Oh thank goodness spring is slowly, but surely, creeping up.
I am actually writing this on a patio, after having been holed up in the grey, rain and snow of Vancouver, Canada for the last three months.
Today, I put away the skis and pulled out the badminton net and started to de-clutter my office and the rest of the house.
I also started to go over the websites and the digital channels that I run myself and some of Spake Media's clients.
Spring is a great time to de-clutter your organization's website and online presence. Here's a few things you can do to digitally de-clutter (if you don't have time to read this entire article skip straight to number six as it's the most important one!):
1. Updates and Security Patches: Go into your site and see if there is any updates you need to make to plug-ins (if you're on something like Wordpress) and your website. For instance, I see that Spake's site has a notice to update to Wordpress 3.8.1.
2. Outdated images: Check your Facebook presence. Does your personal page or organization's Facebook page still have a Merry Christmas message? (mine still does, so don't feel bad). Probably a good time to add something new. Also check the content sliders on your homepage for old events and outdated announcements.
3. Time for a new blog post? I for one was pretty slammed since January, and while I love having the freedom to write whatever I want on my company's website, it can get out of date pretty quick. So crack a nice fresh bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, get out on the patio and write an interesting blog post about whatever you think would be helpful to your members or customers.
4. Search your organization's name on Google. Check to make sure your site indexing is correct, with the proper title and descriptions. And more importantly, make sure you are still the top search result. If not, get on the line with someone who knows search engine optimization and get that valuable ranking back up. While you're at it, search your personal name.
5. Got any old social media accounts? Totally fine to have inactive accounts. As someone who has worked in the digital world for more than a decade I have a graveyard of old Tumblr, Instagram, Google+ and even MySpace accounts. Just make sure none of these old accounts are linked into current websites.
6. When's the last time you changed your passwords? I mean all of them. If you haven't in a while or never have, do it. With so much integrated data and cross-talking digital channels, if a bad guy gets a hold of one account, it can reverberate across many - especially if they all have the same password.
If you have trouble coming up with passwords to remember, try this:
Pick a favorite number + Pick a favorite activity + Pick some punctuation. So for instance: 14Fencing!! (just in case anyone is wondering, I have never fenced in my life). Then just vary the number and punctuation for the next few times you change, reset or start new accounts.
Happy Spring! There is no time better for a digital de-cluttering! Any other ideas for a Spring Digital De-Cluttering?