5 Reasons to Update Your Website Today
Websites are an extremely powerful tool in any business. It’s a publicly accessible collection of your values, team, and projects all in one location. Whether or not you think it matters, remember this: 97% of users searched online to find a local business. The experience online users have when they hit your home page is just as important as how firm of a handshake you have when meeting someone in person. If that alone hasn’t convinced you, here are the top reasons why you should update your website:
To Optimize Your Website for Mobile Visitors
Over the past five years the number of people using their mobile devices to visit websites has grown to over 60%. In 2020 Google announced that it was starting to focus on mobile-first indexing for its searches moving forward. That means the mobile version of your page’s content is used for indexing and ranking – not your desktop version.
The best way to make an impression on a mobile audience is to have a mobile-friendly website. With more than half of web users searching on their smartphones, 57% of them wouldn’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. No matter how hard your team works on site or behind the scenes, people make judgements about you based on your website design. Make sure your company gives its best impression on all website visitors – both desktop and mobile.
To Improve User Experience
The simplicity of your site plays a huge role in user experience (UX). How easy is it to find key items like your team bios or plansroom? Do you know what the top pages your visitors are looking at? How fast do you webpages load? Figuring out the answers to those questions and adjusting your site based on those answers will lead to a positive website user experience. A study by Adobe also sites that 39% of people will simply stop engaging with a website if it takes too long to load or if the layout or content is unattractive.
To Increase Your Site’s Indexing Frequency
Your website doesn’t need a complete overhaul to increase how frequently it’s indexed by search engines. Just adding new content to your website through blog posts, press releases etc. increases how frequently your website will be indexed. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll receive a higher Google rating, however frequently indexed websites lead to more of your content getting picked up and increased domain authority.
When adding new content, make sure to use keywords that are likely to boost your Google rating for the industry you’re in or audience you’re trying reach. If you’re not sure how to do keyword research, our team can help you with that. Adding new content is a fine balance between writing something your audience will want to read, and writing it in a way that incorporates relevant keywords.
To Retain Credibility
In today’s digital age, it’s expected that every legitimate company has a website. It gives people an opportunity to learn about your company at any time of day, without having to actually speak with someone that works for you. Ensure the tone of your website is aligned with what you want to convey (for more on that, read our Building Your Brand blog post), and that you’re putting your promoting your best self.
There’s no better platform to showcase your strength than on your website. Use clear language and shamelessly promote your past projects to website visitors. Ensure you’re getting crisp, high-quality site pictures so you can appropriately promote your online portfolio.
To Leverage a Powerful Marketing Platform
Websites are level ground for all companies. You don’t have to have the largest company with the biggest advertising budget to make a big impact with your website. When used properly, websites generate leads, attract new talent, and become a resource for employees and partners. It’s an exceptional tool for promoting your brand, tracking engagement, and making a name for yourself.