When you complete a big project like launching a new website, you may feel like it’s time to pop the champagne and say, “yay, that’s one thing off our list that we will never need to revisit.” Truth is, your website will never be finished, no matter how robust it is. While this may sound daunting, there are good reasons why a website is a never-ending project and will put you ahead of your competition.
Take a look at the top reasons why your website will never be complete.
User Expectations Change Over Time
Think about what a good website looked like 10 years ago versus how websites look today. Consumers’ expectations have changed drastically since then, as they expect to browse websites that load fast, are easy to navigate around, and can have the same user experience across any device.
People don’t want to waste time when coming to a website, so all content needs to be clear and concise, everything needs to load quickly, and all pages need to be accessible and easy to find. When you take the time to make sure your website matches today’s standards, you will become the clear winner in your space.
Website Best Practices Come and Go
Remember when you had to have a separate URL for your mobile site? Or when it was cool to have hit counters to see how many people have visited your site?
Thankfully, these trends are now out of line with today’s best practices, and there will probably be elements we use today that won’t be necessary in the future. If you ignore these shifts and don’t update your website to match best practices, your business will look out of touch and your audience will want to be in business with those who are.
It Needs to Change Based on Analytics
When you design your website, you may have chosen to place certain elements above the fold thinking your audience would need to see this information right away. Or, maybe there is a specific page on your website that isn’t getting the traffic you want.
Instead of blaming your design and starting over on your website, take a look at your Google Analytics or other performance measurement tools to see if there is a reason behind this. From there, you can dive deeper into any “design flaws” and correct them for higher engagement.
Even if you don’t think your metrics are bad, you should still look at your analytics once a month to see where you could improve your site in the future. The beauty about digital assets like your website is you can test elements and continually make adjustments to refine things.
You Need Your Website to Be Secure
Ongoing maintenance on a website is like changing the oil on your car; it’s the easiest way to ensure it runs smoothly for a long time. This includes daily backups, updating your plugins/widgets, malware scans, and more. If you ignore this, your site could be hacked and put your visitors at risk too. If you aren’t sure where to start with ongoing website maintenance, here’s a good starting list on how to handle it.
It’s a Sign of Growth
Change is a sign of growth and becoming a better business, and when you apply this to your website too, you give the impression that you’re a forward-thinking business. A website should be considered as an integral part of the business. It needs to match your business’s goals, objects and audience’s needs. As long as your site is evolving alongside your business, you should see success.
Don’t look at this everlasting project as a bad thing; keeping your website as up to date as possible will lead to digital success in more ways than one!
To learn more about website updates, contact GreenMellen today!