“Over 90,000 websites are hacked every day.”
Keeping Our Content Fresh
Your website can capture potential customers in mere seconds, so keeping content fresh and relevant is important. Having current content gives your readers confidence and builds trust amongst your audience. If this falls short, you’re at risk of losing credibility, which leads to a loss in profit and trust. Make sure your content is updated with the products/services that are currently available. If you’ve neglected this, it may look unprofessional. Whether your goal is to retain customers or extend your reach, the first impression is important for clicks, likes, and shares, and one day, you hope, that would eventually turn into purchases.
Why Secure Your Site
When your site is unsecured, it is vulnerable to hackers and data thieves – which could lead to legal repercussions if certain entities are stolen. That’s why it is important to stay updated on the latest security system that you use. If you are behind in your updates, your operating system may become compromised, which, in the long run, can become more costly than routine updating. Often, sites are hacked from the backend. This slows the website down in its entirety, impacting the number of new visitors, or even worse, your website can become blacklisted. When a site is “blacklisted,” search engines like Google will expel the URL from their list. The blacklisted site will lose up to 95% of its organic traffic.
Load Time
The website’s performance determines how long they’ll stay on your site. Your customers and partners rely on a fast and steady online experience. If this doesn’t happen, your viewers are likely to seek out competitors. The average load time is 8.33 seconds, but it is recommended to be under 3 seconds. A more common reason behind slow loads times arises from unoptimized images. Try using tools like Pexels, Canva, and Stock Photo to achieve the correct images.
While there are plenty of reasons why it is important to keep your website up to date, the three tips above are a great start to achieving a fast, safe, and appealing website. Spend some time looking for sites that do website audits. The results will help you to target what your site needs the most. In today’s society, user engagement is vital to the success of any platform, Especially, if you want returning visitors, while also extending the website’s reach. You never know who is watching: he or she could be a potential partner or that next customer.
Autumn Jones is AISN’s 2019-2020 intern.