5 Ways You Need to Update Your Website

ou’ve published your company’s new website. Great! But, don’t let your launch day be the last day you look at it. If you want to get digital marketing results (i.e. awareness/visits, leads, etc.), website updates need to be part of your marketing plan. Regular website updates improve the user experience (which can reduce your website bounce rate and increase visit time), generate user engagement, and contribute to better search engine rankings.

Website Auditing and Planning

To maximize results, website updates should be strategic and carefully planned. The first step in the process is to evaluate your website and look for areas of improvement, as well as opportunities. These areas could include website infrastructure and content items (i.e. content, broken links, etc.) and marketing opportunities (i.e. content that can improve SEO, ways to subscribe to your email list, etc.) This step helps create a clear roadmap for the update and ensures that you address essential areas that require attention.

In addition to an internal audit, it’s also advantageous to evaluate your competitor’s websites as well. When browsing the sites, look for content ideas that you may be missing. Do a full SEO audit to see what keywords your competitors are ranking for and make a plan to improve your rankings as well. (Remember, when making any changes for SEO, these efforts need regular attention to get long-term results. Your efforts are not likely to achieve immediate results.) From the SEO audit, brainstorm and make a plan for where you can make changes that enhance the user experience and, by extension, earn you higher rankings.

Before making those strategic website changes, it's essential to create a backup of your website. This ensures that if anything goes wrong during the update, you can easily revert to the previous version. Many website platforms offer built-in backup solutions, or you can use third-party tools for added security.

5 Website Updates to Consider

Update Website Content

This is your chance to remove any outdated information, add links to new social media sites, update images, and ensure that your messaging aligns with your current goals. As you update images, be mindful of image size and compression; these elements can play a significant role in web page loading time. A slower loading page can result in a higher bounce rate because your audience doesn’t want to wait.

Add Valuable Content

A content audit is crucial to maintaining your relevance and engaging your audience. When reviewing the results of your audit, look for ways to improve existing pages and new content that can improve your user experience and the SEO of your website. This could include:

• adding a video to a blog post that you want to rank higher in search results,
• crafting landing pages for important keywords,
• making a content plan for adding blogs that target keywords your users search for

Ensure Mobile Responsiveness

A mobile-friendly website is no longer a luxury. With more than half of worldwide Google searches performed on mobile devices, a mobile-friendly website is now a requirement. Speed is also important. According to Akamai, just under half (47%) of online users expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. If the site does not load quickly, users are going to move on to your competitors.  

Check for Broken Links and 404 Errors

Website navigation is an integral part of the user experience. Simply, browsers are more likely to leave a website if they can’t find what they’re looking for---and they don’t want to have to work to find it. Use tools like Google Search Console or third-party link checkers to identify and fix any broken links or 404 errors on your website.

Enhance Security

Website security has become a huge concern for online users and companies, making regular website maintenance a must for all website owners. Regularly update your website's security measures. This includes keeping software, plugins, and themes up to date, implementing strong passwords, and using SSL certificates to secure data transmission.

Conclusion

Before your updates go live, thoroughly test your website across different browsers and devices. Check for any layout issues, functionality errors, or performance issues that may have been introduced during the update.

In addition to testing, communication is key during a website update. Inform your audience about the upcoming changes and any potential downtime. This transparency helps manage expectations and minimizes disruption for your users.

Website updates are a strategic investment in your online presence. By following these steps and staying proactive in your approach, you can ensure that you are capitalizing on marketing opportunities and that your website remains a valuable and effective tool for achieving your digital marketing goals.

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