Spring is a time of rebirth. A reawakening of life around us. Trees sprout new leaves. Flowers bloom. And the weather is pretty much perfect. It’s a time to go through your closet and throw away things you haven’t worn in over a year – in my case maybe 2 years. Cleaning your house from top to bottom. The fridge. The junk drawer. The cobwebs in the corners. The dust bunnies hiding under the couch, and so much more. Yet, spring cleaning isn’t something you should only do at home. It’s something you should do at work, too.
To make things a little easier on you, we’ve put together a list of 12 tips to help you spring clean your business from top to bottom – and that includes your website.
So, get ready to get busy, because we’re about to help you get organized and give your business a fresh start for spring.
Spring Cleaning Your Office
- Clear off your desk
Take the stack of papers off your desk and go through them ONE time: Make 3 piles: Trash, File or Do. If it can’t be Done or Filed, Trash it.
- Empty your email inbox
Take a similar approach – either File, Trash or Do something with the email. After all, every time you go to your inbox and see it, you’re just wasting time. Once your in-box is empty, work to keep it empty by deleting old emails by the end of each day or filing them in separate client folders if you need them.
- Clean out the fridge
Office fridges can get gross fast. It’s time to say goodbye to anything older than this week. After all, no one wants to eat 3-week-old chinese food. At least we hope not! Also make sure you wipe everything down inside the fridge. After all, things can spill and congeal over time. And frankly, that’s just nasty.
- Dust bunnies be gone
Sweep, mop, vacuum, and get behind the desks, too! There’s nothing more disgusting than trying to work on a project and glancing around and finding a dust bunny the size of your dog. Getting rid of dust bunnies, also includes cleaning and disinfecting your desk too. Oh and don’t forget your keyboard. Remember that horrible cold you had this past winter, it could still be lurking between your keys. So, break out the disinfectant, a broom, and get sweeping.
- Rearrange your space
Now, you don’t need to make it all feng shui, but moving things around a bit will help give you a fresh perspective. Not only that, it will shake things up for those clients who come calling, too.
Spring Cleaning Your Social Media
- Re-evaluate your social media plan
Do an audit of all your posts-to-date. How did each post perform? How many likes did they get? How many shares? What content really resonated with the people you’re trying to reach? Then, create content pillars for your brand based on what resonated and what you want your audience to know about your business.
For example:
Pillar 1: Personality – Content that shows off who you are, fun posts
Pillar 2: Educational – Content that teaches your audience something like, blog posts, or other quick tidbits that offer valuable information
Pillar 3: Timely – Content that celebrates things going on around the world, your city, or special holidays like Memorial Day or the 4th of July
By doing this you’ll be able to make your content feel fresh, valuable, and friendly.
- Put some dollars behind your posts
In today’s social media world, it’s a pay to play environment. If you want more people to see your content you have be willing to toss a few dollars behind your posts to get the most traction. Now, we aren’t suggesting boosting every post with paid media, but we are suggesting boosting the posts that really matter. Posts that will truly show off your company in the best light. Those are the posts you want to put money behind.
- Don’t post everything to every social media platform
We’ve all been guilty of this. Sharing the same content on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at the same time. Yet, research shows this isn’t the best idea. Tailor your content for the platform. Instagram is great for photos and quick stories about your business. Facebook is better for longer posts. Whereas LinkedIn is best for business related content like showing off that new website you built, a big win your business had, or tips and advice for doing better work.
Spring Cleaning Your Website
- Revise your Homepage
Give your homepage a facelift by adding new photos or refreshing the copy. Just a simple revision like new photography can make a big difference. Not only that, it will keep your site from feeling stale.
- Update or add case studies
A lot can happen in 6 months. If you have had a big success with a client, create a case study about that success and post it on your site. By adding to your case studies or refreshing results within an existing case study, you’re giving potential clients a reason to believe that you’re the one they should go to for help.
- Consider revising photography throughout
Sometimes by just refreshing the photography used on your site you can make things feel new and updates. So, look over your website. Is there a graph that could be redone, a photograph that could be better? If so, change it. Now’s the time.
- Delete any content that feels dated
Remember that cool thing you did back in 2005? It’s probably time to take that bad boy off your site. If your content feels dated, most likely your site will feel dated, too. Most people what to know what you’re doing now and what you’ve done in the recent past. Not what you did 15 years ago.
Every business is different. Use these tips as a guideline, or for inspiration, to freshen things up.
Good luck and happy cleaning!