I spend a lot of time looking around the internet at websites. Not just DJ ones, but sites for all kinds of businesses. Some are great, modern, bang up to date and some are just like, well…ancient.
Refreshing your website is time-consuming, but it does bring benefits, and drawbacks, some of which I will list below.
1/ Google
It’s the biggest search engine in town and is usually the first port of call when you open up your internet browser. Chances are if you haven’t updated your website in a while, you may not be experiencing the results you want, and there’s a reason for that. Google likes fresh content. If your website has remained stagnant since it was last updated in 2015 then updating your website in 2020 will certainly help you with regards to Search Engine Optimisation, i.e. SEO. New technologies found in WordPress, for example, help Google rank your site better. What’s not to like about that?
2/ You can update your website yourself
An up-to-date website that uses a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress (what the NADJ website is built on) makes it incredibly easy to update and add new content without having to get involved with coding. You can take it one step further with a page builder such as Elementor or Divi so that you can design your website visually using simple drag and drop methods.
3/ Customers will be able to look at your site
Some time ago, Adobe Flash was incredibly popular in site design. It allowed folk to embed music, video, fancy animations and much more in order to make your website more engaging. The problem was, it was all a bit time consuming for the end-user to download and view in their browser. How many times did you get frustrated watching a little animation of a loading bar go from 0 to 100% before the page appeared? How many potential clients could you have lost in that time? Nobody has patience these days, you’ve got 5 seconds or less to make that first impression. If you fail, click and they’re gone! New technologies have removed the need for Adobe flash altogether and the best bit about that is…
4/ Customers can check you out on their phones
Using my own website stats as an example, over 65% of my website traffic is from folk using a phone. A desktop is next at 30% and less than 5% are using a tablet. People are viewing websites whilst commuting, or sat in front of the TV more than ever so making sure that your website is up to date, and responsive is so important. Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly annoy users and that’s bad for business, your business.
5/ You’ll reduce your risk of getting hacked
Stories of websites getting hacked are becoming more and more frequent. An out of date version of WordPress, for example, can create a HUGE security hole, not only for your website but for the thousands of others that might also be stored on the server your website is hosted on. Keeping your website core up to date is more important than ever, even if others aren’t taking care of theirs.
So those are the benefits…what about the drawbacks I mentioned?
1/ It takes time
A new website doesn’t design itself. It takes time to come up with the design, write content, source images and so on. You need to dedicate time and resources to do it properly or hire someone to do it for you.
2/ It costs money
Well…yep. Money is time, and it doesn’t come cheap! It’s worth it though in the long run, especially if you can update it yourself easily enough after it’s been designed.
3/ I can’t be bothered
This is probably the biggest stumbling block people face, and it’s a tough one. You may be happy with what you have, or maybe the benefits I’ve listed above haven’t convinced you enough. Either way, you could be losing out on business, and can you afford to do that?