks like it hasn’t been touched in the last decade - you’re long overdue for an update.
Here’s a quick checklist of things to look for when performing your blog feed audit:
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Do all of your blogs have a hero image?
- All of your blogs should have an image that relates to the topic. Having blogs without a hero image or that repeat the same image can make the page look outdated and like it isn’t kept up with.
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Does the page match your current branding?
- If you’ve made any changes to your branding you’ll need to go into your website and make sure those changes are reflected on each page. Some of the pieces that directly relate to your blog feed are brand colors and imagery.
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Is the webpage sized correctly for most screens?
- One of the first things that clue you into how long ago a website was made, is if the page doesn’t take up your entire screen. A narrow design can make your blog feed feel like it hasn’t been updated in the last 15 years. Most websites currently take up all the space they can.
2) Poor user experience
A blog that’s difficult to navigate will quickly lose the attention of your audience. Poor user experience is going to discourage your consumers from spending time on the page and digesting content. It’s putting a barrier in front of them and making it difficult for them to interact with your business online.
Here are a few questions to keep in mind when you’re looking to test the user experience on your feed:
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Are your blogs organized by type of content?
- It can feel overwhelming as a user to go to a blog feed and see page after page of titles and images without any organization. Utilizing content buckets and having a section or page for each helps make the content digestible.
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Are the titles easy to read?
- The last thing you want is someone needing to squint to read your blog titles. It’s not just the sizing of the text that’s important, but also the font. If your titles are hard to read odds are your audience is going to try to find their information elsewhere.
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Is the spacing on the page between posts the same?
- You want your blog feed to feel clean and easy to navigate, not like someone’s collage or mood board. Hero images and descriptions are typically the biggest offenders. You’ll want to make sure all of your hero images are sized the same and all of your descriptions are a consistent length.
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Are there too many popups?
- While a popup every once in a while is fine, if your audience is having to click out of multiple popups, it can become a burden for them to get to the content they’re trying to read. Make sure there’s no more than one popup on your blog feed.
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Are sticky elements getting in the way of reading content?
- We love a sticky menu when it makes sense, but sometimes they can get in the way of the actual content and become distracting. Make sure if you’re going to utilize this feature that it isn’t taking away from the user's experience.
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Is the page loading quickly?
- A slow page load is the best way to lose traffic to your site. Your blog feed likely has a lot of content if you’ve been showing it love. This can decrease load times, so make sure you’re checking that getting to all that great information is quick and easy.
3) Not mobile friendly
Over 55% of website traffic comes from mobile users (Exploding Topics). If more than half of your traffic is likely to come from mobile, it’s crucial to make sure the experience is seamless. The last thing you want is to lose valuable traffic because your blog page is clunky on mobile.
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you scroll through it:
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Is any content cut off?
- When a website doesn’t get fitted for mobile use, content blocks can get completely cut off, or users have to scroll to the left to read all of the content. This makes for an overwhelming experience that makes getting information difficult.
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Does the spacing of the page make sense?
- Sometimes sections that look great on a desktop get broken down into smaller blocks on mobile. This can lead to content stacking too closely to each other, or conversely, adding additional unneeded space between sections.
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Are any pictures distorted?
- Your content should easily shift and resize to accommodate a smaller screen. When this isn’t done it can lead to your hero images stretching or shrinking in ways that distort the image and damage your online appearance.
4) Low search engine visibility
SEO can feel incredibly intimidating, but there are a few things you can quickly check to gauge if your blog feed is being optimized for search engine visibility. While more technical tasks than what’s covered in this article go into an SEO strategy, there are a few simple things you can do to support the cause.
Here are some things to consider:
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Do you have blogs that serve the purpose of ranking for SEO?
- Blogs are for more than just education. They help build your credibility with search engines. A good rule of thumb is if you’re trying to rank for a keyword in a blog, to make sure 1-3% of the words in the blog are that keyword. This helps build the SEO strength of the article.
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Are you incorporating backlinks in your blogs?
- The name of the game is building authority in the eyes of search engines. When your website has a considerable amount of outside links that bring users to your site, it lets them know people view your website as a source for credible information. Think of it like someone referring your business to a friend.
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Have you written a meta title for the blog?
- Meta titles let search engines know exactly what your blog is about. It also allows you to incorporate ranking keywords into your title.
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Do you have a meta description written?
- Similarly to the meta title, this lets search engines know what your blog is about, but you have more room to work with here. Take advantage of the extra word count and add in a few more keywords.
5) Outdated content
Staying up-to-date on your content can feel impossible, especially when you post blogs frequently. Making sure you’re giving your audience accurate information is worth the effort. We’d recommend starting this process by looking at your best-performing blogs and working your way down the list. This way your traffic-driving blogs get the attention they deserve first.
Here are a few questions to run through during your next update:
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Have there been any major industry changes since the blog was published?
- In industries where there are constant updates *cough couch* marketing, going through your past blogs and making updates to reflect current information ensures your content stays relevant.
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Do you have an old employee's email attached to a blog?
- We often see employee’s emails referenced in blogs as a point of contact if someone wants more information on a topic. We recommend either swapping these for a form or keeping note of any blogs that have employee's emails in them in the event those addresses need to be changed in the future.
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Do the hero images look current and relevant?
- The last thing you want is a hero image that looks like it was taken on a flip phone. Make sure you check the surroundings for anything that can date the image and also take a look at any clothing people are wearing in the images as well.
Having Difficulty Keeping Up?
Staying on top of all the updates that need to be made to your website can be a chore, but not with the right team of digital marketing experts by your side. If you find yourself needing a website refresh but no time to get it done, feel free to reach out to our dedicated team at Fable Heart Media and we’ll put a comprehensive plan together that makes sense for both you and your business.
For more digital marketing tips and tricks, our team of search engine optimizing wizards have more where this came from: check out our other informative blogs!