How long has it been since you last updated your website? The saying ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ doesn’t apply to web pages. The internet moves fast, and the strategies that were in style a few years ago can make your business look dated now. It’s wise to update your website regularly, whether it’s in the form of fresh blog content, landing page revisions, or complete design facelifts (which most marketers recommend every one or two years).
If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your site, ask yourself these four questions. They will help you determine if you’re overdue for a website refresh:
1) Have you added new products or services?
If you have added new products and services, but you haven’t changed your website to reflect these additions, it’s definitely time for an update. You should create landing pages that detail what’s included in the new products and services you’re offering. This is good customer service, but it’s also good for your SEO.
In a Moz article, search engine optimization expert Cyrus Shepard explains that creating new pages can improve your freshness score. This ‘freshness factor’ is something Google considers when ranking content in search results. Websites that are regularly updated with fresh content tend to perform better than sites with older, ‘stale’ content.
2) Have you hired new employees?
If you’ve added new C-Suite or leadership team members to your staff, you should update the Staff/Leadership/Team page on your website with a photo and bio of your new employees. Customers will be confused if they look at your ‘Team’ page and can’t find the person who they recently spoke with at your office, but instead see the faces of former employees who left the business years ago.
Aside from C-suite members, it’s a good idea to announce new hires in a blog post that welcomes them to the team. This is a great opportunity to generate engaging blog content that also fosters a sense of community and gives customers a peek at what’s going on behind the curtain.
3) Do you have company news?
Your website should reflect the things that are happening within your company. Your prospects and customers should be able to take one look at your website and get a pretty good idea of what you’ve been up to lately.
- Have you updated customer service policies?
- Are you participating in a fundraiser?
- Is there an award you’ve recently won?
Being named the recipient of a prestigious award is something you should prominently promote on your website. News about your employees’ participation in a fundraiser may not merit a homepage overhaul, but it’s certainly something you can cover in a blog post to show customers that your company is involved in the community.
4) Is there industry news?
Use your website’s blog to educate customers about important updates in your industry. This is a simple way to provide added value to your clients. Regularly covering news about recent developments, best practices, and expert advice positions your business as a thought leader by showing that you’re on top of all of the developments in your niche. It also sets your overall marketing efforts up for success.
The Content Marketing Institute reports that 85 percent of top performers deliver content consistently over time. The actual frequency depends on how often news comes out of your industry, and how relevant it is to your business. But the bottom line is that if there is information that would benefit your customers, it’s a good idea to cover it.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider updating your website soon. It’s a way to show customers that you haven’t fallen asleep at the wheel, but rather, are active, open, and ready for business. It’s also part of a good SEO strategy. Updating your website gives Google’s crawlers a reason to visit your site and index fresh content in search results. Plus, regular maintenance is an easy way to prevent your site from becoming outdated.
It’s never too late to make changes and freshen up the content on your website. Not sure where to start? Get in touch with us for a free marketing consultation with our team. We’ll help you find opportunities to make your business’ website even more successful.
To learn more about how to improve your marketing strategies, give us a call at 661-702-1310!
