Updated websites are a lot more important than you think.

Because all it takes is 50 Milliseconds for someone to form an opinion about your website.

How this applies to updated websites:

Updated websites, especially frequently updated websites keep your brand relevant in the eyes of your potential customer.

To really, truly understand this principle put yourself in the shoes of a first-time buyer.

What do you really want out of a business that you’ve never heard of, that is offering what you’re looking for?

An authentic first-impression that doesn’t scream “sleazy used car salesperson”. Most importantly, you likely want to buy a product or service from someone you can trust.

But if all they have is out of date information, you likely won’t want to buy anything from them.

For example…

When I was in school, I remember pulling out my grandpa’s old dictionary for a school project where I need a really good dictionary citation.

Because it’s a dictionary from shortly before the Cold War started, the dictionary gave me an outdated definition that didn’t really help my argument in any way.

The same thing applies to websites as well. If it hasn’t been updated in ages, it will lose its value.

But when does a website lose its value? Here are some of the reasons why it might be time for your business to update its website.

1) You decide to rebrand (for whatever reason)

People’s reasons for re-branding often vary, from a choice to go from offering multiple products or service to just one, to a shift in values/ reasons for being in business. 

For instance, I had the amazing opportunity to work with Studio Aiuto on a branding audit of my business roughly two weeks ago. Because as I get a bit older, and I have a bit more experience being in business I’ve realized that I don’t want to be “just” a copywriter/ content writer. But what made me feel that way?

I realized that:

• My target audience needed a lot more than just a finished draft
• I like helping and teaching people about what to do after they hit publish as well
• I wanted to raise my rates.

 Even though it’s something I tell my clients about all the time, consistency was the most crucial takeaway.

And that’s awesome because it’s something that all business owners and creatives need to hear about; because it’s far too easy to get so emotionally invested in your own work that you can’t see it objectively. 

If you’ve rebranded any aspect of your online presence, it’s time for an update.

Because your website may no longer match the new focus of your business.

2) You notice something small but embarrassing

Or someone gently tells you there’s something wrong…

To explain what I mean by this, let me tell you about one of my first web page copywriting clients.

Their website was performing poorly, because of numerous spelling and grammar errors, and a lack of scannable content.

For those of you who don’t know what scannable content is its written text, you can skim in a hurry.

And that is important because web readers don’t read, they skim.

Not to mention, this impacts readability, which also impacts search engine rankings.

English is also their second language, and they didn’t get nearly enough help because they don’t exactly have a cushy, corporate budget.

Stuff like this is an important reason why you should consider a website update..right…bloody…now.

Because…remember when I mentioned how long it takes for customers to form a first impression?

If your impression is crappy that’s what they’ll remember, and the quality of what you’re selling won’t matter.

3)Your website seems outdated

Yeah…but what makes a website seem outdated?

A great way to share with you what I mean by that is to share with you an E-Commerce site I did an analysis on for a night school class I’m taking.

The point of the exercise was to pretend I was sending user-friendliness feedback to a client, to practice being a web editor (the course is on editing web content FYI). And I could pick any website I wanted to.

So…without further ado here’s what the homepage looks like of the site I chose:

What’s wrong with this website?

The biggest problem is that they would fail any user experience test because the number of words and sentences per paragraph aren’t skimmable enough, there are far too many options per page, and the graphics are headache-inducing.

It also looks far too 1990s, and despite the fact that this works in music videos and vintage clothing stores it doesn’t really work for websites.

Because we don’t really know if:

• They’re still in business
• Or they’re not in business and they forgot to take down their website.

Subtle signals include:

• References to devices, experiences, popular culture that aren’t “a thing” anymore, have gone out of business or have changed their name/ affiliation.
• Names of team members that no longer work with you, which can be fact checked in any Google search.
• Broken links, even if you’re unaware of them.
• Examples of your work that are far too old.
• Facts that have changed for whatever reason.
• Slang phrases that are no longer used by anyone of any age group.

4) No one knows your site exists

So how do you know if updated websites need to be your company’s goal? 

If you replied yes to at least one of these questions then you need to give your site a makeover:

•  Have you ever talked to potential customers, asked them if they found out about you on your website, and they seem unaware of your website’s existence?
• Do you have to rely exclusively on referrals to get any sort of business or even discussion started about your business? 
• Do your SEO stats show less than a hundred viewers per day?

Although offline advertising is a good thing, having a reputable website is also important.

Because 51% of consumers have discovered a new company or product while conducting a search on their smartphone.

If this sounds far too familiar, you might want to consider collaborating with a digital marketing professional or copywriter to improve the searchability of your site.

5) Age

Or the feeling of looking at your website and going: “I haven’t worn that outfit, or had that haircut in X amount of years!”

In other words, your website’s copy and design should change as your business ages.

Otherwise, customers will commit to buying something from you, and the website won’t reflect what they’re actually getting.

In this case, the refresh will involve replacing some of the photos and rephrasing your mission statement.

If you get nothing else out of this article…

I want you to remember this.

If your website no longer looks, sounds, and feels like you and what you’re all about, it’s time to give it an update.

Sure, websites are a lot of work, and likely took you a long time to put a website together.

As someone with a business, updated websites play an important role in your brand’s relevance to your current and prospective customers.

And if you’re ready for a website makeover, I have a package for that and would be happy to help.