Importance of Website Maintenance and Updates

Suppose you set up an eCommerce website to sell apparel goods. Everything is going great for a while. Soon, you notice the website is beginning to slow down. The products take longer to upload, and overall website loading times are lower than before. What could be the possible reason?

People don’t realise that a website is not something you set up and forget about. A website requires frequent maintenance, such as changes to the content and updates, to ensure it keeps running smoothly. This article will discuss the importance of website maintenance and updates.

Why Maintain and Update Your Website

1.  Relevance

Ask any web design company in Pakistan about which trends you should integrate into your eCommerce website. All of them will say the trends keep changing, meaning you must keep updating your website to ensure it remains relevant. In other words, if you don’t update your website regularly, your website will quickly become irrelevant.

For instance, a while ago, mobile responsiveness was all the craze. All website development companies focused on mobile responsiveness because the share of mobile devices to access the internet was on the rise. Today, mobile responsiveness is a fundamental requirement.

In other words, it is no longer a matter of choice. Without mobile responsiveness, your website may not even rank on Google and other search engines. Why? The top search engines consider mobile responsiveness a criterion in their ranking algorithm.

Nowadays, the latest trends include parallax scrolling, micro animations and immersive 3D worlds. If you fail to integrate these into your website while your competitors do, you can expect a drastic decrease in your website traffic. So, focus on maintaining and updating your website to stay relevant.

2.  Security

Regardless of which website you have, you will install plugins, extensions, and other third-party tools. If you keep using their older versions, hackers may find a vulnerability and exploit it. They can gain access to your website and confidential data, which is the last thing you would want for yourself or your business.

Look at the above screenshot closely. What does it say? It says the WordPress Security Team will no longer provide security updates for WordPress versions 3.7 through 4.0. So, using older versions means you cannot expect the latest security features. If you still refuse to update your website, it seems as if you want to invite hackers.

3.  No New Features

Regardless of your website niche, you will want to see it rank on top of Google and other search engines for relevant keywords. The ranking process is what we call search engine optimisation (SEO). There are numerous plugins, extensions, and other tools for helping with SEO. According to eCommerce website development companies, one of the most popular tools for SEO is Yoast.

Now, read the above picture. What does it say? Yoast SEO 20.3 comes with several enhancements. We are trying to say that by regularly updating your website and the tools, you get access to new features. Without it, you will use older features while your competition races ahead with existing new features.

4.  User Trust

When you keep updating your website with new content, it builds trust between your brand and your target market. Let’s see how. Suppose you wish to buy a new smartphone online. Now, there are two choices. Site A looks old, and it feels as if the website owner has not worked on the content for a long time.

On the other hand, the Site B owner regularly keeps adding new content. There are blogs about new smartphones, user-generated content, and even reviews. Would you prefer Site A or Site B? Naturally, people will opt for Site B due to its constant updates. The target market perceives Site B as active.

5.  Search Engine Optimisation

You may remember SEO from point 3. No website can survive without SEO, and there are no two opinions about it. Why? SEO is not only about improving the rankings but also the user experience. Therefore, you must invest in SEO even if search engine rankings don’t matter.

When you regularly add keyword-rich content to your website and follow the latest trends, you effectively work on your SEO or at least a part of it. For example, you improve your loading times when you serve images in next-gen formats like WebP. The loading time is a ranking factor for all search engine crawlers.

6.  Compatibility

We all prefer the latest phone, laptops, vehicles, and everything else. Your customers expect the same thing from your website. When they click on your website, they expect it will offer the latest technologies and trends. This demand is getting even stronger as the digitalisation trend emerging from the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down.

If you fail to update and maintain the website, it may be incompatible with the latest technologies or trends. For instance, look at the below screenshot.

It clearly states the website is running an older version of PHP, and WordPress will not support it. In other words, the website owner can no longer benefit from WordPress’ latest offerings nor transfer these exciting features to their target market.

7.  Brand Image

Lastly, your website is a reflection of your brand. If you don’t tend after it, the target market will develop a poor image of it. You may not realise it now, but it is almost impossible to eliminate a negative image from the customer’s mind. So, don’t ignore your website and focus on it with full commitment. Your target market will reward you for your commitment.

Conclusion

We believe these points are enough to convince you about the importance of website maintenance and updates. If you still don’t focus on your website, we can guarantee your competition will quickly move ahead. There is a risk a hacker may gain access to your website and cause significant damage. Therefore, instead of waiting for an incident to happen, adopt a proactive approach. Save yourself and your customers from the trouble of cyberattacks and poor user experience.