Updating your website is a crucial tool for the ongoing security and stability of your WordPress website. Imagine you have just launched your new website, featuring stunning web design, a great user interface, and great content. It’s all well, but it’s not enough to have a successful online presence. It’s only the beginning.
Many businesses invest in shiny new websites only to abandon them.
“Our website looks amazing, let’s just let it run, and see the leads come in,”
Wrong!
Your website is essential if you want your brand to be remembered and customers will keep coming back. You’re selling yourself short if you don’t include it in your marketing plan.
We’ll be discussing 5 reasons why you should update your website regularly, each one explained in detail.
1. Optimisation
Optimising your website is the main reason you should keep it up-to-date. This includes page load speed and broken hyperlinks, which are both important factors that can impact the user experience.
A page can take between 1-2 seconds to load. Your visitor will abandon ship if the page takes more than four seconds and go to a different website. This can also negatively impact your website’s Search Engine Optimisation results. We’ll discuss this later.
Broken links are the same. Broken links can be a problem for your brand if a visitor clicks on a link to your site only to land at a 404 page.
But how do I optimise my website?
These are the top things you should be paying reviewing to make sure your website runs at its best.
A) Image Size
Slow page loading speeds are often caused by large images and graphics. Before uploading images to your website, ensure they are minimized (we recommend not exceeding 500kb). We also recommend you update any existing images to conform to the same rules.
b) Broken links
There’s nothing worse than potential clients clicking on a link to your site only to get a huge 404 error. Always ensure that no internal links point to a page you have removed from your website. It is also a good idea not to allow third-party websites to point to your page.
Our WordPress Care plan offers a full link checking option where we can identify and update your website to fix these annoying 404 errors for you.
c) Mobile responsiveness
Did you know that as many as 70% of your visitors might be visiting your site on a mobile device instead?
Websites are often built on desktops so it is easy to forget about the mobile experience (what’s an AAMP?). You may be asking yourself: It’s crucial to think about how your website will look on a mobile device, given the amount of traffic to websites from mobile devices. This ensures that users have the same experience on mobile as on a desktop.
This is something a good web design agency will have to consider. However, it is important to remember, especially if you are adding new pages or updating existing content.
d) JavaScript or CSS files
To speed up page loading, CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files must be minimized. There are many tools to assist you in this process. Also, you can speed up page loading by removing unnecessary code. However, this is something we recommend that you do not attempt unless you have the necessary skills.
Tip: Pre-built themes can slow down websites. You should ensure that your website does not have any unnecessary functionality.
The Ten10 WordPress Care Plan takes care of all of the above to ensure your website is always fully up to date, secured and running as fast as possible
2. Update your website, keeping security in mind
Although security is not the first thing you think about when it comes to website maintenance, it is the most important. Your website may be running on a CMS (Content Management System), such as WordPress. You need to make sure you update your website with security updates and software patches as soon as they become available. Otherwise, hackers could easily access your data.
It is also important to make sure that plugins are kept to a minimum, and that you deactivate any that aren’t being used (this can help with site speed). Daily backups are also recommended. If your website is lost for any reason, you will need to back it up immediately.
3. Keep Relevant in a Competitive Landscape
Every company has competition. Your competitors will be constantly thinking up new ways to retain and attract your customers.
When it comes to visitor retention, user experience is crucial. Therefore it is a good practice to regularly review it. Is there a better way to present your information? What is the average time it takes for visitors to find what they are looking for?
Marketers and web designers are constantly coming up with innovative ways to improve the user experience. This could be done through new ways to display content (think animation, video, or software integrations) or even new ways to display CTAs (Calls for action).
Your website design should reflect your brand’s current status in the digital age. Instant results are common, so it is important to update your website by adding new elements.
A useful tip: Google Analytics is a great tool to integrate with your website to gain a better understanding of your user journey. It will show you information such as where visitors are located, what pages they visit when they’re there, and how they land on them. You can also see how long they spend on each page. This will help you to determine which pages are most popular and make more effort to get more traffic through your links and website layout.
Consider using our Search Engine Optmisation (SEO) service, where we will create a comprehensive plan to help you achieve high listings in search engine results.
4. Increase website authority and traffic
Is your website being used to connect with your target audience regularly and provide them with useful information about your product/service?
This could take the form of blog posts or case studies, or product videos. However, it should also relate to your page content.
Regularly publishing quality and relevant content will improve and maintain your search engine optimization rankings, which is basically how you rank in search engines like Google and Yahoo. The reverse is true for websites with outdated content or pages that are not up to date.
5. Keep your brand’s credibility intact
Your website is ultimately what will determine how your audience perceives you.
Although it may seem obvious, small things such as updating your company information will demonstrate to your customers that you are a trustworthy business. As an example, a potential customer might mistakenly assume that your business is not in existence if your website displays the year 2016 as its copyright year.
You must ensure that your contact/company information is up-to-date and any other time-sensitive content, such as your Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies.
We’ve covered some of the reasons website maintenance is important. They all have to do with staying competitive in today’s digital age.
We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the topics that we have discussed.
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Updating your website is a crucial tool for the ongoing security and stability of your WordPress website. Imagine you have just launched your new website, featuring stunning web design, a great user interface, and great content. It’s all well, but it’s not enough to have a successful online presence. It’s only the beginning.
Many businesses invest in shiny new websites only to abandon them.
“Our website looks amazing, let’s just let it run, and see the leads come in,”
Wrong!
Your website is essential if you want your brand to be remembered and customers will keep coming back. You’re selling yourself short if you don’t include it in your marketing plan.
We’ll be discussing 5 reasons why you should update your website regularly, each one explained in detail.
1. Optimisation
Optimising your website is the main reason you should keep it up-to-date. This includes page load speed and broken hyperlinks, which are both important factors that can impact the user experience.
A page can take between 1-2 seconds to load. Your visitor will abandon ship if the page takes more than four seconds and go to a different website. This can also negatively impact your website’s Search Engine Optimisation results. We’ll discuss this later.
Broken links are the same. Broken links can be a problem for your brand if a visitor clicks on a link to your site only to land at a 404 page.
But how do I optimise my website?
These are the top things you should be paying reviewing to make sure your website runs at its best.
A) Image Size
Slow page loading speeds are often caused by large images and graphics. Before uploading images to your website, ensure they are minimized (we recommend not exceeding 500kb). We also recommend you update any existing images to conform to the same rules.
b) Broken links
There’s nothing worse than potential clients clicking on a link to your site only to get a huge 404 error. Always ensure that no internal links point to a page you have removed from your website. It is also a good idea not to allow third-party websites to point to your page.
Our WordPress Care plan offers a full link checking option where we can identify and update your website to fix these annoying 404 errors for you.
c) Mobile responsiveness
Did you know that as many as 70% of your visitors might be visiting your site on a mobile device instead?
Websites are often built on desktops so it is easy to forget about the mobile experience (what’s an AAMP?). You may be asking yourself: It’s crucial to think about how your website will look on a mobile device, given the amount of traffic to websites from mobile devices. This ensures that users have the same experience on mobile as on a desktop.
This is something a good web design agency will have to consider. However, it is important to remember, especially if you are adding new pages or updating existing content.
d) JavaScript or CSS files
To speed up page loading, CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files must be minimized. There are many tools to assist you in this process. Also, you can speed up page loading by removing unnecessary code. However, this is something we recommend that you do not attempt unless you have the necessary skills.
Tip: Pre-built themes can slow down websites. You should ensure that your website does not have any unnecessary functionality.
The Ten10 WordPress Care Plan takes care of all of the above to ensure your website is always fully up to date, secured and running as fast as possible
2. Update your website, keeping security in mind
Although security is not the first thing you think about when it comes to website maintenance, it is the most important. Your website may be running on a CMS (Content Management System), such as WordPress. You need to make sure you update your website with security updates and software patches as soon as they become available. Otherwise, hackers could easily access your data.
It is also important to make sure that plugins are kept to a minimum, and that you deactivate any that aren’t being used (this can help with site speed). Daily backups are also recommended. If your website is lost for any reason, you will need to back it up immediately.
3. Keep Relevant in a Competitive Landscape
Every company has competition. Your competitors will be constantly thinking up new ways to retain and attract your customers.
When it comes to visitor retention, user experience is crucial. Therefore it is a good practice to regularly review it. Is there a better way to present your information? What is the average time it takes for visitors to find what they are looking for?
Marketers and web designers are constantly coming up with innovative ways to improve the user experience. This could be done through new ways to display content (think animation, video, or software integrations) or even new ways to display CTAs (Calls for action).
Your website design should reflect your brand’s current status in the digital age. Instant results are common, so it is important to update your website by adding new elements.
A useful tip: Google Analytics is a great tool to integrate with your website to gain a better understanding of your user journey. It will show you information such as where visitors are located, what pages they visit when they’re there, and how they land on them. You can also see how long they spend on each page. This will help you to determine which pages are most popular and make more effort to get more traffic through your links and website layout.
Consider using our Search Engine Optmisation (SEO) service, where we will create a comprehensive plan to help you achieve high listings in search engine results.
4. Increase website authority and traffic
Is your website being used to connect with your target audience regularly and provide them with useful information about your product/service?
This could take the form of blog posts or case studies, or product videos. However, it should also relate to your page content.
Regularly publishing quality and relevant content will improve and maintain your search engine optimization rankings, which is basically how you rank in search engines like Google and Yahoo. The reverse is true for websites with outdated content or pages that are not up to date.
5. Keep your brand’s credibility intact
Your website is ultimately what will determine how your audience perceives you.
Although it may seem obvious, small things such as updating your company information will demonstrate to your customers that you are a trustworthy business. As an example, a potential customer might mistakenly assume that your business is not in existence if your website displays the year 2016 as its copyright year.
You must ensure that your contact/company information is up-to-date and any other time-sensitive content, such as your Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies.
We’ve covered some of the reasons website maintenance is important. They all have to do with staying competitive in today’s digital age.
We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the topics that we have discussed.
