Why You Should Update Your Website Regularly

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your website is to ever consider it 'finished.'

You might have included all the pages you need today, but will it still be just as relevant next year?

What reason are you giving people to come back to your site in the future?

Would you click on a search result that was years out of date?

These are just a few of the reasons why fresh content matters. Read on for more in-depth explanations about why it's important to update your website regularly and the best ways to provide this fresh content that users and search engines crave.

Improve page rank

Google and other search engines prefer fresh content. If you're searching for a dynamic topic, you'll notice that more recent pages tend to get top billing over older ones.

This makes sense. If you're looking for information or advice, or you want to make a purchase, you'd be more likely to click through to a site that looks like it's still active and relevant.

Updating your site regularly is a good SEO tactic to boost your ranking in search engines.

More indexing

The more often your website is updated, the more often it will get indexed by search engines.

If you're keeping your site active by publishing blog posts, these new pages will grow your website significantly and improve your chances of showing up in search results.

Attracting more visitors

Fresh content is more likely to be seen by potential customers or clients, driving more traffic to your site.

Keeping your site up to date means you can respond to changing buyer demands and trending topics to stay competitive. Adding more content to your site also means you'll have more opportunities to rank for your target keywords.

Find out what visitors expect on a website in 2020

Retaining visitors

As well as reaching new people, fresh content gives your existing customers or readers a reason to keep coming back to your site.

When you post high quality content on a regular basis, they'll come to trust you as a source of news or other interesting information. You can encourage regular visits by adding social share buttons to your posts, opening comments and building an email list.

Building authority

If you have a small website without much content, you're not going to be viewed as an authority in your field. This can change as you add more high-quality, in-depth content to your site that proves your credentials and answers users' questions.

Reacting to industry news and other developments could help you build a following. Focusing on niche topics you're an expert in will improve your page rank for related search queries and could see your answers appearing prominently in Google featured snippets.

Fixing mistakes

When did you last read through your website? If it's been a long time since you created the pages, it's a good idea to look back and consider what you'd do differently today – and then do it.

From outdated information to typos and broken links, these pages let your website down and can harm your SEO, or at the very least make you look unprofessional or careless.

You should also take the chance to apply what you've learned since you first wrote the pages, such as adding keywords or reformatting to make pages easier to read.

How to update a website

Before you start spamming filler pages to bulk out your site, remember that Google favors quality over quantity. Your new content needs to be worthwhile and offer value to users.

Aim to update regularly rather than all at once for the best ongoing gains. Avoid tactics such as stuffing too many keywords onto a page, as this will get you penalized by search engines.

So how exactly do you go about updating a website? Here are the five best ways.

1. Add new pages

Does your website go as in depth as it could? If you've only covered your products or services briefly, consider giving each of these its own page with rich information. If you have offices in multiple locations, making a page for each of these will help you rank for local keywords.

2. Start a blog

The best way to grow your website exponentially is to add a blog and publish new content to it regularly. This blog shouldn't just talk about your business, but about what's going on in your industry, offering useful tips and other relevant content that will be of interest to your audience.

3. Ebooks and whitepapers

Supplement your blog posts with more in-depth content every once in a while and offer a free download as an incentive when people sign up to your mailing list or complete another transaction.

4. Update older content

You don't have to add new content to stay fresh. Updating, improving or expanding your existing pages will also get noticed by Google – whether you're fixing broken links, writing new sections or adding images and videos to make content more appealing.

Your homepage is the most important page on your site, so make sure this is competitive by seeing what other companies are doing.

5. Allow comments

Google counts user-generated content such as comments when it crawls your site looking for updates and keywords. Opening comments and prompting discussion can keep your site active even when you're not posting, as well as encouraging repeat visits.

How often should I update my website?

How regular is regular? There's no strict schedule for when you should update your site, but the more often, the better. For most sites, publishing a blog post once a week will suffice, but if you can post two or three times a week, you could see faster improvements.

If you're worried about falling out of the habit, you can request that your web hosting company remind you. Limecube sends automated email alerts to site owners if their website is inactive for a certain amount of time. Our writers can also take care of writing your website and blog for you, so you won't have to worry about this obligation and can concentrate on growing your business.

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