Staying connected with your clients, partners and employees is integral to the success of your business. Today, maintaining those connections is more important than ever. As businesses are forced to create new ways of operating, digital technology has enabled many of them to keep their doors open—at least in a virtual sense.
Regardless of your size or type of business, your website is one of the most important business tools you can have, but simply having a website isn’t enough. In order to stay competitive, you need to keep it updated. After all, your website is the first impression many people will have of your business. And we all know what they say about first impressions.
If the first thing viewers see on your site is outdated imagery or content—or worse yet, they see nothing because it takes too long for the page to load, you may not get a second chance.
The good news is, keeping your website updated is one of the best ways to increase awareness, build trust and have relevant content to drive traffic to. So what are the best ways to update your website? Here are a few of the most popular.
Update Your Content
Old contact info, team members who haven’t been with the company in a decade, an incomplete list of services. If this sounds all too familiar, it’s time for an update. Do an audit of your current site and determine what’s outdated, what’s missing, and what you no longer need. Remember, you want to provide enough information to answer any questions, but not so much that you overwhelm your audience. With a content management tool (CMS), updating your information is a relatively easy task. Creating a site with CMS built in will make it easier to add and edit pages, change business hours and policy information, create webforms and even add an online store down the road if needed
Keep Your Design Impactful
The design of your website can set the stage for what happens next. Beautiful, welcoming design can draw visitors in and make them want to see more—keeping them on your site for longer. Bad design can have the opposite effect, sending visitors running. Much like fashion and interior design, what’s popular and trendy in website design can change without warning. Fonts, photographs, illustrations, colors, and design elements can be affected by social, political and environmental influences. What was once seen as perfectly acceptable images of customers in a place of business or gathering in social settings may now be seen as insensitive, and the businesses that post them could be viewed negatively. That’s why it’s more important than ever to have the ability to make quick adjustments to your site. Remember to constantly audit it to make sure your business is always positioned in the best light
Update Your SEO. Improve your Rankings
It doesn’t matter how great your website is if your audience can’t find it. That’s why incorporating SEO keywords into your content, image files names and meta data is crucial to improving your search rankings and getting found. But keep in mind that search engines like Google are constantly changing their algorithms and SEO rules. It’s important to analyze your content, keywords, descriptions and file names regularly and update as needed to keep your business top of rankings—and top of mind.
Update Your SEO. Improve Your Rankings
Your needs are constantly changing—and so are new technologies. Investing in a site that has the flexibility to grow with you is key. Whether you need to add an online store or blog, you want to integrate chat functionality to create a more personalized experience or you’re looking to boost your site with online videos, having these capabilities is essential. In addition to adding new features or functionalities, you also want to replace outdated ones like Flash, which is becoming extinct at the end of this year. These updates will keep your site fresh and relevant—and your business competitive.
Add Features and Functionalities
Three seconds is typically the maximum time you have to keep the attention of customers. If your site doesn’t load in that time, they may move on to one that does. If keeping current and potential customers engaged isn’t reason enough to speed up your site, maybe Google can provide a little more incentive. Google rewards sites with faster load times by moving them up in the search results. That means when prospective customers do a google search for businesses like yours, your name will rise to the top—giving you a huge advantage. If you find your load time is lagging, there are some simple steps you can take such as using the latest code, reducing image sizes, optimizing page caches, and avoiding redirects. Also, your web host can be slowing you down by using slow, outdated servers or offering insufficient bandwidth for your needs.
Stay Up to Speed
You know the old saying “you can’t be too careful.” This is especially relevant in the digital world. While it’s true that any site can be hacked, sites that have outdated software are much more attractive to cyber criminals because they can be easily infiltrated. To protect yourself, your business and your visitors, make sure your agency or website developer installs the latest patches and bug fixes for any web-based software on your site. Also, if you haven’t done so already, upgrade from an HTTP protocol to a more secure HTTPS.
Ensure a Safe Environment
People aren’t sitting at their desks searching the web. They’re on their phones, tablets and laptops. If your site doesn’t operate properly on the device they’re using, you may be driving them right into the arms of one of your competitors. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your site maintains responsive design to accommodate all devices. In fact, many businesses are taking a mobile-first approach as smartphones are currently the most popular way to search. If you already have a site, contact your web developer to find out how to make it responsive.
Be Responsive
The way your website looks and functions and the information on it is a direct reflection of your business. Having a website that is clean, functional and up-to-date lets customers and prospects know you care about your business and, even more importantly, you care about their business. Whether you make small updates more often, larger updates once a year or some combination of both depends on your business needs and goals. The key takeaway here is to keep your website updated.
The Bottom Line
The way your website looks and functions and the information on it is a direct reflection of your business. Having a website that is clean, functional and up-to-date lets customers and prospects know you care about your business and, even more importantly, you care about their business. Whether you make small updates more often, larger updates once a year or some combination of both depends on your business needs and goals. The key takeaway here is to keep your website updated.
To learn more about the importance of upgrading your website, sign up for a free webinar brought to you by Imbue Creative.
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