It's the beginning of a brand new year, what better time to review your online marketing efforts to see if what you're doing online is really working for you, find all those orphaned social media accounts and make sure your messaging is fine tuned for the new year. It's time fore a website audit.

Web sites
Check to see that those dead campaigns, landing pages and micro-sites actually got removed from your web sites. A few Google and Bing searches are a good place to start. Then look into the site directories (or have your web team do it) to ensure there aren't any orphaned pages laying around sucking up your SEO juice and giving the wrong impression. If you're not using them anymore put in a re-direct to point the incoming links to a more relevant location and delete the old page. Is the look and feel getting dated? Is the brand still spot on?

Domains
Are all your domains paid up-to-date? Have you reserved all the domain names related to your business? Don't forget the .net, .me .biz and .tv domains. Even if you don't use them now you can point them to your main domain. Who's the admin contact on the site? Is contact info correct and private if that is your preference? Is all the registration information up-to-date and stored somewhere you can find it? (That doesn't mean a post it note on your monitor either!)

Social Media Sites
Have you reserved your company brand on the social media sites you need to be represented on? Are all the profiles sending a consistent message? Mind you, your messaging should be tuned to the style of the network, but you still need to check and make sure it's on point. Are there consistent links to important information? Take the time to update pictures and evaluate which networks are getting the most of your energy and which need a little more love.

Search Engine Optimization
Review your current strategies for SEO. Are your keywords still relevant? Has the phrasing or positioning of the company changed? Check for Alt and meta tags as well as your site map. Has it been updated lately? Do some searches and see how this year compares to your search engine rankings from last year.

Newsletter and Emails
Been meaning to delete those accounts that bounced from the last 12 newsletters? Get to it because it's messing with your open rates. Before you send that holiday promotion or greeting letter clean up your list and make sure it's up-to-date. While you're at it take a look at your newsletter and make sure the look and feel reflects your brand well.

Author's Bio: 

Ms. Fouts coaches individuals and corporations in the use of social media tools and networks as part of their overall strategy. Her book, Social Media Success! is available on Amazon and give real world and practical advice for anyone wanting to use social media. She speaks across the country on social media topics and recently founded the Social Media Coaching Center where she offers step by step tutorials for social media engagement.