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Clean out your (website) closetSeptember 9th, 2013

Every once in a while you look at your bedroom closet and realize that you have a lot of things you rarely (or never) wear. Unless you are going to an 80’s party (or even 70’s), it is time to clean out the closet. I was faced with this task this weekend. I found a lot to give to charity, and the result is more room and better organization.

So what does this have to do with your website you ask? Well, as a web guy, most things I do make me think of parallels in the web world. I got to thinking and the same thing that applies to your closet, also applies to your website. Every once in a while, clean it out.

Here’s a short list:

• Delete old drafts, and pages not being used.
• If you take comments, you probably have tons of spam. Delete them.
• If you have several old backups, thin out the folder to a few.
• Go through and read your content, yes all of it. Make sure it is up to date and relevant.
• Change passwords, and go ultra-secure. If you use wordpress, make sure you aren’t using ‘admin’ as your username. Also on the wordpress security front, make sure you have a good security plugin as well. Make sure all plugins and versions are up to date. if you have plugins you aren’t using, de-activate and delete.
• Take a fresh backup of all content and databases.

No one enjoys cleaning out their closet, or things like spring cleaning. But it does make your life easier, and in the case of a website, safer.  Try to to utilize my list a couple of times a year, you will be happy you did.