How Often Should You Update Your Website?

It is the focal point of your business - the place that prospective customers go to check your credibility and view your offering or perhaps even to directly buy products and services. Yet often your website receives little or no attention from one year to the next. Perhaps a third-party manage the hosting for you and the process is cumbersome and expensive. Maybe you spent a hefty sum getting a top-notch, professional site that is SEO-friendly and feel the deal is done.

Rather than treating your website as an adhoc expense, it is better to update it little and often, keeping it fresh and up-to-date. Your company website isn't about you. It is a tool with which to conduct business and engage with your target audience. Modern analytics provide more than a steer, they can direct you to your potential customers.

Rather than waiting 3-5 years to totally overhaul your site (at considerable expense), instead make regular data-driven decisions (known as Growth-Driven Design) that will improve your customer's experience and website. If you have the resources and know-how to deploy this strategy - you can spend a lot less money and tailor your website to your target audience in the process.

It doesn't make sense to invest thousands of pounds in your most important digital tool and then leave it stagnant. The internet is always changing and so are its search engines. It's true, a poorly designed website is an immediate turn-off. If you haven't invested in approximately 4 years it could be time for a face-lift. I speak to some people who don't see the true value and purpose of their website. It tells people what their company does, which is fine, right?

Wrong.

Every industry is crowded. There are plenty of people who do what you do and sell what you sell. Getting your head above the crowd matters. You may have sales and marketing teams, but then where do all of these prospects head (once they hear about you), to validate whatever they heard and see if you can help them? Any would-be clients who find you through a search engine or specifically look for you online are expecting your website to impress. And you don't have long (around 15-20 seconds). Your website needs to impress quickly or that would-be client is lost to the competition. Your website is encouraging or discouraging revenue opportunities all of the time.

Your company focus will move around throughout the fiscal year. Your content should reflect these changes and support your strategy. You will (no doubt) push different products or services, try and fill any gaps or shortfalls and capitalise on any opportunities that present themselves. Your content strategy is part (a big part) of your sales strategy and in harmony they are a partnership that can really deliver.

Up-to-date content on your website not only keeps your clients informed, it also tells search engines that your site is active and relevant. Content marketing has proven to be integral to all digital marketing and that shows no sign of stopping. Regularly investing in your content is an investment in the ongoing conversation with your target audience.

Your website may not need thousands of pounds spent on it...just a little TLC.

Claire