We’ve just gone past the middle of 2022 – are you needing to update your website?
If you are a business owner or an independent professional, you most likely have a website.
If not, then you should get one!
Contrary to what some people may say, having a custom-built website is still crucial for your business to thrive in 2022.
People aren’t idiots. They will look up a business before making a deal with them, which is why businesses with websites (or social media pages at least) get better credibility and sales.
And because the digital world changes every so often, you also need to update your website from time to time.
HoopJumper knows this really well, which is why we made updates to our own website last year to keep up with the times.
Here are seven reasons why we believe you need to update your website when you can.
Refreshing Your Website Refreshes Your Brand Online
You want to keep making a good first impression with your leads and clients. To do this, you need to always stay updated, fresh and relevant.
This sits true when we talk about your website. People may love your website, but if they are looking at the same thing over and over again there’s a good chance they’ll be tired of it.
Keeping your website’s look updated coincides with keeping your brand fresh. Make sure that any update you’ll make to your website will be consistent with your brand identity.
Update Your Website To Keep The Content Relevant
Change is constant, and information keeps on evolving. This is why your website content should always be kept updated.
Similar to the first principle we discussed, you don’t want people looking at the same thing over and over. You also don’t want them reading or watching content that isn’t relevant to the current times.
Whether you are writing a new blog, posting a new video, or showcasing a new product or service, keep your content fresh and updated to always draw your audience’s attention.
You can also incorporate news about your area of expertise, or post new promotions or specials so your visitors will be more interested in staying on your website.
Updating Your SEO Settings To Stay Relevant In Search Engine Rankings
When should you update your website for its SEO settings?
Google updates its search engine algorithms approximately every six months, so you should definitely schedule a time for these changes.
Smaller changes, on the other hand, can happen at any time. Sometimes, we see updates every couple of weeks; other times, it may take months before the next algorithm change happens.
Changes in search algorithms can affect your website’s ranking in search results, so it’s important to update your website regularly to rank higher than your competitors.
In terms of content, it really depends on your niche, but we recommend putting out a blog or any new content every week or two, as more frequently updated websites get crawled by Google faster.
The bottom line is – updating your SEO settings helps you maintain a strong ranking, which would result in your website attracting the right customers – and more of them.
Update Your Website’s Security To Keep Data Safe
It’s all about data safety today. Users personal and financial information is often digitalized and stored on website servers. For example, your medical history is likely stored on the servers of your healthcare provider. Outdated security measures will cave under modern hacking attacks, and at times, even a year-old technology can be outdated. A hacked server can be used for spam.
Moreover, all the user data contained on it will be compromised and can even be stolen if you don’t keep up with the newest means of data protection. Regularly updating your website and content management system (CMS) is a must, and if your website uses custom-built security, see that it’s compliant with the latest standards.
You want to have a secure website, so update your website to ensure that security software is functioning properly. A hacked website leads to delays and disruption, and it looks unprofessional.
Make sure all extra features you’ve downloaded to your site come from reputable sources and change your passwords every few months to keep the hackers away.
Ensure That Your Site Loads Quickly
Website visitors nowadays have very little attention spans. This means that if you have a slow-loading website, viewers are more likely to click away from it, thus increasing your website’s bounce rate.
The world is too busy, so you need to make sure you get your audience’s attention as fast as you can. This is why website updates are needed often to make sure your site loads quickly.
There are several factors that can affect your website’s loading speed. One of them is the way your pages are coded. If you check out the latest trends in web development technology, you’ll see that a great number of them are aimed at making pages load faster.
When you update your website with new technologies that are available, you can lower your website’s bounce rate and improve your Google ranking.
Another factor that can speed up or slow down your website’s loading time is the theme you use. We recommend updating your themes every month, because older themes use cluttered UIs (user interfaces) that make it so the site loads much slower than usual.
Ideally, you want to keep your website pages’ loading times to less than 5 seconds.
Integrate Third-Party Platforms With Your Website
Every year, new third-party platforms are created to improve a consumer’s experience online. Some of these platforms focus on email marketing, while others improve a user’s experience when making online purchases.
Third party platforms allow you to connect to them so you can extend your website’s reach beyond what it is capable of doing. Some of these platforms include:
- Email marketing
- Customer relationship marketing (CRM) systems
- Payment gateways
- Reservation/booking systems
- Ecommerce sites
- Content management systems
Of course, connecting your website to third-party platforms is going to take some work, but it’s work that is worth it in the end.
One of the reasons platform integration is becoming popular is that it makes it easier for you, as a business owner, to do your job by taking care of the mundane, repetitive tasks for you.
Keep Your Website Flexible
According to a study made by Statista in 2021, over half of all website traffic (54.4%) came from mobile sources.
This statistic has become so relevant that mobile-first website development has become a thing.
“What is mobile-first website development” you say?
It’s when a website is created to meet mobile view requirements first, then are updated to be seen on desktop browsers.
And even if you created a mobile app for your business, you need to make sure that your website is still responsive for mobile screens (whether they be phones, tablets or notepads). If your website hasn’t been updated for over a decade, that’s a good indicator that it needs to be updated.
Our Final Thoughts
Keeping your website updated benefits your business greatly because it helps drive more traffic to it.
And with your busy schedule, you might be thinking “I don’t have the time to do this myself.”
You don’t have to.
HoopJumper helps small business owners like you update your website by customizing it with a unique and appealing homepage focused on getting your ideal client to contact you.
A great small business website is the cornerstone of all of your marketing efforts. Let HoopJumper help you with that.
Contact us today!