Refreshing your website content is important to your organization's success, as it helps your business grow and appeal to a wider audience. One aspect of your brand’s reputation is based on your web appearance and presence. Web design and layout itself account for 75% of the judgment of a brand’s overall credibility. When your website is outdated, it can actually hurt your search rankings and turn away seeking customers. Nobody wants that. So, how do you know it’s time to update your website content?
1. High Bounce Rates
If website analytics are showing you relatively high bounce rates, it may be time for an update. “Bounce rate” refers to the percentage of visitors to a website that navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. Check in on your website bounce rates; if they’re in the 26 - 40% range, they’re excellent. If they’re 41 - 55%, they’re average. But, if your bounce rates are climbing above 70% consistently, it’s time to consider making some changes. If you do have a higher bounce rate, it may mean visitors aren’t finding what they’re looking for.
How to Take Action:
Take a look at your high-impact pages on the site - maybe it’s those that are getting the most visits or those with the most information about what you offer. If you’re looking to save time and money, focus on the pages that matter the most. This may mean updating what content is where, reorganizing or re-optimizing the current content, refreshing the look to create a more professional appearance, or making the navigation easier to follow. Your homepage is your first impression and should make the most lasting impression - don’t overlook its importance.
2. Your Content Takes a Long Time to Load
Customers don’t want to wait around for your site’s content to load. The ideal website load time is about 2 - 5 seconds. The longer your site takes to load, the higher your bounce rates will likely be. A few causes of long load times are videos, images, and other large visual elements or large content blocks. Even though these may be great for the site aesthetically, they might be slowing things down. So, how do you know if your site is at its best?
How to Take Action:
If you find your page does take more than eight seconds to load, there are a couple of remedies to start with:
- Reoptimize and reduce the size of image and video files
- Minimize your website’s code
- Remove additional plug-ins or add-ons
There are great resources to check your website load time:
These 3 tools are great for checking your website load time as well as troubleshooting what content could be the cause of the slow load time.
3. Your Customers Have New Needs
As the world evolves, so are the needs of your clients and customers. Your website content should change with them! Your business isn’t just selling a product or service, but rather, a solution to your customer's problem. When writing website copy, you’re not only selling your brand’s solutions but also demonstrating your true understanding of the problem at hand. Showing empathy and understanding is important and your web copy should communicate that your business understands the problems current and potential customers face and communicate that you care about fixing them.
How to Take Action:
Try to incorporate headlines that connect. Take the problem your customers are facing and construct a relatable piece of content, whether it’s a website page dedicated to your solution or a blog that addresses this topic. If you’re unsure what problems or needs your customers are currently facing, start by learning more about them. This could mean further developing buyer persona profiles and gaining more insight as to who your audience is, what their problems, questions, and overall needs are. To gain a better understanding of who your current and potential buyers are, pay attention to the data. Who is filling out your forms or interacting with your content the most? Be a good social listener! Using social media to monitor brand mentions, products, or other industry issues, you can see what problems are becoming more prevalent. This can also help your brand’s website content to be timely and draw readers to your content naturally.
4. New, Emerging Trends
How often are you looking into new trends? There are specific keywords, keyword phrases, and various types of content that are always trending. If you haven’t been actively incorporating these into your website copy, you may be missing out on some serious SEO opportunities. Not only do keywords and phrase trends change, but so do customers’ search for different products. If your brand is offering products that are currently trending in search engines, take advantage of it! If you haven’t updated your website content in at least the past couple of years, there’s a good chance that there are keywords and phrases you used previously that are no longer relevant. And updating content and keywords according to how your audience is talking - the literal words and language they use - is important, too!
How to Take Action:
To get a good grasp on trending topics and keywords, try using Google Trends. Check out what has the potential to truly inform and influence your customers or drive people to your website. Staying on-trend doesn’t mean updating your web copy every week, but always keeping in mind the various trends within your industry can be very beneficial for you and your customers. Don’t talk how you want your audience to talk, meet them where they’re at. For example, you might want to be called a Financial Investment Consultant, but if research shows the people you want to attract are calling what you do “retirement planning” or “investing services,” you should focus on how you can incorporate those words and phrases!
5. Your Content is Outdated
Nobody likes going to a website that is boring and filled with boring, filler content. Not only is it not helpful, but it’s also not interesting or enticing enough to keep reading. When we say boring content we mean standard web copy with no personality that contains outdated examples and solutions. Your brand has a personality! That should be reflected in your web content and on your homepage. Is your content up to date? Is your web content trendy? These are some questions you should ask yourself. Everyone is looking for content that is easy to digest and easily found. Most people are coming to look at a brand’s website because of a specific need. If that need is met or easily found, most likely the person will leave your website and look elsewhere.
How to Take Action:
It is recommended that you update your website design and content every 2-4 years. This way your business can stay on top of current trends and keep changing with the times. Updating your content could mean making your content more unique. This doesn’t mean it has to be unique to the web as a whole but just so your page can stand out from others. 61% of people are more likely to buy and engage with companies that deliver unique content.
Incorporating a business blog is a great way to connect with your customers. In addition, it allows you to speak on current industry trends which keeps your brand safe from creating ‘basic content.’
6. You’re Being Beat by the Competition
No one likes to admit when they’re being beat, but sometimes, you have to be a bit critical of yourself in order to grow. Compare your web copy side-by-side with your top competitors. Ask yourself these questions:
- Does it relate to and address customers’ needs more convincingly?
- Does the copy contain more personality or help paint a clearer picture of who the company is?
- Is the content more empathetic towards the audience’s problems?
- Does their website come off as more professional or trustworthy?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then maybe it's time to think about updating your site’s content to better reflect your brand’s credibility and expertise.
How to Take Action:
The goal is to be the solution to a customer’s problem and your website content should demonstrate that in an effective way. To improve your copy, try incorporating more of your brand’s personality and values. Take note of what strategies the competition is using to come off as more empathetic or professional, and utilize that in your copy. Think of how you speak aloud about your brand and your business - the copy should use that same passion and feeling.
7. You’ve Lost Your Brand Voice
When looking at your site’s content, is it truly reflecting your brand’s voice and personality? Maybe it did when you first created your website, but your brand has evolved. Just like everything else, brands change, even in small ways like logo design, color scheme, wording, or the ‘feel’ your business is striving to create. Your brand voice and personality are what makes you, you! If you’re reading your
How to Take Action:
Take a look at other platforms your brand has like social media platforms. What is your presence and voice like on those? It’s important to be consistent throughout all your communications with customers. Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase your revenue up to 23%.
If any of these signs apply to you and your brand’s website, maybe it’s time to consider updating. Check your analytics; does your business have a high bounce rate? Think about what may be causing it. Maybe your site content is taking a while to load and customers are leaving. It may be possible that your customers have developed new needs or are more interested in new trends. Any of these signs can be relatively easy to combat and ‘take action’ on. Your business’s website represents who you are and what your brand personality is. Making any of these adjustments can help your business connect with more customers, and who doesn’t want that?
