How to Organize Your Website Marie Kondo Style

You know it’s time to organize your website, but you have no idea how to do it. Maybe you’ve had this website for a few years. Maybe you’ve changed your mind on a direction. Either way, you haven’t had the chance yet to refresh your content or direction. Furthermore, you’ve been collecting digital clutter like you’re starring on an episode of Hoarders. 

It’s time to channel your inner Marie Kondo and organize your website into a place that sparks joy, sells more, and stands out from the crowd. Here are my best tips for how you can organize your website.

7 WAYS TO ORGANIZE YOUR WEBSITE, MARIE KONDO STYLE

Let’s start by taking a good look at what’s currently happening behind-the-scenes in your website. Now let’s have a moment of silence. Because that old method isn’t taking you anywhere. Now you can let go of what’s no longer serving you so that you can propel forward into your future goals.

1. UPDATE PLUGINS

Your website plugins and themes should always be up-to-date. This goes without saying, but sometimes it’s easy to let it slide (#guilty). The most important thing you can do for your website is to keep those plugins behaving as they should. This will ensure that your site stays functional, beautiful, and most importantly, secure. If updating your plugins every day doesn’t spark joy, you can always choose to bulk update your plugins to save time.

2. REMOVE OLD THEMES

If you have a custom or customized theme, chances are you do not need the default themes that were first installed on your website how ever many moons ago. Organize your website themes and feel free to delete the ones that serve no purpose. Be sure not to delete any themes that are currently active for linked to your website.

 

 

3. COMPRESS IMAGES IN MEDIA LIBRARY

There is typically ONE CULPRIT for why websites run slower than they should. Let me introduce you to over-sized images. Large image files may work on Canva, Instagram or even your living room gallery wall, but they are notorious for taking longer to load and clogging up website space.

So, what you need to do is use a plugin like Smush to organize your website images for web size. This plugin allows you to bulk smush up to 50  images at once. Feel free to keep it running in the background while you write a blog post or send an email.

4. FIX BROKEN LINKS

Nothing is more annoying than landing on a 404 Page Not Found link when you’re trying to use a website. Prevent this from happening by routinely checking your links with the (appropriately named) plugin Broken Link Checker. When you figure out what links aren’t working, you can better adjust your content to reflect new links that work. Which leads me into my next point…

 

 

5. UPDATE PAST BLOG POSTS

This task, of course, is something that might take you a bit longer than the ones above, but it’s the most strategic. If you’ve been blogging for a while, there’s a chance that you have outdated content on your website.

For instance, maybe you have a roundup post that links to a product that no longer exists. Or perhaps you have new partnerships with affiliate programs and want to sprinkle in more links into your most popular posts.

Either way, it’s time to strategically organize your website blog posts with content that’s going to move the needle and get you more subscribers, more traffic, more sales.

6. ORGANIZE BLOG CATEGORIES

Once you update your old posts, you might want to take a moment to organize your website categories. Rename your categories, create new categories, add subcategories, put blog posts into their appropriate categories… There’s a lot you can do in this task, but the whole point is to make it easier for your visitors to find content.

 

 

7. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE LEGALLY LEGIT

Maybe this goes a step beyond “organize your website” but it’s something that needs to be done if it’s not done already. If you have a website, you need to have at least these 3 legal pages published. If you are a blogger, you may also need additional pages for affiliate disclosures or disclaimers. It’s okay if you don’t yet have access to a lawyer.

You can use templates or online generators to create and update these legal pages. PRO TIP: Keep an eye on the local regulations. Your city or state may require additional information in your legal pages.

8. DELETE OLD USERS

Finally, delete old users that no longer have access to your website. This should go without saying, but get rid of old user accounts. Maybe you had a website designer like myself (wink wink) or a virtual assistant who came in to help you out but now they’re gone. Go ahead and delete their user account. You can always create a new one in the future!

PIN FOR LATER