Is Your Website Suffering From Website Wilt?

I’ve written several times before about the importance of keeping your website fresh and up-to-date.  Recently I came across a term that sums up websites with out-of-date content and a tired design, “Website Wilt”.

So what is website wilt?  Well it’s when your website is looking tired or your content is out-of-date.  Some signs of website wilt are:

• Your most recent newsletter, blog post or content update is more than six months old.

• You don’t even have some kind of newsletter or blog.

• Your copyright notice still says © 2009… or earlier.

• Your website design is outdated and old fashioned.

• Your links within the website point to pages that no longer exist.

With people being so time poor these days, and so much information available at our finger tips the dangers of website wilt are great.  Some of the dangers you could face are:

• It could look as if you’re no longer in business.

• Potential customers might think you don’t care about your business.

• Potential customers pass you by and go to your competitors who do have a fresh and up-to-date website.

• You’re not seen as an expert in your field.

• You could be losing business.

This all might sound a little scary, but the cure of website wilt isn’t hard.  Here are some handy hints to avoid and recover from website wilt:

• Update your website content (regularly) with compelling and persuasive wording.

• Think about a blog or newsletter.

• Use Social Media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

• Get objective opinions about your website.

• Ask a web copywriter to evaluate your copy.

• Make it a regular task to review and update your copy – even if you put it in your diary as a monthly task.

• Treat your website as a valuable asset, show it some TLC!

So if you don’t think about your website every week, and don’t update our content regularly then beware! Website Wilt will creep in.