Wouldn’t it be great if you could launch a website and never have to touch it again? Unfortunately, websites don’t run on autopilot (not successful ones, at least). They require regular updates in terms of both software and content.

Encourages Search Engines to Crawl Your Website

One of the many reasons why you should frequently update your website is because it encourages search engines to crawl it. Google, Bing, Yahoo and even the smaller search engines like Ask.com work by sending armies of robots throughout the Internet, scanning the content of websites to determine where and how to rank them. This process, known as crawling, is essentially how search engines rank websites. As search engines’ robots (bots) crawl a website, they look for signals like the frequency of updates, meaning websites that are updated with fresh new content on a regular basis will reap the benefits of higher search rankings and subsequently more traffic.

Out With the Old

Web design and development is a dynamic, ever-changing field, and as such, webmasters must adopt the latest techniques to thrive. Failure to update your website means it could suffer from outdated elements that have a negative impact on user experience. Flash intros, for instance, were popular several years ago, but have since gone the way of the dinosaurs. Leaving a flash intro on your website will deter visitors from accessing it while also making it difficult for search engines to crawl.

Increases Traffic

Updating your website with new content will almost certainly increase the traffic it receives. As we mentioned earlier, “fresh” content encourages search engines to crawl the website, which in turn yields higher search rankings. And when your website ranks higher in Google, it will naturally receive more traffic. It’s just that simple.

But updating your website with content also encourages visitors to return to your site in the future. If they see your website has new content published every couple of days, they may return later in the week to see what’s new.

Need to update your website? Smart Link Solutions builds brand new websites and redesigns old websites. Contact Smart Link Solutions today at (248) 684-0500 to keep your website up-to-date and keep traffic coming to your site.