By Karen Kleinman
It is the end of April, and May is almost here! The temperatures have risen, there’s more sunlight, and things are blooming … it is Springtime!
So, from your friendly web developer, here are some digital Spring Cleaning tips for your website & computer:
1. If your desk is cluttered, clean it off… file all those papers away, grab a “can of hiss” as my cats like to refer to it and blow the dust out from your CPU or laptop, vacuum your keyboard, and dig out the little bit of fuzz that might be hiding in your optical mouse’s sensor. Clean your monitors with monitor-safe wipes.
2. Do you have a central and secure place for your website info? If not, get an index card or pocket notebook to write down the Name, Website, User Credentials, Login URL, email & phone support of your Domain Registrar & your Hosting provider. Make a note of your domain name(s) and when it is supposed to renew. Also include the name of your Web Developer and their contact info if someone manages your website for you. Also, make sure that your payment method for these services hasn’t expired.
3. If you manage your own website, make sure you check any installed scripts for updates – DON’T FORGET TO MAKE A BACKUP BEFORE YOU UPDATE!
4. When was the last time you made and downloaded a backup of your website – Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Never???!! Do yourself a big favor and set up a regularly scheduled backup of your website. AND… don’t forget to keep a copy downloaded from your server!
5. Have you updated your blog, social media, client list, or portfolio lately? Make it a goal to post something regularly.
6. Look to see if your city or neighborhood is having an E-WASTE Day, where you can dispose of old technology equipment like broken monitors, old computer systems, the mouse that your cat thought was the other kind of mouse, and that keyboard that has enough crumbs and coffee inside that it could be its own donut shop.
7. Go through your email and delete all the junk mail, spam, and email that you don’t need anymore.
8. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date and run a virus scan on your computer’s internal and external drives.
9. Clean out your hard drive of junk files you don’t need anymore, uninstall programs you don’t use, and dump the Recycle Bin.
10. Have a defrag session to put your hard drive in order, if your system has an SSD you can skip this tip.