I just updated my website.  Have you? Or, more to the point; When is the last time you made an update to your website? Yeah, I know... your website is great just the way it looks now. You've got all the information on it that you want. And, darn it, you've got too much other stuff going on right now and you just don't want to have to think about it.

Yeah, me too...
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BUT... (does this font make my 'but' look big?) your website really does need to be updated regularly. There are several reasons, but the two most important are these:  1) So people who came to your website last week have a reason to come to it again. and 2) Because search engines tend to rate web pages higher that have regularly updated content. That's one of the reasons blogs are good for search engine rankings - because they get updated regularly. And so should one or two (or more) pages of your website.

So how can we appease the search engine gods without rewriting the perfect text that already exists on our website? One thing you can do is to have a section of the page dedicated to updated content.  If you take a look at CW's home page, you'll see in the right column a couple of entries entitled "Latest Blog Entry" and "New Article Published".  I usually write a new blog entry once or twice a week, so this quick blurb about my latest blog entry can be updated that often, too.  I don't write articles quite so often as blog entries, but the concept is the same.

Another example in the case of CW's home page is in the lower left column. I have a Featured Client Website section with a picture and link to on of our web clients. This gets updated each month. I also tell my clients when their site is being featured and that can bring in more traffic to my site as they tell their friends and clients.

Next, the wording can change to promote a season, an upcoming holiday, event, etc.  You don't need to change the content of the page (all the important info can stay there, but word it a bit differently around the holidays. Reword it again around the Superbowl, Valentines' Day, Saint Patty's Day, etc. While changing pictures on the website doesn't do much for search engine spiders, it will be directly noticeable to your readers.

So what can you update on your home page without redesigning the whole thing every time? Here's a brief list of things to consider:

• Blog entries
• Social Media entries
• Announcements of upcoming events, sales, promotions, etc.
• Featured links to websites of your peers, colleagues, associates, partners, or websites that you particularly like.
• Seasonal, holiday or event jargon

Are there others? I'm sure there are. Please feel free to comment and leave your own suggestions.  

And have a great holiday season!