As we close out one year and enter into a new one, you’ll want to ensure that your website is ready too. Because trends, policies, traffic, and renters change throughout the year, it’s vital to ensure that your website remains sustainable and relevant to prospective renters. If you haven’t made adjustments throughout the year, the end-of-year season is the perfect time to catch up, as traffic tends to trend lower in these months than in others. Whether there’s much or little to do with your site, here are some baseline items you’ll want to consider in your winter site audit to ensure your prospects receive the ultimate user experience.
1. Double-check your content.
As I’m sure you’re aware, a lot can change over a year. This is why you’ll want to review your content to ensure it is still correct and relevant. In addition to creating a poor user experience on the front end, having outdated information on your website can also negatively impact your search engine optimization performance. You should first hone in on property descriptions, pricing, outdated specials, and disclosures. Then, you may want to transition to uncovering things like broken links, incorrect headings and/or old meta descriptions.
2. Check the analytics.
Whether you’ve been consistently reviewing your site reports or are just taking your first glance, it pays to check the details of your site’s performance. You’ll be able to uncover how your users are interacting with each page and where they’re originating. You can even delve deeper to discover further visitor insights, keywords, and the type of content that users cling to the most. If you set up initial goals, you can compare these goals against your site’s performance to determine where you succeeded and identify other areas of improvement. With such a plethora of data at your disposal, you’ll be better positioned to digest the current state of your performance to prepare to make the necessary changes to elevate your success in the new year.
3. Re-evaluate your media.
You will want to check your images and videos for relevance and quality as part of your content review. You can start your study by ensuring all existing photos are optimized for quick loading on mobile and desktop devices. Apart from guaranteeing that any videos load quickly, you can take this time to determine if they are still relevant to the current state of the property. Did you make any recent upgrades to a particular space that aren’t currently captured but would be helpful for visitors? Are there new units now available that would serve as excellent opportunities for model photos? Make sure to maximize all resources at your disposal to enhance your visual marketing assets to outshine your competition in the coming year.
4. Update keywords.
Now is also the time to audit your current keywords for relevancy. Start with a competitor search, note which keywords they are and aren’t leveraging, and consider making bids. There are several tools available that can help with identifying new keywords that may have slipped through your radar. Once you’ve identified popular keywords, you should incorporate them into your content for maximum SEO performance.
5. View your site as your users would.
One of the final tasks you may find helpful as you close out your audit will be to scroll through your website as a prospective renter. You can start with a Google search and then navigate the rental search process as your renters do. You can review the traffic flow data on your analytics report for a more accurate approach. As you scroll, take note of things like page loading speed, navigation, and content. As you complete your journey, you may encounter items you missed earlier that could be updated.
Rentbot can help.
As you perform your website audit, you may discover it’s time for a new website. That’s where we come in. At Rentbot, we design websites for multifamily properties that attract, convert, and retain tenants. With the latest website features like built-in SEO, mobile-friendly design, conversion-optimized layouts, and real-time availability, our sites are specially designed to attract, convert, and retain tenants. And, with a dedicated Rentbot pro by your side every step of the way, you can launch your new website in one week, just in time to start your new year on an upward trend. If you’re curious about a new Rentbot site, start your free trial today! Learn more here.
About the Author
Jonsette Calloway joined the Rentbot team in 2015. With a background in public relations, advertising, and copywriting, she has helped many clients achieve their marketing and communications goals within various fields, but she particularly enjoys working with the apartment industry.