In today’s digital economy, updating your website is one of the most valuable and important activities you can do. it sends a signal to the search engines that they need to crawl and re-index your pages, which can lead to a higher ranking.
While apps and social channels are vital, good search engine optimized (SEO) content on your website is central for driving online traffic to your business. Organic SEO delivers 10 times more traffic opportunities than pay-per-click advertising.
When you update your website, you’re not only creating great content but also shaping a well-oiled sales pipeline leading to your various properties and web assets — a clear pathway to robust, consistent sales.
You may be wondering how often you should update website content or asking “How do I keep my website fresh?”
Here are 10 suggestions to keep your website fresh, drive traffic and make the search engines sit up and rank you higher.
1. Write (or Commission) Some New Content
This is a little more involved than the first point, but it’s also more rewarding. There’s a lot to be gained by writing new content for each of the services you provide. For example, search engines regard regularly updated content as a crucial indicator of a site’s relevancy, so be sure to keep it fresh.
Chances are you now know more about what your customers are really looking for than when you started, so you can make sure your copy reflects that hard-won data and that it’s relevant to the times in which we live. For instance, so much changed after COVID-19, that you may find some of your copy feels hopelessly stale and outdated. Rewrite it!
Start by reworking your existing copy on your existing pages. Don’t start creating new pages for your site. Work first with what you have.
2. Freshen Up Your Non-verbal Content
One of the easiest ways to update your website is to create fresh content for your existing pages. Think of it as a new coat of paint — it can completely change the look of something without requiring you to actually build something new. Maybe you need to change your palette of colors, tweak your logo for the times, swap out those old stock photos that are showing their age, and get some new quotes from satisfied customers to showcase on your testimonial page.
These are mostly cosmetic changes that shouldn’t take too long, but you’ll be surprised at how much better your site will perform if you give it a simple “lick of paint.” That fresh look and feel should lead to deeper user engagement and more time spent on the site, which will improve rankings.
Read more on the value of investing in web design and development.
3. Commit to a Content Calendar
If you really want your new content to work for you, you’ve got to deliver regularly. It doesn’t have to be long, but if it’s smart and arrives on a schedule, then people will start to rely on it and even be eager when it comes. Find a content calendar that works for you and produce consistent content, not only for your website but for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any channel where you can make an impact.
If you automate your new content so it goes out to your channels and lives on your website, you’ll keep it fresh and relevant with minimal effort and start building a virtuous growth cycle.
4. Repurpose Your Older Content
There is no reason why your older content should be gathering dust somewhere. You sweated for it, you own it, and it needs to pull its weight. How can you make that happen?
Start by re-upping it on your social channels. Add links to older stories in the new content that you create or make “related content” packages in your archive. Maybe you’ll find that your older content can be repurposed for today’s media landscape. That old white paper? Maybe it would work well as a webinar now. Those old videos you shot? Perhaps they could be reworked for TikTok. Whatever it is, bringing a fresh eye to your older content can breathe new life into it.
5. Do Some Link Hygiene and Gardening
It’s not the most glamorous task on the web, but it’s worth spending a few hours going through all the links on your site. Make sure they’re not broken and that they still point to active, relevant pages. While you’re at it, you can add a few new internal links to your new products and services. Your site should be well-connected to your industry and your community.
6. Renew Your Commitment To Mobile
If you’re still in business in 2022, then you know that mobile is where the real action is. Most of the traffic to your website will come via mobile phones, and most of the content you create will be enjoyed on mobile phones. Between April and June of 2022, mobile devices generated 59% of global website traffic.
It stands to reason that your website has to be optimized for mobile. Pages need to format easily for Android and iOS, load times should be quick, the text should be readable, and the sales pipeline has to work for mobile. Mobile-first thinking is non-negotiable, and it’s worth spending time and money to get it right.
7. Relook at Your Sales Pipeline
When was the last time you put yourself in a customer’s shoes and tried to buy something via your website? How many steps did it take? Where were the blockages? Where are you presuming knowledge that the customer might not have?
Give your mobile phone to someone and ask them to make a purchase, paying careful attention to where they get stuck or lose interest. Helping customers navigate the sales pipeline is one of the primary roles that your website should play for your business.
8. Double-Check Your Keyword Strategy
Getting found by search engines like Google is still as important as ever. Your website may be great, but if it’s not getting the traffic it deserves, you may need to rethink your keyword strategy. Take it slowly, go page by page and make sure your keywords are included and that they appear naturally in your content. Add in new ones and make sure that things like alt tags for photos, title tags, and meta descriptions are filled in and optimized, and that your site is doing everything possible to rank well on Google.
9. Make Some Decisions Around New Media
The internet keeps evolving and throwing up new technologies and new ways for consumers to interact with you. If you’re wondering how often you should update your website, it may be time to consider adding some new media. For example, webinars were almost unheard of before the pandemic, today they are everywhere. What content do you have that could be used to make a webinar, a TikTok video, or some fresh animation to liven up your site?
10. Speed It Up
You may have great content, but if it’s slowing down the flow of your website, it’s going to drive people away. Speed is everything, and it’s the kind of metric you can identify and improve. There are many tips and tricks, from optimizing images to browser caching and minifying CSS and JavaScript files. If this work is beyond your scope of expertise, any web professional worth their salt will know how to test and speed up your site, particularly for mobile. Turn your website from Toyota to Tesla, and you’ll be rewarded many times over.
Read our post on Google’s Core Web Vitals to find out more about the importance of speed in 2022.
A Fresh and Relevant Website Is All Upside
Your website is too important for you to leave unattended. Whether you do it all on your own or hire a team that knows how to update a website, it’s time to regain the enthusiasm you had for your website in the early days and commit to keeping it fresh and relevant again. It’s all upside when you do.
A fresh website leads to renewed interest from consumers, better ranking on Google, and a steady flow of revenue — which is ultimately what it’s all about.
Read the new “Helpful Content” update from Google.
Orpheus offers maintenance plans that ensure your website and mobile apps run smoothly and effectively at all times. With our dedicated help, your website will stay fresh, and your customers will stay engaged. Take a look at the plans we have available, then reach out to one of our team members today. Let’s breathe some new life into your website.
