Digital Spring Cleaning

Many of us have a spring cleaning routine at our homes and you probably have one at your golf course… all of the things you do to clear the deadwood out of the way and prepare for a new season.

Your golf facility spring cleaning routine should include a thorough scrub of your digital assets… website, social media pages, email addresses, list of administrators on your tee sheet/POS, etc.

Physical clutter is easy to see… digital clutter is often hidden from view until someone clicks the wrong link and then it’s a real eyesore.  In my job I visit a lot of golf course websites, and I often see stuff that makes it clear that no one is minding the store… rates pages with dates from the past, URL links that don’t work, out-of-date scorecards, contact pages that include the names of people who are no longer at the course.  There’s no physical harm done by any of this, but it certainly doesn’t reflect well on your brand.

Every so often, you or someone on your staff should take a walk through every page on your website to make sure the information is still accurate and relevant.  Read every word and click on every link to make sure they work.  And while you’re at it… think about whether you can discard anything.  Do you really need every page on your website?  Is anyone even visiting some of these pages?  Have you added promotions or links for the new activities at your course?

Do the same exercise on any social media pages that you maintain.  Weed out obsolete information and make sure your visitors don’t have to wade through mountains of crap to get to the good stuff.

Your email database is another digital asset that needs a periodic scrub.  What should you do with the people in your email database who haven’t opened any of your last 10 emails?  Does your email template need to be freshened up?

When is the last time you booked a tee time online?  Go through the process and ask yourself whether the experience seemed easy and convenient or frustrating and confusing.  Are your key selling points being reinforced during the process?

I could go on, but you get the point… digital assets need to be maintained just like physical assets or they will look shabby and unprofessional.  If you don’t have time to do all of this, contract with someone to do it.

Make sure your digital assets are representing your brand well and are helping you to attract and retain customers.

Come on… cleaning house can be fun.