Life expectancy - Do websites really age?
It is official! According to sources there are now 1 billion websites floating on the world wide web. Being of a sceptical nature we decided to investigate a bit further and found a site that displays the number of “live” websites.
Reading the blurb we also found that 75% of these so called websites are simply parked domain names or discontinued sites. So much for headlines in the paper! However 250.000.000 active sites is still a good number - remembering that the very first website only went live in 1991.
This makes one wonder about the “life expectancy of our websites” or putting it differently:
Why do websites age and become eventually obsolete?
- Technology updates - The code in which websites are written evolves and eventually your website will suffer the same fate as the first mobile phones (remember the ones where you punched in the numbers?). Great in its time but quite useless today.
- Internet access - The speed and the way we access the internet is changing dramatically with the increase in the use of high-speed broadband, smart-phones, tablets etc. Older websites may display properly on standard desktops but probably not on a small mobile phone.
- Search engines changes - The way search engines “find” and rank your site changes significantly from time to time. If it is important that your site is found in the Google, Yahoo and Bing searches (SEO) then you should adapt your website to accommodate these changes.
- Dated content - If your website displays the same banners, images and text as it did in 2010 then it may be regarded as “dated” by your clients and dispatched by search engines to lower rankings.
What are the signs of an ageing website?
- Less traffic - Your statistics show that less people visit your site resulting in less enquiries, fewer sales, less contacts.
- Loss of appeal - Does your site look a bit old fashioned, not quite with it, slightly tired maybe? It is sometimes good to visit the competition’s online presence and see if your site still has the edge and that sparkle.
- Complaints - Do users/visitors complain that your website is giving hassles or do they battle to find what they are looking for? Does your site display professionally on any device? Ask friends to visit your site and give you an honest opinion on what works and what does not. Visit your own site and be as critical as a new visitor.
- Date of Birth - Is your site 3 - 5 years old, possibly an e-commerce site without upgrades? Then it could be in need of a revamp.
Techno Joy’s handy tips to slow the ageing process.
To slow the ageing process websites need to stay “fresh and interesting” at all times and a whole range of actions lie at the disposal of the web owner. Depending on skill level, budget and inclination some of these actions fall in the DIY category whilst others require the involvement of professionals (e.g. webmaster).
- Be critical - Regularly spend quality time on your site so you understand what your visitors are experiencing. Adapt and “tune” your site and make it “logical” by anticipating why visitors are coming to your site and what they are hoping to find. Also ask yourself the “what’s next” question: “what do visitors do when they land on your homepage?”. Often web owners lose touch with “web reality” by not putting themselves in the shoes of their visitors.
- Vary content - Feed your website new content, images and updates on a regular basis. Change your design and pages or add a video clip or newsletter so the site remains up to date and exciting. This is most important for improving search rankings and maintaining customer interest. Put a special offer on your landing page and vary this offer on a regular basis (e.g. 10% off in November, free e-book, 2nd coffee at half price).
- Grow links - Your incoming links are well rewarded by search engines. Put a growth strategy in place for this by targeting friends, suppliers or clients. Many web owners put this in the “too-hard-basket” but even the adding of only 1 incoming link on a monthly basis will reap significant SEO rewards in time. Please do not use link-farms as this will harm your site.
- Check code - Is your website using the latest code? Old or invalid code does not work very well with modern technology. Let your webmaster check if there is any broken code and invalid links (Error 404 "Page not found") to make sure your site is in optimum shape.
- Analyse statistics and keywords - Read the web statistics and analyse the sources of your traffic. Then plan a keyword strategy so that your website targets the correct market. Optimize these keywords in the content of your pages. Google Analytics is getting quite complicated for the average person but professional help is available for a monthly fee and this can provide detailed daily, weekly or monthly reports.
For more advice please don’t hesitate to contact us at Techno Joy.