Dear All,
Your web site is your first official impression on customers. It’s the first place they will go to learn about your services and products. If your site is outdated, has broken links, or simply looks unappealing, your prospects won’t consider you a reliable company, and will quickly navigate away from you page.
Your first impression goes a long way to your success. Aside from the obvious aesthetic reasons, there’s also a few technical reasons why an updated web site is so important. Google constantly updates its algorithm, so if the platform recognizes issues with your site, it will lower your rankings on the search results pages. You must constantly maintain your site to meet Google’s standards if you want to get ahead of your competitors. Here’s what I’m talking about:
Security/SSL Is Mandatory
Believe it or not, web sites and social media feeds are getting hacked more often. The likelihood of security flaws affecting an older web site is much greater, as the less secure coding and technology has been understood by hackers. If you do not have the SSL feature on your site, your web site will be at a great risk.
Make It Visually Appealing
Updating your web site means you can make it look more professional and user-friendly. An old web site gives the impression that your company is also out-of-date, and no one wants that! When updating your site ask yourself the following questions:
- Am I consistently posting blogs to my site?
- What message am I conveying?
- Do these blogs provide information my customers care about?
- What events can I plan to draw in new leads?
- Do my web posts work together and relate to each other?
- Do my blogs have a clear call to action? What do I want my prospect to do?
- Does the theme reflect my organization’s logo/brand?
As your site matures and grows, you will notice that certain parts (such as old blog posts or broken pages) are no longer serving their purpose. In this case, remove or update any obsolete content.
Carefully Choose Content and Stock Images
Although content is important, you should make sure that you only choose components that positively impact your web site’s objectives. Take photography for example: Too many web site designs are heavily reliant on stock photos. Stock photos can be inexpensive and easy to access, but unless they accurately reflect the message you’re trying to present, they are misleading and irrelevant.
Get Mobile-Friendly
Smartphones and mobile devices are a way of life today. Almost everyone has a smartphone with Wi-Fi access or data and when they’re on the go, their mobile device is what they’ll use to browse the web. If your web site isn’t mobile-friendly, prospects won’t hesitate to abandon your site and visit one of your competitor’s sites. Mobile-friendly designs are imperative and should be implemented immediately. The longer you delay, the more leads you put at risk.
Boost Your Web Site Speed
Updating your site helps you to ensure your pages load quickly. You can check your speed score with tools like Google Page Speed Insights. If your score is low, you should look at which elements are slowing down your site. You don’t need large images to draw in customers, so if each of your blogs has an image that takes up half the screen, it could be contributing to the slow loading speed.
Optimize Your SEO
Your digital marketing/SEO strategy and your web site go hand in hand. The goal is to stay relevant, so make the best use of your keywords and social media. Updating your site gives you the chance to make the best use of your online presence on multiple platforms and gives you the chance to make sure customers are coming to you for answers. For example, if you are a hockey equipment brand, you want to make sure that when your consumers search “affordable hockey equipment,” “best hockey stick” or related keywords, your site comes up on the first page.
So, how do you get your site optimized for 2018?
To start, you need to work with a local SEO and web development company. At Numero Uno Web Solutions, we’ve built, revised, audited, and optimized web sites for many companies across all industries throughout Canada and the United States. Our proven methods have helped many of our SEO clients achieve high rankings on Google and obtain stronger leads simply by improving their local search presence. Contact your Numero Uno account representative today to learn more about how we can help you boost your web site’s online visibility, search engine rankings, and online revenue.
Best regards,
Adrian Newman
Managing Director
Numero Uno Web Solutions
P.S. From our families to yours, we wish you a healthy and Happy Holidays!
