Updating Your Website: Why It Matters and How to Do It
This post is part of the You Need More Than a Website series. You have your website — but as we've established, it needs to be more than just existing. It needs to be performing. One of the most important ways to make your site a performing site is to update it regularly.
Search engines don't like static sites. They prefer sites that are regularly updated. A static site will slowly drift lower and lower in search engine results. A consistent update strategy keeps your site noticed.
What to Update
First, think about what kind of content on your site naturally requires regular updating. Some ideas:
- Events and upcoming happenings
- Sales and specials
- Blog posts
- Current news
- Client or employee highlights
- Newsletter archives
- New portfolio pieces or project case studies
The list is endless — these are just starting points to help you think about what type of content works best for your business and requires regular attention.
How to Update Your Website
The right update method depends largely on how your site was built. Here are the main options — updated for what's actually in use today.
Content Management System (CMS) — Recommended
A CMS keeps your content separate from your site's design and layout, which means you can update text, images, and pages without touching any code — and without waiting on a developer for routine changes.
WordPress is by far the most widely used CMS, and the one I recommend. It's free, has an enormous support community, and thousands of plugins add functionality for everything from ecommerce to galleries to SEO. With WordPress, websites can be developed and updated far more efficiently than with traditional hand-coded sites. Your design can be changed at any time without disrupting your content.
Other CMS options include Joomla and Drupal, but WordPress is the right choice for most small businesses and creative solopreneurs.
Website Builders
Platforms like Squarespace, Wix, and Showit let you select a template, add your content, and publish — no coding required. They're excellent for simple sites and are easier to get started with than WordPress. The tradeoff is that you're more limited by what the platform allows — customization beyond the template can be difficult or impossible.
Good for: very basic 3–5 page sites, portfolio sites, or anyone who wants the fastest path to something professional-looking with minimal technical friction.
Direct Code Editing
If your site is hand-coded HTML/CSS, updates require editing the actual files directly — either in a code editor or via your hosting control panel. This gives maximum flexibility but requires comfort with code. For most small business owners, moving to WordPress or a site builder is a better long-term investment than maintaining a hand-coded site.
Setting Up for Easy Updates
Whatever platform you're on, the goal is to make updates easy enough that you'll actually do them. If updating your site requires calling your developer for every small change, updates won't happen consistently. Talk to your designer about setting up your site so you can handle routine updates yourself — adding blog posts, updating service descriptions, swapping photos — without technical help.