Website Refresh and SEO in 2023

So you built a website and now you are good to go, right? Not so far! A website requires ongoing care and maintenance. The same concepts should apply to your website and SEO strategies. In this article I will discuss the advantages of keeping our websites up to date, clean, organized and free of “stains”. This information is relevant today – in 2023!

What Does Google Like?

When it comes to SEO, the bottom line is, Google does not like meaningless content. Accurate, informative and credible are the 3 terms to live by in this case. In fact, meaningless, stale or inaccurate content is considered low quality and will affect your SEO score. According to a study performed by Search Engine Journal, they increased their own traffic by 60% by removing old content and updating other content.

Do They Know, Like, And Trust You?

Your competition is looking for ways to outrank you! One of the easiest things you can do is ensure your content is up to date so that potential customers are drawn in – not pushed away. Advertising expired promotions, discontinued products or even an outdated copyright date in your website footer could push customers away. What you rather do business with someone who makes an effort to keep their site refreshed or someone who chooses to neglect it? This could be a key reflection on the service they provide you as the consumer. This why it is important to perform an occasional website refresh and SEO audit.

What Happens If My Website Breaks?

Yes, things break. External links change, plugins update, platform and website builders update. Without a single person and/or tool overseeing your website, this could happen to you. So what? Yes, it looks bad from a customer’s standpoint when they get a 404 error. However, from an SEO standpoint, it is far more detrimental. Remember that Google prefers relevant, functioning content. By neglecting this you could find yourself being outranked by a competitor. One of the easiest things you can do is ensure your site is functioning as designed with zero hiccups – as to not give Google an excuse to neglect you!

What About Ongoing SEO?

SEO is ever evolving as Google’s algorithm changes hundreds of times per year! A one-time SEO set up might work in the short term but it will evolve. In the same vein, a one-time website build isn’t enough if you don’t keep it up to date. Specifically, as your services or competition evolves, you might want to target a different keyword. This requires not just an update to an SEO plugin, but a plan to update your website content and include that keyword(s). From there, there should be an ongoing audit to ensure that strategy is working and is worthwhile. Here at Radford Results Web Design, we devote monthly effort to audit your SEO strategy and tweak as needed. Website refresh and SEO are key!

Next Step Strategies

So, what can be done? We suggest maintaining a schedule if when you plan update certain content as a reminder. Put a reminder in your calendar or iPhone to check your site’s health, run an SEO analysis and make a strong effort to produce/update relevant content.  You can blog, do a podcast or newsletter to remain relevant in today’s environment – something is better than nothing at all. That content can also directly feed into your digital marketing plan by promoting it on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or even Twitter. Finally, here at Radford Results Web Design we can help. Take our free SEO analysis and contact us for a free evaluation. Monthly support is included with our website plans so that your content doesn’t become stale or website become inaccessible. We are here to help to see your business results realized. We want you to focus on your business while we focus on your website refresh and SEO.