In today’s technology-rich world, people and their businesses are expected to be on all the time. Whether it’s being available on social media or having a constantly updated website, having available and accessible media is the desire of many, especially for those looking for a momentary distraction.
For websites that are run by individuals and sole proprietors, the desire is certainly there to let a website sit upon publish. For those especially where web development and design may not be a strength, just being able to place content, ensure that all the tags close, and call it a day can be an achievement in itself.
Suffice to say – it’s unfortunately not enough.
In today’s blog post we’ll look at why a website should always be a “work in progress”, and why a true website should never be complete.
1. Search Engine Indexing Matters
The process in which search engines catalog and categorize websites is the science of indexing, which is what Google has become known for. Until Google gets around to indexing your website, it’s not going to show up in search results, and neglecting the updating process of your website means that any search engine finding it is only going to take longer.
2. Building Credibility
One of the biggest search engine criteria is website credibility. Search engines rank credibility through how many other websites are talking about, linking back, and referencing a particular website. Credibility can only be built through creation of content, which can’t happen unless you update your website. Content does not have to be placed on a daily basis, just often enough that it is driving some traffic somewhere.
3. Building an Audience
Once your website is online, it can serve as a channel for people on the Internet to find it. People will have more opportunities to share your website so long as you’re building and writing on it. Create the content that people are seeking, and the progress will seem like it’s quickening up.
4. Technologies Change – Change Alongside
In the last month, Google has changed around its search algorithm to rank those that are mobile responsive much higher in search results performed on mobile devices. As technologies change, so must websites, and so a website is never really complete due to all the different changes to the web on a weekly basis. If your website was founded in 2000 for example, you would have to have adjusted to the rise of social media, mobile technologies, as well as advertising and new user experience and user interface best practices.
5. Audience Trends Change – Change Alongside
Once you’ve built that audience, the desires of that audience can change as well. Five years ago you would have never known that commenting functionality on a website could be so important, or that you would use a website to encourage your audience to connect with you externally on Twitter or other social networks. Adapting to trends in audience preferences means that you’ll always be in the game and up to date with the latest marketing best practices as well.
What do you think? Are you in agreement that websites are always an “in-progress” project? If you’ve got any reasons for why a website is never finished, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
