Your website is often the very first place customers will go to learn about your business. Keeping your website updated is one of the most important steps in attracting customers and creating leads. As web development changes rapidly, there are many ways in which your website may be falling behind. Here, we go over seven signs it’s time to start updating your website.
1. Your Website Is Not Secure Enough
Security is a top priority for all businesses, but it is something that is often overlooked. If your website is hacked and client information is compromised, this could lead to a lack of trust that harms your business. Revisit the framework and platform on which your site is built and see if your site is secure for all visitors.
2. Your Website Is Losing Its Visual Appeal
In today’s world, it is likely that your website will be the only interaction the public has with your organisation. What may have been trendy when you first created your website could now be out of date or look poorly designed by today’s standard. There are often significant improvements from website and theme providers every 2-3 years that change the visual landscape and people’s expectations of a modern website. Compare your current site to the ones you frequently visit and find visually appealing, and update your websites visuals if you feel yours don’t match up.
3. Your Content Is Not up to Date
Keeping content up to date is a great way to build trust between you and your customers as they come to rely on you for useful information. If your website has old dates for events, incorrect locations, or old blog posts discussing now irrelevant topics, you’re in desperate need of an update. Visitors to your site will wonder if you’re still in business, rather than look to you as an authority. Updating your blog with fresh content will bring in traffic and keep visitors coming back for more.
4. Your Website Isn’t Mobile Friendly
Without a doubt, we are living in a smartphone society. It is very likely that an individual will visit your site only on their phone. If your website isn’t mobile optimised, you risk frustrating customers and losing business overall. If visitors cannot get things done quickly and easily on your website using only their phones, then that’s a clear sign it’s time to update.
5. Your Website Takes Too Long to Load
Does your website load slowly? A loading time over five seconds is perceived by many as too long to wait. Slow loading could be caused by a variety of factors, including large images, underpowered hosting or an older, poorly performing theme. Some of these are a quick fix and great way to update your website for a better visitor experience.
6. Your SEO Is Struggling
If your website hasn’t been updated in a while, your ranking is probably not so high on search engines. Updating your website can be a great way to boost your search engine rank as you can take this time to add in keywords and phrases, as well as improve the organisation of your content. And if you don’t have a blog yet, this is a perfect time to add one and update it with new content regularly to drive more traffic your way.
7. Your Website Is Difficult to Navigate
These days, we know so much more about the user experience and how your website navigation can nudge the right visitor toward a great experience. Check your website’s user experience. How easy is it to find information and complete actions? If it seems difficult or confusing to a first-time user, then it’s time to upgrade.
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