For modern businesses, having a robust online presence is vital. More than 5 billion people, or over 63% of the world’s population, currently use the internet, and that number looks set to rise over the years to come.
By 2040, it’s estimated that as many as 95% of purchases will happen online, so businesses need to ensure that they have strong foundations in place now if they want to remain relevant over the years to come.
So, having a strong online presence is vital for businesses, and it all starts with your website. Your website is the digital representation of your organisation, so it needs to look great and work effectively.
A poorly-designed website that doesn’t function well can put off potential customers and business stakeholders. Over half of all website users will abandon a site that takes more than 6 seconds to load, so you could be losing valuable online leads if your site is slow.
Also, looks are important for websites, and most digital visitors take the appearance of your site into account, so creating a stylish yet classic site can make a world of difference to your business.
Most companies update their website every 3 years, and while this might work for a full redesign, you should be making small changes to your website more frequently.
Keep reading, and we’ll explain the benefits of keeping your website up to date and how you can go about it effectively.
Why An Up-To-Date Website Is Important To Modern Businesses
There are many reasons why having an up-to-date website is vital for today’s companies. As your website is the most important part of your organisation’s digital presence, it’s crucial that it always represents your company perfectly.
Some of the main reasons why a regularly updated website is important to your business include:
Having an up-to-date website can benefit your company and help you to build the digital presence you need. It also doesn’t have to be as challenging as you might think, as our tips below highlight.
Simple Ways To Update Your Website
Updating your website might seem like a long and involved process, but it can be done in increments. There are many simple checks and changes you can make to ensure that your site is up to date today and that it remains at the cutting-edge of the digital world in the future.
Check Your Hosting Service Is Secure
The server that hosts your website needs to be secure, as this is the online space where your site will be and where website data will be stored. If you use a hosting provider like IONOS, then you can get a free SSL certificate with your hosting plan. Also known as a Secure Sockets Layer, this certificate acts as an encrypted layer between your site and the server and offers additional security. Major search engines like Google value SSL certificates and will prioritise these sites when choosing pages to rank, so this is important for your SEO. It’s also vital for your site security, so it’s worth checking that your current host offers an SSL certificate, and if they don’t, then you should consider moving your site to a new server.
Optimise Your Site For Mobile
More than half of all online traffic comes from mobile devices, so if your site isn’t optimised for mobile use, then you will miss out on a large percentage of visitors. Also, local SEO is closely linked to mobile SEO, so you could earn more local traffic if you have a site that’s optimised for mobiles. Mobile SEO is highly technical and changes regularly, so you need to make sure that you understand the principles and have someone in your team who can manage the technical side of your firm’s website management.
Set Aside Time To Review Your Site Each Month
Updating your website is an important part of running a modern business. While the tips and insight in this article are relevant now, this will change in the future. Also, small changes such as minor updates to search engine algorithms and adaptations your competitors are making can require prompt action. Therefore, it would be helpful if you set aside time each month to review your site, your competitors and your search engine rankings and work out what changes need to be made to keep your site ahead of the corporate curve.
