
1. Review Your Modules, Apps, and Plugins
Platform extensions solve problems, but these business "problems" change over time. What once was a key feature may now be of minor importance, but this feature still lives on, extracting performance juice from your visitors and search engines.
Deactivating unnecessary extensions will:
- Reduce monthly subscription costs
- Improve website performance
- Enhance security
2. Clean Up Google Tag Manager
Tag Manager configurations can quickly become cluttered with outdated or unnecessary tags. One merchant discovered hundreds of unused tags in their system—removing them significantly improved their page speed.
Before making changes, consult with your development and marketing teams to avoid disabling essential functionality. Also consider whether certain tags need to trigger on every page or if they can be limited to specific sections, like article pages.
3. Double-check your site speed
Google's CrUX (Chrome User Experience Report) tool shows your page speed performance over time. If you notice deterioration, investigate the cause.
A common culprit? Oversized images. Those beautiful seasonal photos your marketing team just uploaded might be 10MB files that are dramatically slowing down your site. Optimizing images is one of the easiest ways to improve performance.
4. Review Your Product Catalog
Those products you haven't sold in years but still display on your website? They're consuming your Google search crawl quota and potentially damaging user experience.
However, don't simply delete old product pages. Instead:
- Identify which outdated products still attract traffic
- Set up redirects to relevant, current products
- Alternatively, add prominent links pointing visitors to newer alternatives
This approach preserves SEO value while improving the customer journey.
5. Check Your Website's Accessibility Score
Website accessibility can deteriorate over time as new content and features are added. Poor accessibility limits who can use your site and exposes your business to potential legal issues.
The WAVE Chrome browser extension provides a quick way to assess your site's accessibility—the same tool many legal professionals use to identify non-compliant websites. Taking proactive steps can protect your business while making your site more inclusive.