When was the last time you gave your WordPress website a check? To make sure that your website is working correctly, and that your customers are appropriately treated by it, you should occasionally put on your customer’s shoes and give it a good look.
It is hard to stay objective when the site is yours, so you might think that this is an unnecessary waste of your time. Still, no matter how proud you are of your website, there are some things you won’t be able to miss even if you wanted to.
Does one of the links that you have placed so ideally lead where you need it to, or is it showing a 404? Is the piece of content you published with a smile on your face still relevant?
And most importantly, take a step back. Does your website look like it is a polished and refined salesman of your business or company? Or, is it more of an old fashioned guy in a suit selling dictionaries from one door to another?
Unfortunately, nothing on the web is timeless. Big companies and brands spend quite an amount of money to keep their websites at their prime at all times. Sometimes it is something as simple as adding a few pictures. Other times, you might need to revamp every single aspect of your site.
It is not a small feat, but it is doable. Still, how to do it without losing customers in the process?
Your website makeover and your customers
While a fresh and new website can do wonders for your customers and sales, there is a downside to it that you should consider twice.
You don’t want them to see the work in progress for sure. If your website is a bit messy now, imagine what it will look like while you are actively working on it. If your visitors see the mess, your credibility will go down the drain, and you can kiss those customers goodbye. Why? Because a good website brings money, the horrible website brings anxiety and worries, and your customers will lose their trust in you. If you can’t take care of your site correctly, which is crucial in this modern age, how can they expect you to solve their problem for which they are willing to spend money?
What you need to make sure when considering redesigning your site is to make sure that your customers don’t see you in action. The most natural solution is to set a coming soon page, still, keeping their interest while under maintenance is a tough job.
Probably the easiest temporary fix to hide the mess and not lose your customers’ interest is merely redirecting them to where you want them to end up. There is a broken link on your website? Redirect them to a proper one. Outdated content? Gently nudge the visitors to another content piece without them noticing anything.
How to redirect users?
Unlike other platforms, which are bound to wing their way through redirections, WordPress base is full of numerous redirection plugins. So, if you are using WordPress, you are in luck!
The most straightforward plugin to use to get your visitors where you want them instead of letting them roam freely through your site is 301 Redirects.
What is 301 Redirects?
Just like its name suggests, 301 Redirects is a plugin that will help you manage all the redirections on your site without you having to break a sweat. Creating a scenic path of the most beautiful pages around your website while actively hiding work in progress is as simple as possible with this plugin – all you have to do is copy and paste some links!
How to use 301 Redirects?
“Effortless” is this plugin’s middle name. This incredibly straightforward plugin will help you with your redirection needs, without troubling you with any additional features which only confuse both you and your website. Instead, the list of features is short and sweet.
Simple Redirects Setup
How much simpler can it get from your regular dropdown menu? Even if you have never created redirects before, just picking the “better” option for your visitors to land on is as simple as a click. From the dropdown menu, you can select any page, post, or even to the archive, in case some of the old content is coming back in style. Overall, it takes a couple of clicks, and your visitors will no longer be able to see the mess you are fixing.
Away From Your Site
If you are moving to a whole other address, make sure that your customers and visitors follow. There is no need to pick an URL from your site, but with 301 Redirects you can send them to a whole another website. It is also an effortless process – all it takes for you is to copy and paste the new URL in the specified place, and you are all set up.
Hold All the Strings in Your Hands
Just because your people are going somewhere else, you don’t have to toss all those strings you worked hard to establish out of the window. The good news is that you get to keep all the strings, even after you have set up the redirections. You will retain each query with 301 Redirects, especially tracking codes and affiliate strings!
Import and export redirections as you please
You might have done this before, or you could already have the needed redirects. Whichever the case, there is no need to update them manually thanks to this plugin’s import and export feature. Just upload your CSV file, and the plugin will take it from there. On the other hand, if you spend too much time on new redirections, make sure to export them so that you can quickly get to them if you need them later down the road.
Within a blink
You are worried that your customers will notice the gentle nudges and lose their trust with you? No need, as this plugin works impeccably and it is improbable that they will see anything. As fast as it is, it redirects your users before they know it.
Hit it
Are people even clicking on your redirects? Was all the work for nothing? Check out the “hits” section to find out. This simple counter takes notice every time a visitor uses one of the redirects you have set up so that you can see how well it is performing.
A quick solution
There are numerous reasons why you would want your visitors somewhere else. Moving your site or giving it a pretty makeover is as stressful as it comes, so having to think of your visitors while you are swamped with other decisions is not something you enjoy.
Regardless of why you need to move your visitors to another URL, using 301 Redirects is the way to do it. Easy-to-use, and rather straightforward, this plugin will help you set up your redirections in the least painful way possible. A couple of clicks, or copy-pasting another link is as simple as it could be, while it still gets the job done correctly!