7 Things to Update on Your Website at Least Once a Year
Let’s be real for a second… when it comes to an Update on Your Website, most business owners launch their website, feel proud for approximately 48 hours, and then never properly look at it again until something breaks.
And honestly? I get it.
When you're running a business, your website quickly becomes one of those “I’ll deal with it later” tasks. But the problem is, small issues slowly pile up over time:
outdated information
broken links
old photos
weak SEO
confusing buttons
mobile layout issues
stale messaging
…and before you know it, your website starts feeling outdated without you even realizing it.
The crazy part?
There are currently over 1.4 billion websites online worldwide, but only around 15–17% of them are actively maintained and updated regularly. That means more than 80% of websites are inactive, abandoned, outdated, or barely maintained anymore. And yes… this happens on Squarespace too. Squarespace currently powers around 4.7 million websites globally, but a huge number of those sites rarely get updated after launch.
A lot of business owners build a beautiful website once, then never:
update website content
improve SEO
refresh photos
check mobile responsiveness
fix broken links
review their CTAs
…and over time, the website slowly stops representing the actual quality of the business behind it.
The good news?
You usually DON’T need a full redesign. A few smart updates every year can completely improve how your website looks, feels, and performs. So today, I’m sharing 7 important things to regularly check & update on your website to keep it modern, user-friendly, and genuinely helpful for your visitors.
What’s Inside This Post
7 important things to regularly check & update on your website
Your Header & Footer
Your Photos & Business Information
SEO Health Check
CTA Update, Links & Buttons
Mobile & Tablet Responsiveness
Legal Pages & Policies
Your Footer Date & Website Details
1. Your Header & Footer
Your navigation is one of the first things visitors interact with on your website. So if it’s cluttered, confusing, outdated, or full of broken links… people notice immediately. Users form an opinion about a website in just 0.05 seconds, which is why clean navigation, updated layouts, and clear messaging matter so much. Take a few minutes to properly go through your header and footer navigation and ask yourself:
Check your header:
Can visitors immediately understand what your business actually does?
Is your “Contact” or “Book Now” button easy to spot?
Are there too many menu items confusing people?
Do any menu links lead to old or irrelevant pages?
Is your logo clickable and linked to the homepage?
Does the navigation look clean on mobile too?
A lot of businesses accidentally overwhelm visitors with complicated menus, dropdowns, and too many options. The easier your navigation feels, the easier it is for people to trust your website.
Check your footer:
Does your footer still show the correct year?
Are your email address and phone number still accurate?
Do your social media icons actually open the correct profiles?
Are there old links nobody uses anymore?
Can visitors quickly find important pages like Contact, Services, or Policies?
Does the footer feel clean and organized instead of crowded?
Most people ignore their footer completely, but visitors often scroll there looking for contact details, social links, or quick information before deciding to reach out.
PRO TIP → Simplify Your Navigation
One of the biggest mistakes I see on outdated websites is trying to put EVERYTHING in the menu. Too many links overwhelm visitors. If a page isn’t essential, move it into your footer instead and keep your main navigation focused on the pages that actually help people take action.
You can also explore layout and navigation improvements like Add a Vertical Line to a Page or enhance menu interaction with Solid Pill Navigation On Hover to create a cleaner, more structured website experience.
2. Your Photos & Business Information
Nothing makes a website feel outdated faster than old content.
Maybe your services changed.
Maybe your branding evolved.
Maybe your business grew.
But your website still looks like the older version of your business.
In fact, around 75% of users judge a business’s credibility based on website design alone, which means outdated photos, inconsistent branding, and old content can affect trust faster than most people realize.
This is the perfect time to:
refresh outdated images
update service descriptions
remove old offers
add recent testimonials
improve homepage copy
A small website updation can instantly make your website feel more trustworthy and current.
Updated websites simply perform better.
PRO TIP → Replace Generic Stock Photo
If your website still uses overly staged stock photos from years ago, try replacing a few of them with:
real client work
behind-the-scenes photos
screenshots
team images
process visuals
Even a few authentic visuals can make your website feel dramatically more human and professional. You can also explore Best Squarespace Templates for Small Businesses in 2025 to understand how strong visual structure and layout choices can instantly improve your website’s overall presentation.
3. SEO Health Check
I know… SEO sounds intimidating. 😅
But a basic yearly SEO review is one of the smartest things you can do to improve your website long-term. Research shows that 88% of online users are less likely to return to a website after a bad user experience, which is why regular SEO checks, broken link fixes, and content updates matter more than ever.
You don’t need to become an SEO expert overnight. You just need to regularly check the important stuff people usually forget.
Start by reviewing:
page titles
meta descriptions
image alt text
broken links
keyword performance
URL slugs
internal linking
mobile usability
page speed
And pleaseeee check that your page titles don’t still say things like:
“Home”
“Services”
“New Page”
“Blog 2”
(It happens more often than you’d think. 😬)
PRO TIP → Update Older Blog Posts
Sometimes you don’t need to publish an entirely new blog post to improve your rankings.
A lot of older pages already have SEO potential , they just need a little attention.
Refreshing outdated information, improving headings, replacing old screenshots, fixing formatting issues, or adding better internal links can often improve performance faster than creating brand-new content from scratch.
Small updates like these can help update website performance while also making your content more useful for real visitors.
4. CTA Update, Links & Buttons
Your buttons and call-to-actions deserve WAY more attention than most businesses give them. A weak CTA quietly hurts conversions every single day. Studies show that improving a CTA button can increase conversions by over 80%, depending on the wording, placement, and design of the button.
A lot of websites use buttons like “Click Here” or “Learn More” everywhere, but the problem is that they don’t clearly tell visitors what happens next. Simple and more direct buttons usually work much better because they make the next step feel obvious and easier for users to take.
For example, instead of using a generic button like “Learn More,” a service-based business could use something more specific like “View Our Services” or “Book a Free Consultation.” And instead of “Click Here,” a clearer option like “See Pricing” or “Get a Quote” often feels more helpful and actionable for visitors. Even a small CTA update like this can improve how people interact with your website and help increase inquiries or bookings over time.
And while you’re checking your buttons, make sure everything actually works properly too. Test your contact forms, links, downloadable files, and important buttons to make sure visitors aren’t running into broken pages or dead links. Small issues like these frustrate users quickly and can make a website feel outdated or unreliable.
PRO TIP → Test Your Website Like a Visitor
Open your website in an incognito browser and click EVERYTHING.
You’ll almost always discover:
broken links
outdated pages
confusing layouts
missing buttons
This is one of the easiest ways to update your site properly.
5. Check Your Site for Mobile & Tablet Responsiveness
Your website may look beautiful on desktop.. but completely broken on mobile.
And since most users browse from their phones now, mobile responsiveness matters more than ever. Over 60% of website traffic now comes from mobile devices, which means even small mobile layout issues can quickly frustrate visitors and increase bounce rates.
When you update a website, always test:
font sizes
image cropping
button visibility
mobile spacing
section stacking
Pay special attention to anything that feels difficult to use on smaller screens.
PRO TIP → Check Multiple Devices
Don’t only test your website on your own phone.
Your site can look completely different across:
iPhones
Android devices
tablets
laptops
Even simple layout fixes can dramatically improve user experience.
6. Your Legal Pages & Policies
I know… this is the boring part. 😅
But it matters.
If your website collects:
emails
cookies
analytics
form submissions
…your legal pages should stay updated too.
Review:
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Terms & Conditions
Disclaimers
This is one of those things many businesses forget during website updation, but it helps protect both you and your visitors.
7. Final Update on Your Website: Footer Date & Details
You know that tiny little text sitting quietly in your footer that says something like:
© 2023 Your Business Name. All Rights Reserved.
…yeah, THAT thing.
It’s small, but visitors notice it more than you think.
An outdated copyright year can subtly make a website feel neglected or inactive , especially when someone is already deciding whether they trust your business or not.
And honestly, this is one of the most commonly forgotten parts of website updation.
A lot of business owners update website content, refresh photos, and improve layouts… but completely forget to check their footer year.
Some businesses only display their establishment year to avoid updating it every year, but personally, I think keeping the current year visible makes a website feel much more active and maintained.
It’s a tiny detail, but updated websites are often the ones that feel more trustworthy and professional overall.
PRO TIP → Automate Your Footer Year
If your platform allows custom code snippets, you can automatically update your footer year so you never have to remember it again. There are plenty of simple tutorials and free code snippets online that let you copy and paste a small piece of code directly into your website.
Rebecca, from Inside the Square, shared a free snippet of code to automatically keep that date current for you!
Chris, from Schwartz-Edmisten, has also shared a free snippet of code to automatically keep the date in your footer updated for you!
Was This Helpful?
I hope this guide helped you better understand some of the small website details that are easy to overlook , but can quietly affect how professional and trustworthy your business feels online.
The truth is, most websites don’t suddenly become outdated overnight. It usually happens gradually through small neglected details that build up over time.
And honestly, that’s completely normal.
When you’re focused on running a business, your website often becomes something you only think about when there’s a problem. But giving your site a quick yearly review can make a much bigger difference than most people expect.
Need Help With Your Squarespace Website?
Whether you need help improving your current website, refining your design, or making your Squarespace site feel more modern and professional, having the right setup can completely change how people experience your business online.
I’m Ankush, a Squarespace web designer and founder of Webgoyat. I help businesses, creators, and service-based brands build clean, strategic, and conversion-focused Squarespace websites.
If you’d like help with your website, you can email me at info@webgoyat.com or book a free 15-minute consultation call through my website.
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