General mindset of business owners is that once you create a website, you don’t need to refresh the content and design till there is a drastic change in the services offered or scope of business. This is a formula for failure!

You must have heard it said, “the first impression is the last impression” – Your website is a direct reflection and touch-point of your business to your existing and potential clients. It is one of the few vital aspects that ensure business success. Your website should at the very least – accurately reflect your brand, display appropriately across various devices, be simple to maintain and consistently show up in web search engines.

Keeping your website design and online store visually appealing, relevant, fresh, safe and fast is a key to good Business Branding. If your website is outdated in design, content and security, non-responsive to devices (mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop), poorly maintained with respect to loading speed, it more often than not reflects poorly on your business and consequently impacts revenue generating capacity of your business. Conclusion being, your website security, SEO and content maintenance should be performed at the very least monthly, usability and effectiveness performed annually and website design refreshed at least every couple of years.

So now that we’ve covered the ‘why’, let us get on to the ‘how’. A vital key for doing this task is to review the website as if you were a potential client. Begin by reviewing each webpage and make a note of aspects that require sprucing up.

The Home Page of your website is the ‘first impression’ so be sure to keep this page up-to-date with respect to content, graphic design and image galleries. Across the entire website, keep your written content, also known as copywriting, as concise and to-the-point as possible simultaneously addressing the SEO text & keyword requirement. For free online website loading speed testing, you can use Pingdom, GTMetrix or PageSpeed sites. Last but not least, check the latest website design trends in your industry and decide whether you need to re-design the website afresh.