When people generally come to me with the request of a new website - they often say"I haven't updated this site in years". Generally a website that isn't updated regularly, becomes very dated and irrelevant, very quickly. However, it really depends on the industry and the function of the website.
Take a panel-beater,a website for a panel-beater can be relatively simple... i.e. business information, list of services, contact details and a few photos of before & after jobs. They can pretty much go for a year without updating their site and it won't be obvious to people that its 'out of date'. This means people in the panel-beating (and many other)similar industries don't need to stress about their website as often - they aren't selling a service generally that is emotion driven or related to peoples passions or hobbies (apart from for example car enthusiasts and classic car restorations).
On the other side of the coin, we have hair-dressers, architects, designers (like us!), marketers - all people in industries that are fast paced or have trends which can differentiate those up with the play and those falling behind. When you fall into this category - its often critical youdokeep your website fresh, active and relevant.
So there is (like most things in life) no set amount of time everyone should update their website in. I generally suggest that companies at minimum do a quick 6 monthly review on their website. I personally believe if you update your site every month you're doing well - if weekly, then you're a star.
From what I've observed in the past years of studying and working in the web industry, is that those who maintain and actively work on their website (or have someone do it for them) benefit greatly in comparison to those who set up their site - then leave it to go dorment and eventually fail.
People often get caught up and worry about the cost - most sites can be modified by YOU for free, just a bit of learning and you can update your website yourself! And even if you paid your web developer, you're looking after one of your key points of marketing for your business.
You'd spend at least $100 on rent most likely in a week - whats a hundred dollars every few months on keeping the face of your business fresh online?
Something to think about! Until next time.
