Is Your Web Site Full of Cobwebs? It Might Be Time for a Website Update
Finally spring time has sprung in the South. I always get in the mood for that fresh start, that spring cleaning mode every year right when the dogwoods are in full bloom in the woods behind the office . Just like we spring clean our homes, change the smoke detector batteries and clean out the cobwebs, when was the last time your cleaned out the cobwebs from your website?
When was the last time you changed any content on your present site? …yesterday? …last week? …last month? …don’t tell me it was last year! We hear things like, “You mean you can do that!” A recent survey reveals that while many site owners understand the need for frequent updating, a good portion still do not, with 37 percent of respondents saying they update content daily, 16 percent weekly, 16 percent monthly and a whopping 31 percent annually.
While many Web sites keep their content fresh and alive, updating links and
content often, many do not. Look I know your busy, but this month would be a great time to carefully evaluate
your site’s content, run maintenance programs to check for broken links (with a
plan to do this regularly), and overhaul any of your outdated content, images or applications that are not being used. Fresh content that is updated regularly is key now a days in improving your rank in the search engines as well. The easiest way to do that is to add a company blog to your site where you can share customer success stories, talk about trends in your industry and share information with potential customers that builds their trust in your comapny.
Does your site appear fresh, or does it need some updating? Sometimes bringing
your site more current is as simple as adding some fresh content and archiving
the old, while other times you may be getting due for a redesign or complete
overhaul in order to stay competitive. Your Web site is the most cost effective marketing tool your business can use and the easiest to respond to your customers demands.
Have some friends or colleagues look at your site for you and ask them for
honest critiques. Often times we can’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak,
so asking others to take a look can bring a different, fresh perspective. Ask
them to tell you if your site is easy to navigate, if they find any dead links, if the
content is helpful and interesting, and if they have any ideas that might
improve your site.
Here are some tips to ensure a fresh and vital website:
- Establish a regular housekeeping schedule. Determine how often you will introduce new content on your site.
- Remove or refresh stale content. Remove all expired offers, products or services and update information that has changed. Be sure to update featured articles and archive that old articles in a separate section in your site for reference.
- Make your presentation current. Even if your product or service is fairly static, find a way to show that the site is up-to-date.
- Periodically test all the links within your site to be sure they work properly. This is especially true if you link off to other sites. They sometimes change where they place their content or remove the page completely.
Cleaning the spring cobwebs out of your site can often time revitalize your Internet results for the remainder of the year. For additional ideas on refreshing your site for the spring contact us at 770.717.0837 to talk to one of our website engineers.
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