How Often Should You Update Your Website?

Originally published Aug 16, 2018 by Jackie Petre | Updated by Amber Blevins

Websites aren’t what they used to be. With the technology and SEO best-practices constantly changing, you can’t simply create a website and not touch it for seven years the way you used to be able to. There’s a lot more that goes into a website now, and although keeping it up-to-date requires more time and effort, the results you’ll see from an updated site are worth it.

While we can't give our clients a concrete answer as to when is the best time to update their sites, we can tell them this:  You should update different aspects of your website at different frequencies.

When it comes to website design , trends change frequently. One day, people want a complex website with widgets and content galore. The next, minimalistic design is all the rage. No matter what the trend is now, your website design is going to need minor updates regularly, with major design overhauls every few years.

A key part of keeping people on your website is showing them you are current and relevant. No one wants to hire a home remodeler who looks like they haven’t updated their website—and possibly their design services—since 2008. The same goes with any other business. People come to your website expecting to see a representation of your work. So if they see an outdated design, they’ll likely assume your products and services are the same, and turn to your competitors for business.

Minor updates, such as changing buttons or reorganizing a photo gallery should be done as often as possible. But total website redesigns are usually needed every couple years. You can tell when it’s time for a site redesign if you’ve noticed a growing bounce rate (people coming to your website and immediately leaving) or if your competitors’ sites all look much newer than yours.

The more often you update your content, the better. Whenever you add a new service, change your business hours or find the need to refine your messaging, your content needs to be updated. The same goes for specials—add current deals when you can and delete old ones immediately after they’ve expired. There’s nothing more frustrating to consumers than finding out the information on your website is no longer relevant.

In addition to product and service descriptions , you should also frequently update your blog , if you have one. If your most recent post is several months old, customers will take that as a sign that the rest of your content could be equally outdated. Aim to update your blog at least twice a month, otherwise, any blogging efforts may backfire on you.

If you don’t have any new products or services to add after two or three months, go through your website and read all of your content. Is there anything that can be added or changed? Even if you don’t have much to add, it’s always a good idea to read through your entire website every couple months to make sure nothing has been overlooked.

Most businesses nowadays have a photo gallery on their website to showcase their products and services. Every time you add a new product or complete a major project, you should add images to your gallery. This shows consumers that you are frequently doing work, which is something most people want to see before buying in.

While adding as many photos as possible is great, you need to make sure they are quality images. Uploading blurry or grainy pictures will only make you look unprofessional, defeating the purpose of adding to your gallery.

The frequency at which you update your website depends on what you’re updating. You can make some changes daily, while others might not be warranted for a few years. Either way, it’s important to keep an eye on your website at all times and make sure it’s doing its job—attracting customers and getting them to call.

Making updates to your website can be extremely easy or fairly difficult, depending on what type of web platform you use. Locallogy offers an easy-to-use website platform that makes it simple for even the most technologically unsavvy person to quickly make changes to his or her site.

We’ve found that many busy business owners like this DIY option for its cost-effectiveness and usability. You don’t have to wait around or pay an extra fee for a site manager to make the changes for you. If you need a new web design platform, check out our options. If not, get to work on making updates to your current website!