You think you’re saving money by keeping your old WordPress website just the way it is, but the opposite could be true.

Your older site could be driving away possible clients. After all, your site is often the first thing perspective clients see and something that looks like it hasn’t been changed in years isn’t going to make a great first impression.

The longer you wait to do a few upgrades to your WordPress site, the more clients that could be choosing the competition. Investing in your site today is like investing in a digital makeover for your business.

Site Style Ages Your Site

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the age of a website, unless the content itself is old. For other sites, it’s easy to see when they were last changed. Old table-based design and text heavy sites along with Flash animations throughout all show the age of your site. Web design trends have drastically changed from the 90s through today.

An old WordPress website makes clients think you’re neglecting the site, which makes them wonder about the quality of your service and products. All you get is a few seconds to make a good first impression and an outdated site isn’t the impression you want to make.

Older Features May Not Work

Many older features that were trending five years ago might not even be relevant now. For instance, Flash has been slowly fading away for years due to security problems. Plus, it’s not compatible with most mobile browsers. As browsers change, your old WordPress website might not even load properly. Instead of seeing a professional website, your clients see a disorganised mess. This just drives them away.

It’s Time To Go Mobile

Mobile devices are everywhere. This means a large part of your audience is likely searching for your on a mobile device. Odds are, your older WordPress site isn’t exactly mobile friendly. No one enjoys having to zoom in to view text or endlessly scrolling to read a single paragraph. Newer responsive themes not only help your site look good on all devices, but it may help with your search engine rank too. In fact, Google even has a tool to ensure your site meets the new mobile ranking changes Google applied in 2015.

Security Is Questionable

As you probably know, hackers are some of the hardest working people on the planet. It’s one of the reasons why WordPress rolls out updates regularly to make the core platform more secure. According to Sucuri, out of over 11,000 infected websites, 75% were WordPress sites. Old WordPress websites make visitors second guess the security of the site. To protect themselves, they leave. A newer site with the latest WordPress version is one way to keep visitors on your site.

It’s Hard To Find

If your WordPress site is old, it’s probably harder for potential clients to even find. Older sites often utilise outdated SEO practices, such as keyword stuffing. While that helped years ago, it could get your website listed as spam now. Older WordPress sites and themes might also use different coding techniques and features that hurts the rank as well. If clients can’t even find your website, it’s not going to help you.

Slow But Steady Doesn’t Help

Do you remember a time when the computers in the image above were the latest and greatest? Based on the technology when they were developed, they were fast and cutting edge. Now, they’re slow and can’t even begin to handle the needs of most programs and apps. The same holds true for an old WordPress website.

At most, visitors expect to only have to wait eight seconds for a site to load. After that point, you’re losing visitors. While some will wait, many see it as no different than the site being complete down. Outdated themes, plugins and WordPress versions means a slower site that drives visitors away before they even see your content.

Time For An Upgrade

Take a quick look at your site versus the competition. Does your site seem to be years behind? Your website works for you 24/7, but it could also work against your 24/7 if it’s too old. You’re constantly investing in your business to improve it. Your website is a crucial part of your business and your old WordPress website needs to be upgraded from time to time to look and function better, leading to more new clients.

Are you ready to try a newer site? Contact Darren today to discuss how to bring your site from the past to the present.

Image: Nicholas