How Often Should You Update Your Website

Are You Neglecting Your Website?

A website is a living, breathing entity that must be updated regularly to keep it relevant and engaging for users. If you’re not updating your website consistently, you’re doing yourself and your business a huge disservice.

So, how often should a website be updated? The answer isn’t as cut and dry as you might think. It depends on various factors, including the type of website, its purpose, the amount of content on the website, and more.

Don’t worry if you’re unsure how to update your website or how often you should be doing it; we’re here to help. In this blog post, we’ll discuss why website updates are essential and offer guidelines on how often you should update your website.

Why You Should Update Your Website

It Keeps Your Website Fresh

If you want people to keep returning to your website, you need to give them a reason to do so. Regularly adding fresh, new content is one of the best ways. Whether it’s adding recent blog posts, updating your product offerings, or simply changing up the design of your website, new content will help keep people engaged.

If you’re not adding new content to your page or blog section, you stop trying to stay relevant, quickly leading to people losing interest in your site.

It Helps You Rank Higher in Search Engines

One of the main reasons you want people to visit your website is so that they can learn more about your business and what you have to offer. But if your website isn’t ranking high in search results, it will be difficult for people to find you.

Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex are constantly changing their algorithms and looking for whether or not a website is updated regularly. If you have not updated your website in months or years, ranking high in search engine rankings will be much more complicated.

It Keeps Your Website Secure

If you’re not regularly updating your website, you’re leaving yourself open to security risks. Hackers are constantly finding new ways to exploit website vulnerabilities, and if your site isn’t up-to-date with the latest security patches, you could be at risk. Regularly updating your website can help ensure that your site is secure against the latest threats.

Factors to Consider When Updating a Website

Now that we’ve discussed some of the reasons why updates are important, let’s talk about how often you should update your website.

As we mentioned earlier, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question – it depends on various factors. Here are a few things you should consider when determining how often to update your website:

The Type of Website

The type of website you have will play a significant role in how often you need to update it. For example, if you have an e-commerce site, you must regularly add new products and keep your inventory up-to-date. On the other hand, if you have a simple informational website, you might not need to make as many updates.

The Purpose of the Website

The purpose of your website will also affect how often you need to update it. If you’re using your website primarily for blog posts or articles, you’ll need to add new content regularly. However, if your website is more static, you might not need to update it as often.

Typically, static company websites only need to be updated when significant changes, such as a change in address or a new product launch.

Nonetheless, if one of their business goals is constantly staying relevant, getting higher rankings in search engines, increasing site traffic, and generating leads and customers, then it would be beneficial for them to update their website more frequently. It could be regular updates about the company or its industry.

Your Industry

The industry you’re in will also play a role in how often you need to update your website. In a fast-paced industry where things constantly change, you’ll need to update your website more often to keep up.

On the other hand, if you’re in a slower-moving industry, you might not need to update your site as frequently. Some fast-paced sectors are technology, fashion, and current events, while some slower-moving industries are history or automotive.

Your Competition

Finally, it would be best to consider your competition when determining how often to update your website. If your competitors regularly update their websites with new content and fresh designs, you must do the same to keep up. On the other hand, if none of your competitors update their websites very often, you might not need to either.

Generally, most businesses should aim to update their website at least once per quarter. However, if you’re in a fast-paced industry or have a website requiring frequent updates, you might need to update your site more often.

Signs that Your Website Needs an Update

Even if you don’t think your website needs an update, some signs indicate it might be time for a refresh. If you’re seeing any of the following symptoms, then it’s probably time to give your website an update:

Your Website Looks Outdated

If your website looks like it was designed a decade ago, it’s probably time for an update. A dated design can make your business look out-of-touch and unprofessional. Remember that first impressions matter – if your website looks outdated, potential customers and clients will likely move on to one of your competitors.

Your Website is Not for Mobile-Friendly

In today’s world, more people are using their smartphones and tablets to browse the web than ever before. If your website is not mobile-friendly, you miss out on many potential traffic and customers.

Google now uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor, so if your site isn’t optimized for mobile, it’s likely that you’re not getting as much organic traffic as you could be.

You’re Not Getting Much Traffic

If you’ve noticed that your website’s traffic has declined recently, it might be time for an update. Adding fresh content or redesigning your site can help to increase traffic and keep people coming back.

You’re Not Generating Many Leads

If your website’s primary purpose is generating leads, you should regularly check your lead generation metrics. If you’re not seeing as many leads as you’d like, it might be time to update your site.

Some of the reasons you’re not generating leads could be that your website is outdated, your forms are too long or complicated, you don’t have clear call-to-actions, or you’re just not offering enough value.

Adding or changing call-to-actions, forms, and landing pages can help increase the number of leads you generate.

Your Website isn’t Secure

If your website doesn’t have an SSL Certificate, it’s not secure. Not having an SSL Certificate means that any information submitted on your site (such as contact forms or payment information) is vulnerable to being intercepted by hackers.

In addition to being insecure, websites without SSL certificates also get penalized by Google. So, if your website isn’t secure, it’s time for an update.

You Just Did a Brand Refresh

If you’ve recently updated your brand, it’s time to update your website. Your website should always reflect your current branding, including your logo, colors, and overall style.

How Often Should You Update Your Website?

Now that we’ve discussed why updating your website is essential, you might wonder how often you should actually do it. The answer to this question will vary depending on several factors, including the type of website, the purpose of the website, and more.

Static Corporate Website

If you have a simple website with just a few pages of static content, you probably don’t need to update it more than once or twice a year. Of course, if you have news or events that you want to share with your visitors, then you can update your website more frequently. But generally, a static corporate website doesn’t need to be updated too often.

Blogs and News Websites

If you have a blog or news website, you’ll need to update your site more frequently, ideally daily, because people visiting these websites seek new, fresh content. If you’re not updating your site regularly, they’ll quickly lose interest and move on to another site.

E-commerce Site or Online Store

On the other hand, if you have an e-commerce site with hundreds or even thousands of products, you’ll need to update your site much more frequently. You’ll need to add new products, update product descriptions and pricing, and more.

Consistently adding relevant content on your blog page also influences how often you should update your site to keep it on top of search engine rankings.

As a general rule of thumb, we recommend that most businesses should be updating their website at least once a month. Regular website updates give you enough time to make small changes and updates as needed without overwhelming yourself or your team. Of course, if you have the resources to update your site more frequently, you should do so.

How to Update Your Website

Many businesses make the mistake of thinking that updating their website is complicated and time-consuming. But the truth is, it doesn’t have to be. You can do several simple things to keep your site up-to-date without spending hours or even days making significant changes.

Add New Content Regularly

One of the easiest ways to update your website is to add new content regularly. New content could be in the form of blog posts, new product pages, news articles, or anything else that would be relevant to your visitors.

If you’re unsure what kind of content to add, look at your competitors’ websites and see what they’re doing. You can also use Google Analytics to see which pages on your site are getting the most traffic and then add similar content to those pages.

When you write content, make sure it isn’t duplicating what is already on your website or another page. Duplicate content will not only irritate your readers, but it can also hurt your SEO.

In addition, ensure that you are publishing high-quality content that is well-written and contains valuable information that your potential clients will find helpful or bring more traffic to your current website.

Update Existing Content Regularly

In addition to adding new content, you should also update your existing content regularly. Updates could include updating product descriptions, blog posts, ongoing updates, and more. Updating content is a great way to show your visitors that you’re keeping up with the latest trends in your industry, and it can also help to improve your search engine rankings.

One thing to remember when updating content is not to make too many changes simultaneously. If you update too much content all at once, it can be confusing for your visitors, and it can also be challenging to track which changes have the most impact. Instead, focus on minor changes and monitoring the results based on your site’s performance.

Website Redesign Updates as Needed

Another way to keep your website updated is to make design updates as needed. These updates could involve anything from changing your site’s color scheme to adding new images, videos, or more pages. Regular website updates can also help to improve your search engine rankings since they show that your site is active and relevant.

Of course, you don’t want to make too many changes simultaneously, or you’ll risk overwhelming your visitors. When redesigning your website, start with small changes and gradually add more as needed. You can also use A/B testing to see which design changes are having the most impact on your website’s performance.

Apart from layout changes, make sure that it is also mobile-friendly since more and more people are now using their smartphones to browse the internet. Mobile-friendliness is also a ranking factor for Google, so you want to focus on it if you want to improve your SEO.

Utilize Social Media Promotions

Your social media pages also offer an excellent opportunity to promote your website and keep it updated. You can use social media to share new blog posts, announce product updates, run contests, and even incorporate short-form videos. Just ensure you’re not spamming your followers with too many promotions, or you’ll risk losing them.

A good rule of thumb is to post one promotion for every ten pieces of content you share. This way, you still provide valuable information to your followers while promoting your website.

Invest in Your Marketing Efforts

Besides having an active social media presence, investing in off-page SEO and other digital marketing efforts can help keep your website updated. You can use link building to improve your search engine rankings, and you can also use other marketing channels like email marketing or pay-per-click advertising to drive traffic to your site. This way,  you can ensure your website gets the traffic and attention it needs.

Create a Content Calendar to Schedule Your Posts

Creating a content calendar is one of the best ways to ensure your website is updated regularly. A content calendar will help you schedule your posts in advance and ensure you’re constantly publishing new content. You can use a tool like Google Calendar or Trello to create your content calendar or a spreadsheet.

Whichever method you choose, make sure that you update your calendar regularly so that you are always ready with new content.

Keep Track of Your Stats

Finally, keeping track of your website’s stats is essential to see how your updates impact your traffic and performance. Google Analytics is a great free tool that you can use to track your website’s traffic, and you can also use other tools like HotJar to track user behavior.

By monitoring your stats, you can see which changes have the most positive impact on your website. Monitoring will help you to determine which updates are worth investing more time and effort in, and it will also help you avoid making changes that don’t improve your site’s performance.

Keeping Your Website Updated

As you can see, there are several different ways to keep your website updated. Adding new content, editing existing content, and making design changes as needed ensures that your site is always fresh and relevant.

In addition, investing in off-page SEO and other digital marketing efforts can help to drive traffic to your site and improve your search engine rankings.

So, if you want to improve your website, consider these tips and put them into practice! We are here to help!

Do You Need to Update Your Website?

Do you need to update your website or online store? Our team of professional designers will be happy to help you with this. But first, look at our portfolio and read our case studies.

Then, if you believe we are a good fit for your web design or website update needs, let’s talk! We offer a full range of consulting and design solutions for businesses and product brands.

And if you are still unsure how often you should update your website, let’s talk. We will listen to you, answer your questions, and determine how to keep your website and content fresh and relevant!

What Would You Add?

Are you performing regular website updates? If so, how has this helped your business meet its business objectives? What is your biggest obstacle in updating your website and content? Do you have other problems with your website updates?

We know there are other things out there that should be on this list, so please share your thoughts. What else do you need to keep your website updated? Are there items on this list that you do not think are important?

Please leave your comments below so our audience can benefit as well. Grab our feed so you don’t miss our next post! And help other business owners build a successful online presence by sharing this post with them!

For more content relevant to your business or product brand – check out the range of articles on our web design blog. (This one, explaining when and how often you should redesign your website, is an excellent place to start!)

Thank you! We appreciate your help ending bad business websites, one pixel at a time!

By PixoLabo
Not Your Average WordPress Web Design Agency
@pixolabo