A website is one of the most important marketing assets as it’s one of the first opportunities that a prospect has to learn more about what your business has to offer.
Have you ever considered what the lifespan of your website is before it needs to be refreshed to be effective?
There’s no definitive answer to the question, as the lifespan of a website will depend on the industry, emerging technologies, and the level of competition the business has.
Design trends tend to go in cycles online, with new ideas and technology appearing rapidly.
These give new opportunities for business owners and marketing teams to leverage on their website.
A simple example of change over the years is in the hospitality industry.
The first hotel websites didn’t have any opportunity for a user to search for availability or to make a booking online.
Over the years, and with new technology, this functionality became available. It improved the experience for customers and allowed hotels to make more revenue.
Your customers are savvy.
Digital changes have led to a world where people have limited patience when they’re browsing online.
They want to find information quickly, skipping over websites that are slow or that don’t immediately feel trustworthy.
This is as true for B2B as it is for B2C.
As your prospects are researching your industry to find solutions for their needs, it leads to first impressions counting more than ever.
The first few moments that someone spends on your website are crucial to winning them over.
Your website needs to be more compelling than your direct competitors.
While there’s no definitive answer, I can give you a reasonable rule of thumb for the lifespan of the average website.
The average website has a lifespan of around three to five years.
This rule of thumb considers design changes, new products or services, companies that pivot their offering, and even those that rebrand entirely.
With each major change that your business makes, it’s worth taking a moment to look at your existing website and ensure that it is still meeting your goals.
You can refer to your sales data, look at website analytics, and take a moment to compare your website to your competition.
At some point during your website’s lifecycle, it will be necessary to make some changes.
This can be as simple as updating page headings and photos of your team, right up to a full website redesign to take advantage of new technology or opportunities.
Your website is an important investment and a great marketing and sales asset.
Keeping it up-to-date and refreshing it when needed helps your business to appeal to those looking to do business with you.
An up-to-date website, in turn, brings more leads, more sales, and more growth.
If you’d like to talk more about when to refresh your website or to review your existing site, tell us about what you have in mind. We’d love to chat and see how we can help.
