It’s officially spring, and you know what that means? Time to start cleaning! But, today, we want to talk about an area more overlooked; your website.
You may not consider it a top priority, but it should be. In today’s highly competitive market, keeping your website up-to-date, relevant, and logical is extremely important for your bottom line, not to mention your marketing strategy.
Just think about it, with more and more people turning to mobile, relying more on the internet, and even with Google’s core software updates, a lack of update can be your downfall.
So, let’s dive into the main reasons why you should freshen up your website.
The Importance of First Impressions
Your website is the face of your business, and so it should represent your business as professionally as you do in person.
According to research published by Blue Corona, 48% of people determine the credibility of a business by its website design. With that in mind, if it’s perceived as out-dated or confusing, you can rest assured that visitors will transfer that impression onto your business.
Take a step back and put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Consider the impression that your current website gives off. Is it the impression you wish to convey? Does it align with your business as it stands today?
If you answered no, then it’s time to freshen things up.
Usability and Accessibility
As technology continues to advance at rapid rates, keeping pace is more crucial than ever. Not only have there been massive changes in web development, but also user behavior.
Consider web development. Technology has introduced a new goal; fast, simple, light, and secure. These days, if your website is complicated, slow, or has too many features, then expect your user experience to be impacted - the same goes for your bounce and conversion rates.
Remember, you want to guide your visitors to act - and you need to ensure they have a seamless experience to accomplish this.
Freshen and improve the usability of your website by simplifying it. Make your site clear, easy to navigate, and use to drive the best results while your visitors are on your website.
With that in mind, let’s talk about user behavior. The rise of smartphones has introduced a new mindset and accessibility to the market. Mobile accounts for approximately half of web traffic worldwide, 52.2% to be precise.
So, if your site isn’t mobile-optimized, in other words, if visitors have a bad mobile experience on your site, then most likely, they’ll move onto one of your competitors. Meaning, optimizing for mobile is a must if you wish to remain a contender - not to mention, having a mobile-friendly site is extremely important for SEO.
Search Engine Optimization
It’s not only technology that’s ever-changing; search engine algorithms are too. Grand changes tend to take place approximately every six months, but small changes occur all the time.
Changes could impact your keyword targeting, link building, on-page optimization strategies, to name but a few.
Every time Google introduces a new algorithm change, it could impact your website’s ranking in search engines. So you must stay on top of the updates and refresh and tweak your site accordingly.
Page Loading Speed
It may seem obvious, but these days, having a speedy site is essential to your bottom line. Consider that 47% of consumers expect websites to load in two seconds or less. And 40% will abandon a page that takes three or more seconds.
Therefore, if your website currently takes three or more seconds to load, visitors will go searching for answers elsewhere, and you’ll lose out on potential conversions, sales, and profit - not to mention risk ranking lower on search engines.
If that’s the case with you, then it’s time to put in some effort to discover what’s slowing your site and fix the issue.
Confusing Site Structure
Rather than focusing on the fonts, colors, white space, and other aesthetic elements of your site, take a moment to consider the structure.
As you know, search engines, Google, in particular, uses information from your visitors to rank your site. So, if your site has a high bounce rate, for example, it most likely means that your visitors aren’t finding what they’re seeking. And as a result, your site won’t rank so high - this is where good site structure comes into play.
Building a logical site is the key to satisfying your visitors, and in turn, search engines.
So, consider your site for a moment:
- Is there a logical hierarchy of categories and pages?
- Does your URL structure accommodate that hierarchy?
- Do you have headers?
- Have you developed an internal linking structure?
In other words, is it easy to navigate, follow, and understand? If not, then it would be a good idea to freshen things up. It may seem like some work but remember: a great structure means better crawling and even can provide your site with site links, all in all improving your SEO.
Stale Content
Equally as important as design and structure, your content should not be overlooked. It’s what drives your visitors to take the desired action and convert. Therefore, you must have highly relevant content that’ll guide your visitors, as well as build expertise, authority, and trust for your business.
What’s more, updating your content - either by writing new pieces or simply freshening up older pieces - can result in better rankings, links, traffic, and ROI.
Data Security
No matter your industry, ensuring data safety should be your top priority. Modern hacking attacks have driven the need to invest in strong data protection - after all, you can’t risk your visitor’s data being stolen or compromised.
Some websites and hosting platforms have custom-built security measures. If that is the case with your site, ensure that it’s compliant with the latest security standards. If your website is unprotected, then it's time for an update.
Either way, you should always confirm that your data protection measures are working optimally to avoid any chance of a data breach.
Final Note
Ensuring that your website is up-to-date with all the latest usability, SEO, and security requirements is key to marketing your business. And while for some, this may mean a complete website overhaul, it may not be the case for others.
Simply updating your content, CTAs, images, keywords, and more could also be the answer. Whatever the case, we can help you discover the steps you need to take to keep your website performing optimally.
Want to learn more? Contact us today to begin your website spring cleaning! Our experts are ready to help you increase your reach, brand awareness, and success.
