We know that when you are running your own small business or trying to get a business off the ground you might feel as if you are being pulled in a thousand different directions. The truth of the matter is there are a lot of things to focus on and a lot of things to put your energy into in order to get your business to flourish.
But one of the things you should definitively be focusing on is not only creating a website for your business, but continuing to update that website. Your website should be an active and evolving part of your business. It should portray the growth, changes, and continuing successes of your business. It should definitely not be stagnant – because your business isn’t stagnant.
You should be upgrading your site with responsive design, with new photos, new positive reviews of your company, social media posts, videos, blog posts and more. According to Hubspot, on average companies that have blogs on their websites have 55% more visitors to their site, 97% more inbound links, and 434% more indexed pages. So, keeping up with changes and creating new content for visitors will not only draw more people to your site, but will also help you to retain those customers over time.
Now we also know that with a small business, money may be tight. But website updates do not have to be costly. If you do not need to recreate an entire website, then simply updating your theme can refresh your site in a cost effective manner. For example, new WordPress themes run anywhere from free to about 100 dollars.
But let’s say you never change or refresh your website, what’s the worst that could happen?
Well, your site could run slowly and/or ineffectively.
Without updating responsive website design or making your website mobile friendly, your site could run slowly, images may not load, or images and texts might be mixed around on a visitor’s device. If this occurs then it is sure to result in a negative experience for the viewer. In fact, according to Accenture, “48% of all consumers have left a business’ website and made a purchase elsewhere because the experience was poorly curated.” Don’t lose sales because your website isn’t up-to-date.
Also, your visitors won’t find any new value in your site.
When you don’t update your content on a regular basis, there really isn’t any need for a visitor to continue to return to your site. If they have seen all they need to see or read all they can read, what more are you offering them? In order to keep visitors coming back to your site you need to continue to offer them new value. And if you aren’t able to retain visitors, they are less likely to buy from your company or support your brand.
Lastly, old and outdated content won’t attract new visitors.
When you don’t evolve over time you won’t be able to attract as many new consumers. Not keeping up with new trends, new popular marketing tactics, and new news within your industry can create a gap between your website and new visitors. Also, keep in mind, according to Blue Corona Marketing, “48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the credibility of a business.” So your design should be kept up-to-date with current trends so it continues to portray credibility.
So with all this in mind, how often should you make website updates?
The simple answer is: It depends on the type of update. If you are adding pictures, new reviews, and blog posts, then your website should most likely be updated on a weekly basis. If you are upgrading the overall design or theme, updating responsive design, and making sure everything is mobile friendly, then you should probably update it every couple of years.
Some Key Takeaways:
- You need to continue to create new value for your visitors in order to increase retention
- On average, having a company blog leads to over 50% more visitors than websites without a blog
- Websites should have responsive design
- Websites should be mobile friendly
- You should revamp your website as new trends emergewebsite as new trends emerge
At the end of the day people will only continue to return to your website as long as you are providing them with content that makes it worthwhile for them to return. Reoccurring website updates are the way to achieve this. If you provide for your visitors, they will provide for you.
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