How long ago was your website last updated? Have any changes been made since it was first designed? If your answer is 3 years ago or longer then it’s time to review whether your website is still performing as it should.
Your website is your shop window online, and you want to make sure that it is representing your brand in the best way possible. A cluttered, outdated website can discourage visitors and be at risk from hackers, whereas an up-to-date, secure and modern website can bring in new customers and repeat business.
Industry standards recommend that a website is refreshed or redesigned at least every 3 years. This enables your website to stay on top of the latest trends and search algorithms as well as utilising safer and newer technologies. All of which can help to keep you ahead of your competitors online.
So let’s take a look at the reasons why you may need to refresh your website:
The latest technology
Technology is constantly changing and improving, allowing todays websites to run smoother, quicker and be far more secure. At UA Media we use WordPress for the majority of our website builds. As well as being one of the easiest platforms for our customers to use and make changes to their websites, it is also one of the most secure platforms. New releases and security updates come out every few months and it is very easy to upgrade.
Websites that are not updated and still use older versions of WordPress can negatively impact visitors. They are more likely to get hacked, as hackers can discover what WordPress version you are using and exploit the vulnerabilities in the older technology.
At UA Media, we try to manage this by offering our customers two different hosting packages, basic and advanced. Our advanced hosting includes regular monthly updates to your website to ensure your software never becomes too outdated. If you’d like to find out which package you are on, or speak to us about an upgrade, please contact Heather here.
Loading speed
An out of date website can cause slow loading speeds and slow loading speeds can lead to a high bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who only view one page of your website before leaving. According to SEM Rush in November 2022, the average bounce rate for most websites is somewhere between 26% and 70%. If your website is loading too slowly, it may cause potential customers to get agitated and leave. A clean, modern and quick to load website can contribute to a better bounce rate. You can view your website’s bounce rate via your Google Analytics account, or if you don’t have one, you can speak to us about getting one set up.
There are a few things you can do to improve site speed including removing old and irrelevant content and files and ensuring you are using the latest technology. The way websites are built and coded is constantly changing and a lot of code now is aimed at improving site speed and reducing load time. Updating your website to use these coding practices can not only help to improve your bounce rate but help to improve your ranking in Google too.
Search engine rankings
It’s common knowledge that Google and other search engines favour websites that are regularly updated with fresh, good quality content that is relevant and informative. If the content on your website is more than a few years old, it’s probably not going to be helping with your position in search results. How regularly you should update your website content varies from business to business, but it’s always worth doing an audit and seeing if there is room for improvement and something new that can be added.
Search engines also change their algorithms frequently which can have a big impact on your ranking in the search results. With regular website updates, you can adapt your website content and SEO to search engines latest changes and requirements.
Responsive design
In 2023 there’s no excuse for a website that isn’t mobile friendly. 99% of the websites built by UA Media (previously Urban Attic) in the past are responsive. However there are historic websites that were previously built which haven’t been upgraded and do not meet today’s responsive requirements. According to Statista, over half of global website traffic (59.15%) came from mobile devices. If the mobile version of your website is not user friendly, that’s a huge portion of visitors you are missing out on.
If the above wasn’t a good enough reason to check your mobile web design, Google and other search engines also penalise websites which do not offer a mobile friendly version, and they are usually automatically pushed further down the search results, with responsive websites ranking higher up.
Design trends
Like clothing, websites follow different trends. Not all trends suit all types of businesses but it’s worth keeping informed of current design styles and seeing what you can do to incorporate these into your website to keep it looking fresh and relevant. If your website design is still using an outdated trend from 2016 but all your competitors are following the latest trends, this may put visitors off using your website.
There was a time when a larger homepage with more content and infinite scrolling was the design that a lot of businesses wanted to use. Infinite scrolling can and still does work well for some types of businesses but for a while now we’ve been seeing that cleaner, minimalist and easy to navigate is the way to go.
So, is it time to update your website?
You now know the reasons WHY you should update your website but how do you know WHEN it’s time for a website refresh? There are quite a few indicators that you should update your website:
Your website is old – As stated above, 2 to 3 years is the industry standard for when you should consider a website refresh. If your website is older than this then it should really be upgraded as soon as possible. Technology, content and search algorithms will have all made huge changes in 3 years and its best to stay up to date with them.
Your website is not responsive – If your website is not yet fully responsive or the mobile friendly version needs improvements, then it is definitely time for a website refresh.
Your website is not secure or SSL ready – If your website is not yet using an SSL and still shows http rather than https then you need to upgrade. Search engines and browsers will penalise your site for this and they will inform your visitors that your website isn’t secure to browse.
Dead links – These are links that go to a page that no longer exists. Dead links discourage your visitors from trusting your website as well as being annoying and stopping visitors accessing the information they require.
Your website looks outdated – If your website looks outdated compared to your competitor’s and their websites are easier to navigate then it’s likely that potential new customers will choose to browse on their website instead and they may end up ranking higher than you on search engines.
In today’s highly competitive online market, it’s more important than ever that your website can keep up with the latest trends and stand out (for the right reasons!) against your competitors. Although you may not think it’s a problem and your website still works as it should, as technology improves around it, your website will begin to look and feel outdated. If you feel any of the above applies to your website and would like to have a chat about how things can be improved then please get in touch today.
