The digital realm is continually evolving, and there’s little that’s constant. Interestingly, the same rule applies to your eCommerce store: you can’t expect your website to bring similar results as last month if you haven’t yet upgraded it as per the latest trends.
Let’s face it; our customers always want to return to a unique experience that would add to their shopping experience. However, you can’t assure such experiences if you fail to update your website over frequent intervals and keep your platform at the risk of looking irrelevant.
So continue reading as we explore the different aspects of upgrading a website. By the time we reach the end of the article, you’ll have a clear idea of the significance of keeping things fresh.
Top Reasons To Upgrade Your Website Frequently
#1 To stay updated with the technology
As eCommerce professionals, most of us understand the significance of new updates that recur frequently. While these updates target various elements of your website, every new stack update aims to improve websites by being faster, more convenient to use, lighter, and more secure.
You’ll always provide your consumers with the finest service and user experience if you update your website to integrate these new technologies. This will help you build a solid reputation and increase your revenue in the long run.
#2 Improve website loading speed
The speed of a website is the #1 ranking factor influencing customer retention and sales. Prospects are bound to switch to a competitor’s website if they find a slow loading speed on your store. Stats suggest that a website’s speed falls by 4.42% for every additional second a website takes to load.
Therefore, improving your website speed is another reason why you must upgrade your website at frequent intervals. Since most of Google’s new updates focus on lower bounce rates and optimized loading speeds, better website loading could bring you potential customers and improve customer engagement.
#3 Ensure better data safety
eCommerce is a raging trend today; more than ever, customers rely on web stores for everyday purchases. Besides, many prefer saving their personal and financial details over the websites they regularly shop at. This becomes a huge undertaking for eCommerce store owners since their customers’ private information is crucial and needs to be secured at all costs.
However, you can’t think of securing such data with a year-old CMS or firewall, as modern hacking efforts can easily penetrate through such security measures. This brings us to another instance where staying on top of the most recent data protection techniques is important.
#4 To ensure flexibility
Today, since most of the shopping experience happens over mobile devices, users may delete a website that doesn’t have a mobile version. Mobile devices generate over 50% of web traffic, making them a leading factor in the eCommerce industry. This pattern gave rise to the concept of “mobile-first” website development.
As the name implies, it occurs when websites are designed for mobile devices and modified for desktop browsers. Besides, even with a dedicated mobile app, your website must be mobile-friendly to maintain your ability to attract new clients. Therefore, if your company has been operating for a while and your website is older than two years, you should optimize it as soon as possible for mobile.
#5 If you plan to introduce new plugins
A website may now incorporate a variety of plugins and third-party web apps to improve performance or user engagement. Interestingly, their number only increases over time. Every year, we add more plugins to streamline our performance.
For instance, if you plan to add the OpenCart Bitcoin plugin to accept crypto payments, you must match the updates before you visit Coingate to install the plugin. Adding such plugins is one of the leading causes for upgrading your website.
#6 If you plan to rebrand soon
While it might seem apparent, most eCommerce vendors skip out on website upgrades every time their brand undergoes minor changes. However, upgrading your website to reflect rebranding opportunities is essential as this will assist you in drawing your visitors’ to a new, modified website.
Besides, it becomes more important if you’re modifying your business approach. Remember, your website is the first thing potential clients will see about you and the face of your company. This face must always be in tune with your business.
#7 To improve your SEO rankings
Concluding our list of reasons to upgrade your website is the most common reason to revamp your store at regular intervals.
But when should you update SEO settings on your website? The answer is simple, start by watching Google’s search engine algorithms, which undergo significant modifications every six months. However, Google’s algorithms may undergo more minor modifications at any time.
Occasionally, we observe iterations every two weeks; other times, the quiet before the storm lasts for several months. Therefore, if you want to rank higher than your rivals, you must continually update your website, as changes to search algorithms can impact how your website appears in search results.
Now You Know
Updating your website’s SEO, coding, and design, among other updates, have numerous advantages. First, keeping up with the latest trends demonstrates to your clients that you are keeping up with the times, eventually helping you to propel them to the top of organic search rankings.
Remember, regular updates keep your website secure when paired with the right technology and build confidence with users and search engines.
