An up-to-date website is crucial

First impression counts:

Research shows that visitors form an impression in the first few seconds of loading a website. An outdated website can leave a negative first impression and turn off potential customers.

Responsiveness is a must:

More than half of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. If your website is not mobile-friendly, you risk losing many potential visitors. SEO impact: Search engines such as Google value websites with up-to-date content and reward them with higher rankings in search results. An outdated website can cause you SEO disadvantages.

Safety above all:

Outdated software, plugins, or themes may contain vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Regular updates are essential to keep the website safe. Loading speed is crucial: Visitors have little patience for slow websites. Fast loading time is an important factor for retaining visitors and improving the user experience.

Competitive Advantage:

A modern website shows professionalism and commitment to your audience. It can help you stand out from competitors who are lagging behind with an outdated online presence.

Usability:

An updated website can significantly improve the user experience. Clear navigation, up-to-date information and well-organized content make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for.

Reflection of business developments:

Your website should reflect the growth and changes in your business. If you offer new products or services, they should be displayed on the website. Build customer trust: A modern, well-maintained website gives trust to your customers. They are more likely to do business with a company that appears freelancer and trustworthy online.

Analysis and insight:

With an updated website, you can collect better data about your visitors' behavior, helping you improve your marketing and business strategies. Here are some best practices for freelancers to upgrade an outdated website without in-depth knowledge of code:

Make a plan:

Start with a clear plan of what you want to achieve with the upgrade. Identify key goals, such as improving user experience, increasing speed, and modernizing design.

Website backup:

Always make a full backup of the current website before you start. This ensures that you can recover all data and content if something goes wrong.

Update the content:

Review and update outdated content. Delete unnecessary pages or information and add new content as needed.

Improve navigation:

Make the website easier to navigate by adding clear menus and a structured sitemap. Ensure that visitors can quickly find what they are looking for.

Optimize images:

Compress images to reduce loading times. There are online tools available, such as TinyPNG, that make this easy without any coding. Choose a modern theme: If your website runs on a content management system (CMS), choose a modern and responsive theme that suits your goals.

Mobile Optimization:

Make sure your website displays well on mobile devices. Most modern themes are mobile-friendly. Add social media integration: Make it easy for visitors to share content on social media. Use plugins or widgets that make this possible without writing code.

Update contact information:

Please check that all contact details are up to date. If necessary, add a contact form if one is missing.

Install SEO plugins:

Use SEO plugins like Yoast SEO (for WordPress) to improve your website's search engine optimization. These plugins provide step-by-step guidance.

Upgrade security:

If your CMS, plugins or themes are outdated, update them to the latest versions to avoid security issues.

Test the website:

Perform extensive testing to ensure everything works properly, from links and forms to load times and overall responsiveness.

Improve loading speed:

Use online tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to discover which elements slow down the website and follow the recommendations to improve loading speed. Provide clear call-to-action buttons: Place clear buttons for actions you expect from visitors, such as 'Contact us' or 'Buy now'.

Keep it simple:

Minimize the use of complex functions and widgets. Simple and clear websites are often more effective.

Training and documentation:

If the website is operated by others, provide simple training documentation so they can easily update and maintain the website.

Follow the statistics:

Use tools like Google Analytics to track and understand your website traffic. Adjust your strategy based on the data collected.

Involve the users:

Get feedback from users and adjust the website based on their suggestions. By following these tips, you can improve and modernize an outdated website without extensive coding knowledge. It is important to be patient and work step by step to achieve the best results.
Good luck with your project!

By Ilja Wensink