Did you know that the first ever website was a webpage explaining how the World Wide Web worked? It was in 1990 that the website was created by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist. The website was hosted on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer at CERN and was only accessible within CERN. That was the beginning of one of the greatest tools mankind has ever seen. Today, there are websites for almost everything, including buying groceries, banking and even learning a new skill. In fact, in 2020, there are around 1.8 billion websites.
But just having a website is not enough. For the website to be beneficial for a business, it is important that it is updated to the latest specifications. Here’s 4 reasons why:
1. Visual Appeal
First impressions are crucial for websites too. In fact, studies show that people can form an opinion about a website in about 50 milliseconds. This opinion is generally based on how the website looks. The impression of the website impacts the opinion of the user about the company as well.
If you have a website that is regularly updated with the latest design trends and information, visitors will feel that you are on top of your game. Similarly, if your website has outdated themes and elements, visitors subconsciously get an impression that your business is poorly structured and outdated. Plus, the website should look great across all devices, desktop, tablets and smartphones.
2. Security
Security is one of the biggest reasons to regularly update your website. Malicious elements can hack into the backend of your website. They can then utilize it as a spam server. This considerably slows down your website and can eventually cause your website to be blacklisted. Once your website is blacklisted by Google or other search engines, almost all of the organic traffic is lost. Hackers can also directly break into your website to access sensitive data.
One of the most important things to prevent such scenarios is getting your website’s software updated. Whether you are using WordPress, Joomla or any other CMS, it is vital to ensure that the security systems are constantly updated, with the latest protection against bad actors.
3. Content
You can grab the attention of the visitor with the design of the website. But to keep them on the site, it needs to have great content. The content should be engaging and provide valuable information about the service or product being offered. You might not be able to get it perfect the first time. Also, the needs and preferences of consumers tend to change over time. Therefore, it is important to keep updating and fine tuning the content to keep it relevant. Moreover, the quality of content can also affect Google rankings.
4. Responsiveness
In today’s world of social media and multitasking, people want everything almost instantaneously. If your website is slow to load, many would move on to another site. In fact, slow loading speed is one of the biggest reasons for a high bounce rate. This can also be prevented by updating your website to make it work efficiently, with the latest technologies and upgrades.
Apart from these, a clean and updated website is great for usability too. It is easier for visitors to navigate and take advantage of the features.
