Is Your Website Content Up-To-Date?

When was the last time you read through your website? I don’t mean glancing through a few pages, I mean really, truly reading it, page by page. For most of us, it would be when the website was originally created. Granted, you may have added or updated parts of it now and then, included some promotions or added a picture or two, but that still is not the same as keeping your site current.

Having an outdated, cluttered, hard to read, or overwhelming site makes for a poor customer experience and possibly a loss in business. In addition, broken links and missing pages can leave a bad impression.

Ready to review your website now? Perfect! But before you dive in, keep in mind a few things when looking at your website content and page structure.

6 Key Elements To Ensure Your Website is Up-To-Date

1. Take a mobile first approach
Often, a customer or potential customer will be looking at your website from their phone. Make sure your web content is easy to consume on an itty, bitty screen. This translates to: short paragraphs, whitespace, subheads, bullets and number lists, oh, and images always help.
Did you know: “Mobile devices now account for nearly 2 of every 3 minutes spent online.” comScore

2. Keep your content brief
You have so much to say, your company is great and you have a variety of amazing offerings. However, filling your site with wordy, long pages is not helpful. Your job is to peak a visitor’s interest and get them to reach out to you to learn more.

“Users only read slightly more than a quarter of the content they see on a web page.” Inspired Mag

3. Be consistent throughout
Make sure your offers are current and there isn’t information on one page that contradicts information on another page. Need I say more?

4. Ensure your contact information is up-to-date
Is your contact information correct? Does your contact form work? Is it directed to the correct person? All your hard work is for nothing if the number on your website does not work or the email address is going to an old address. Further, make the contact information easy to find on every page.

Did you know: " 51% of people think "thorough contact information" is the most important element missing from many company websites.” KoMarketing

And “44% of website visitors will leave a company's website if there's no contact information or phone number.” KoMarketing

I rest my case.

5. Check for broken links and missing pages
It has happened to all of us. You are happily clicking through a site and suddenly you get a 404-page-not-found error. Or, what appears to be a link on a page that just doesn’t work. There are many great link checkers available online. Unsure which tool is best for your site? Try the W3C Link Checker or the Check My Links Chrome extension.

6. Check if your site content reflects your company personality
Every company is unique in how they approach products, solutions, or work in general. Make sure the voice you use reflects who you truly are. If you take a more formal approach, use that tone, but if you use casual communications, be sure your site reflects that. It will help you stand out from the crowd and create a more personal connection with your customers and potential customers.

Check out this cool brand voice chart by the Content Marketing Institute. A few websites that have the voice thing down: Digg,MailChimp, and Vimeo

Bonus: Every time you make an update, you give search engines an excuse to crawl your site and index or re-index pages. A little search engine love never hurt anyone.

With these few things in mind, it is time to sit down and really, truly read through your site. Get a cup of coffee or a glass of wine (I won’t judge) and take the time to review and update your site. Your company and your customers will thank you.