A website is in need of regular updates and constant care once created. Simply launching it is not enough and you may be missing quite a lot if you think you’re done with it.
Why Is It Important to Often Update Your Site?
– Your site will be better ranked by search engines. There is no doubt you want it to rank high with search engines. They are fond of websites that often present viewers with new and interesting content which is both up-to-date and relevant to the visitors.
– The way visitors perceive your content. If you blog only offers outdated content, posted a few years ago, they will most likely come to the conclusion that the information is old and irrelevant or that the site is no longer looked after. This will reduce their interest in it and it is highly likely that they will leave it.
– The likelihood of your content being shared. New and unique content dramatically increases the chances of people linking to it from other websites and sharing it on social networks. This is very beneficial for SEO.
The Most Important Aspects of a Website Update
Most likely you are already convinced of the importance to regularly update your website. But what are its main aspects? Maintaining a website can usually be broken down into 3 parts:
– Keeping the design of your site relevant. Having great content on your website is not enough to attract the heart and minds of your visitors. An outdated design can significantly reduce the appeal of your content. Visitors usually get the first impression on your website from its design. It also makes an impression on their willingness to return to the site.
– Content update. Well ranked sites need constant content, usually served in a blog section. Apart from the blog, the rest of the information on the home page, the testimonials and the contact details should also be updated regularly.
– Technical maintenance. Without a technical maintenance it will be hard to keep a site. Over time it may be difficult to address problems such as 404 errors, having broken links or missing media content. A website owner should often look for such problems and address them regularly for the reason that they too affect how well your site is ranked in searched engines and your content consumed by visitors.
The Things to Consider When Updating Your Website
– Keep your engine, themes and plugins regularly updated. This is important for those who use a CMS like WordPress or Drupal. From the security standpoint it is paramount that you always update them to the latest version in order to reduce website vulnerability and prevent hacker attacks. The newer versions of themes and plugins often come with new functionalities that may prove beneficial to your site as well. Always consider creating a backup of your entire site before updating it. Sometimes it happens that a new update of either a plugin or a theme breaks down your site. Being able to revert to the previous state of your site when everything worked just fine is important.
– Remove broken links. They make it hard to access certain URLs of your site and disappoint visitors. Broken links are also detected by search engines and in turn they also downgrade the rankings of a site. Broken links often result from pages being moved or archived and resources being relocated. This happens. What we shouldn’t be content with is not checking for them and doing nothing to fix them. There are a number of free tools a webmaster can use to detect broken links, Dead Link Checker being one of them. Alternatively, if your site is CMS-based, you may want to use a plugin or similar kind of extension for your convenience to detect them.
– Frequently update your blog. As we already mentioned, a website needs a blog section to regularly introduce new engaging content to visitors and improve ranking in search engines. Having new posts at least twice a week is an indication to search engines that your site is properly updated with relevant content.
– Ensure that you keep your personal and contact information current. Make it easy for your client to reach you. For example, if there is a change to your operating hours, update the necessary information on your website so that they don’t become frustrated or upset whenever they decide to contact you.
– Run usability tests and monitor your analytics. Over time, the content of your website will grow. Run tests to ensure it is still easy for your visitors to navigate your pages and discover what they are looking for. People often tend to neglect this practice that concerns the convenience of their clients. Monitoring, on the other hand, gives you an idea of how captivating your content is in the eyes of your visitors and whether you should take steps to improve your site either by updating certain content having high bounce rate or redesign the site.
If you aim to increase the income from your site, keeping it regularly updated is important. Perform regular fixes and checkups and modernize its looks. Keep it appealing to people so that they get the impression that it is a good place where they can spend their time and money.
