What Is The Lifespan Of Your Website And How Can You Extend It?

Dec 18, 2022 | Website Design, WordPress

Kevin Fouche

What Is The Lifespan Of Your Website And How Can You Extend It?

Posted by Kevin Fouche, Pixel Fish Director

Kevin handles the planning, design, launch and training of every website that Pixel Fish creates. He ensures that every website is highly engaging and aligned with our client’s goals. With over 20 years of design and web industry experience to draw upon, Kevin aims to pass on his knowledge to our clients and like-minded businesses wanting to grow their online presence.

Don’t Let Your Website Become a Tattered Old Kid’s Blanket! Extend Its Lifespan! Sometimes, people get attached to certain things, just like kids are attached to their blankets! No matter how tattered, torn, dirty and smelly that old blankie might get, the kid isn’t want to give it up. So What Is The Lifespan Of Your Website And How Can You Extend It?

Even adults get unnecessarily attached to old armchairs, ratty t-shirts that have seen better days and grimy pots and pans. We get so used to using these old things that we fail to recognise when we need to buy new ones. It’s only when our friends point out that our t-shirts have holes that we realise it’s time to go shopping again!

Don’t let your website become one of these old, comfortable, useless things that fail to make a good impression on others. Change it when it becomes out of date.

What Is the Lifespan of your Website?

Although there’s no one-size-fits-all rule, it’s generally a good idea to refresh your website every 2.5 years and replace it completely every 5 years. Depending on your business and how good the website was in the first place, you might need to get a new website earlier or later.

It’s a good idea to keep browsing the web in general and looking at your competitors’ websites as well. This will give you a good idea of what’s current in the online world. So you’ll be able to decide when your website has gotten (metaphorically) tattered and torn.

How to tell that your website is at the end of its lifespan

There are a few telltale signs that your website is no longer fit for purpose:

  • Slow page loads
  • Poor navigation
  • Outdated design or visuals
  • Issues with usability on mobile devices
  • Security vulnerabilities

How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Website

How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Website

From stylish design to updated content, there are many things you can do to extend the lifespan of your website. Here are a few tips:

  1. Stylish Design. Styles keep changing, so you must keep up with the times. In general, however, the type of the website includes its images, logo, fonts and overall design. As long as your images are eye-catching, your logo is up front and centre, your font is readable and elegant and your plan comes together in a complete package, your website will have a longer lifespan.
  2. Updated Content. A website may look great but will not be much use if the content is not up to date. If you’re no longer selling a product, it has no place on your website. And if your contact information has changed, that’s an essential piece of information you should include.
  3. CMS. You can’t have it updated or replaced every time you need to make small changes to your website. For example, what do you do when you need to update your blog? To do this, you can use a content management system like WordPress to keep your blog up-to-date and use various themes and plugins.
  4. Mobile Responsive Design. Nowadays, people are as likely to look up phone websites as they are on their computers. So it’s essential to give them a seamless mobile experience, which can be done with mobile responsive design. If your website is not mobile responsive, you’ll likely lose out on all the cell phone users.
  5. Optimized Content. The content on your website should be keyword optimized and relevant to the topic at hand. It should also be interesting, informative, and engaging enough to keep visitors coming back for more.
  6. Secure Hosting. You need to make sure that your website is running on a reliable server with good uptime records so it can stay up. Security is also of utmost importance, especially if you’re running an eCommerce website or a membership site with sensitive information that needs to be protected.
  7. Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO should be one of your main focuses when it comes to web development and content creation. You need to make sure that your website follows the best practices to stay ahead of the competition and to rank higher on SERPs.
  8. Analytics & Tracking. Analyzing user data and tracking visitor behaviour is an important part of any website development project. It can help you understand how your visitors interact with a particular page or feature, allowing you to make informed decisions about what should be improved or changed.
  9. Security & Performance. Website security is of the utmost importance, especially if you’re running an eCommerce website or a membership site with sensitive information that needs to be protected. A secure website will also ensure that your visitors have a positive experience and are more likely to return. Additionally, optimizing your website for performance is key in providin the best user experience and helping your website rank better on SERPs.
  10. SEO & Content Marketing. SEO is an integral part of any online marketing strategy, as it helps you ensure that your website is being seen by the right people in the search engines. Additionally, content marketing can be used to create engaging content that brings more traffic tog your site by positioning you as an authority in your niche. Good quality content is important not only to attract new visitors but also to keep them coming back for more.

Things That Shorten the Life of a Website

In addition to doing the things that lengthen the lifespan of a website, you can also avoid the things that will shorten its lifespan. These things are the opposites of the ones listed above.

  1. Outdated Design. The contemporary internet user is quite savvy and can recognise when a site was created ten years ago. When they’re comparing your old site with new ones, they can’t help noticing the cleaner, sharper images and stylish layout of the recent ones. So they’ll naturally lean in favour of these new ones.
  2. Outdated Content. No one wants to read content that is entirely out of date. A user might go to your website looking for information about your latest product, but if they only get information about your old products, they’re naturally going to be disappointed.
  3. Outdated Contact Information. There’s not much point in having a website up if you’re going to make the customer search for a way to contact you. If they can’t find your contact information on the internet, it’s highly unlikely that they’re going to look through the yellow pages or call information, since these methods have become outdated now.
  4. Non-Responsive Websites. These can be particularly irritating to mobile users, making them scroll from side to side to read anything. If you have a non-responsive website, you can be sure that your customers only stay on it long enough to read a sentence or two. After that, they’re going to go to your competitors.
  5. Poor Navigation. If your website navigation is confusing, it can be hard for customers to find the information that they need or navigate through the site. This makes them feel frustrated and overwhelmed and more likely to leave without doing anything else.
  6. Broken Links. Having broken links on your website will be a major turn-off for potential customers, as it shows that your website isn’t being cared for or updated. Broken links can prevent people from getting to the information they need, making them even more likely to move on.
  7. Outdated Content. Customers want to feel like they are engaging with a relevant and up-to-date brand, not one that is stuck in the past. Make sure that your content is reflective of current trends and topics, as this will make customers feel engaged and like their time spent on the website was worthwhile.
  8. Inconsistent Design. It’s important to keep a consistent design throughout your entire website. This makes it easier for users to navigate from page to page, as they won’t be thrown off by sudden shifts in color, font size or layout. Poor design can make visitors feel lost and confused, leaving them less likely to return.
  9. Slow Loading Times. Nobody likes waiting for a webpage to load, so it’s important to ensure that your website has fast loading times.

So it’s essential to avoid these things on your website if you want to attract potential customers and increase online and in-store sales.

Why a great web designer can create a website with a long lifespan

Having a great web designer is important to help ensure that your website has all of the necessary elements to make it visually appealing, easy-to-use and efficient. A good web designer will be able to quickly identify any potential flaws in the design or coding and fix them so that you can have an internet presence that’s ready for years to come.

High-quality Content is Essential. Your website should contain content that is engaging, informative and up-to-date. This will help to draw in potential customers and keep them coming back for more. It’s also important to regularly review your website’s content so that it remains relevant for the long term.

Contact us for more information on increasing the lifespan of your website.

Let Sydney’s leading Web Design Agency take your business to the next level with a Pixel Fish Small Business Website.

Check out some of our latest Website Design projects.

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