No matter where you host your website, Flying Cow Design provides services to make sure your website is up to date and current.
“Content” in the modern context goes beyond the text on your web pages. It can include changing, formatting or optimizing images and other assets on your site; making changes – additions, deletions or modifications – to the menus and navigation on the site; building additional features and functionality and even cleaning your site of viruses, spam, and malware.
Reasons for updates
The primary reason for updating content and features of your website is to keep it current at all times. However, forced updates can also happen because of changes in technology and other external factors. Some of the common reasons for website updates include:
- The need for fresh content about your products, services, business or industry
- Software updates to ensure that your site is running on the latest version of the Content Management System (CMS) and plugins used
- Changes in business focus and offerings can require changes to the website content
- Industry and market trends can request updates to your site – for example, Google’s mobile-first indexing may require you to update your website to be mobile friendly.
- The SEO needs of the site may require updates to keep up with algorithm updates made by search engines.
- Security updates to ensure your website is well protected and secure against malicious attacks.
- Mobile app updates if your business has mobile apps.
Common website updates
From text to technology, website updates can be of many types. Some of the most common updates needed include:
- Web page updates: This includes changes to the text to keep the site content up to date
- Image formatting: Image changes, optimization, formatting, resizing, etc.
- Menu changes: Changes in products, services, business focus, branding or messaging can necessitate a change in the site navigation and menu
- Building additional features and functionality: To best serve your customers and visitors, you may want to add new features or functionality to your site.
- Spam removal: Hacking and other spam attacks can leave your site vulnerable. Periodic cleaning of the site of spam, viruses, malicious content, , is a necessary form of the website update.
- Website Maintenance: Other maintenance needs like periodic backups, up time monitoring, etc., can also require updates to your website.
CMS platforms supported
Our website maintenance services include support for a number of content management systems. These include:
- WordPress
- Joomla
- Drupal
- Magento
- VirtueMart
- PrestaShop
We also provide social media maintenance, Google Analytics set up and reporting, custom web application updates and a range of other web maintenance services.
Content Management and Workflow
To maintain a strong web presence, updating content to current information is vital. Your website visitors want the latest information and for you to stand out from competitors. For SEO purposes, updated content is chosen by the algorithm search engines use for ranking. Effective content management ensures all content updates and workflow processes are streamlined.
Content updates are not just articles or blogs on your site. This also includes products, catalogs, and contact information. When this information becomes outdated, customers are more likely to jump to the next competitor. Without a content update service in place, e-commerce website owners tend to forget about their website until profits and/or the number of visitors drops.
Content Analysis
First, you need a healthy goal of what you expect from your website, including goals for each page. Crawling each page of your website will give you a clear picture of how each one is performing. You will find content that needs updated, removed completely or optimized to perform better. You will also find any 404 errors that exist on your site. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to reach a page that does not exist.
Current Performance Analysis
Your analysis should include traffic reaching each page and how long that visitor stayed on the page. What are visitors doing on your page and where they go when they finish each one. Keywords are vital. You need to know what keywords are bringing PPC search traffic, organic search traffic, and traffic from social sites.
Gaining User Feedback
It takes more than one set of eyes to ensure your content, navigation, and other features are working correctly. Have other members of your team, or friends, navigate the website and provide you with feedback. Providing them with a test conversion path will allow you to see if there are errors, or if something is hard to find. Feedback should also include what is missing, what information they would like to know or read about, what competitors have that you do not. User feedback is critical to a successful website.
Implementing Strategy
After completing the content and site analysis, you will have all the information you need to begin. Remove all outdated content that cannot be optimized to perform better. Optimizing content to fill in content gaps will increase rankings against competitors with search engines and your visitors. Create new content which your target audience is searching for; your keyword research will help you decide what is needed.
Considering Site Architecture
After taking inventory of your pages and getting feedback from them, you will know if your site flows like you think it does. Your site should be set up to make navigation simple and easy for visitors. Performing a site architecture does just this.
First, you will have your main landing pages, and each content page that supports that will be linked together. All main landing pages will link together to keep navigation simple. The point is to make a strong navigation path which follows users needs.
Updating Content
Ensure all content is up-to-date and information your target audience wants to read. You should have a strong topic with relevant information which is easy to read. From your website goals, you will know what each page is intended to portray. Your content should reflect these goals such as engage, sell, or collect and provide a call to action, so visitors know what their next step is.
All existing content you are keeping, make sure the keywords and keyword phrases you found through your keyword research are appropriately used throughout. This might include some optimization to ensure all content is current.
What to Expect from Content Update Services
Communication is key to ensuring content is updated on your website. Your Website Content Update Services team should provide an analysis of missing or outdated content. You can expect the following services as well.
- All content and information will be updated in a timely manner, including news articles, photos or images, new content, and
- Review comments prioritize them and check for errors and ensure they have been attended to if needed.
- Extensive knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will ensure your content is ranking on all major search engines.
Flying Cow Design ensures all your content updates happen on time with comprehensive quality assurance to ensure nothing goes wrong. Our other services include web design, website security, internet marketing and branding for enterprises and small businesses. Having all services available under one roof, means clients can save time having to search for someone to do the work.
Call today for your web content analysis.