Although this seems like it should be obvious, having old content on your website is far too common, and can be very damaging.
What is considered “old”?
When I say old content, I’m referring to past events, previous sermon series (being presented as current), and old notices or updates. Also incorrect information on the staff, location, contact information, etc. qualifies as old content too.
“Old content makes your website visitors wonder if you EVER update it.”
Whenever something happens in your church (new staff member, change in sermon series, event has passed, etc), you only have about a week of “website grace” amongst most visitors. Beyond that, and people will begin to question if you ever update it. I realize that this is unreaonsable, but this is what people have begun to expect in a world where most people update their social statusus multiple times a day.
Sadly, just as no one notices the sound guy in the back until there’s some feedback or the microphone isn’t working, everyone takes your website for granted but will quickly be critical if you do not have current information on it, and all outdated information removed.
What can you do?
Thankfully, fixing this problem can be easier than it sounds. You should be able to keep up if you take only 10 minutes every week to revisit your website and make sure that everything is current. Those 40 minutes a month will be well worth the time spent in order to make sure that people don’t have to dig though old information in order to find out what is current.
And, in addition to happy website visitors, updating your website often is one way to help boost your SEO!