In this time of COVID-19, social distancing and city ordinances limiting the number of people that can be inside a business at a time, it is more important now than ever before to keep your website updated, fresh, and user-friendly. Online shopping and online information-searching is more popular than it has ever been before. More people are working from home, learning from home and trying to avoid contracting the virus. Your website has quickly become the front door to your business and your customers need an experience just as easy and seamless as walking into your store and buying your products off your shelves.
Is your website in tip-top shape to handle these new home-bound customers? Probably not. Studies show that almost 60% of companies haven’t updated their website in 3-4 years. 3-4 YEARS! Hint: This is not okay.
If your website hasn’t been updated recently, your current and potential customers are likely running into the following issues:
- Outdated Content
- Slow Load Times
- Disconnected Forms & Links
- Security Issues
- Low Ranking in Search Results
It is important to keep a constant eye on your website to make sure your audience and potential customers are interacting with a site that is a direct reflection of how your business currently looks RIGHT NOW. I’m sure a lot has changed with your business in 3-4 years, so it is important that your website keeps up with that growth.
So, the question remains, how often should your update your website?
The answer? Monthly, at the very LEAST but once a week is ideal.
Here’s a few reasons why a weekly update is necessary:
- WordPress plugin updates – WordPress powers 30% of the internet. It powers this website and majority of the websites that we design. Anyone that has experience with WordPress knows all too well about the constant updating that is required. If you don’t know, here’s a brief explanation: WordPress websites come alive through the use of plugins, which are constantly updated by its developers. Every time a developer updates their plugin, then your WordPress admin gets a prompt in your Dashboard that you need to update the version of the plugin that is downloaded to your website. Just on this website alone, plugin updates are required almost weekly. If these plugins are not updated regularly, the become outdated and no longer work on your website, leading to view and connection issues
- Security Backups – It is important to make sure you always have a backup copy of your website in case a plugin update causes your site to break or if someone hacks your site. Should that happen, you want to have the most recent version of your website handy, not an old version that is 2-3 years old. If you’ve added blog posts, pictures, or done anything that changes the site in any way then it is important to keep an updated copy of those changes available in case of an emergency.
- Search Engine Optimization – Keeping your website updated and fresh keeps it from falling in rankings on search engine results. Keeping a regular blog, updating keywords and tags helps to with your SEO. An updated site is always going to rank higher in search results than a stale website that hasn’t changed in 3-4 years.
I’m sure you are wondering how you could possibly have time to run your business and find time to update your website on a weekly basis. Well guess what? We can help you with that here at Blūm Digital Studio with our website maintenance package! For a small monthly fee, we will keep your plugins up to date, your site backed up and secure, and your content fresh and current. Check out our package pricing here and give us a call at 803-384-9907 or send us a message to get started!
