How Often Should You Update Your Website? Here's What Belongs On It

How long has it been since you updated your website? Take a second and actually answer that. Most owners I ask get a little sheepish, then land somewhere around three years. Sometimes five. One guy told me his site still listed a phone number he'd disconnected in 2019. He didn't know until a customer mentioned it, and by then who knows how many calls had gone nowhere.

So let's talk about it. How often should you update your website, and what should go on there?

The short answer: something every month

Here's my rule. Touch your website at least once a month. That doesn't mean a redesign. It doesn't even mean a big change. It just means your site shouldn't sit untouched while your business keeps moving.

Google notices fresh content. More importantly, your customers notice. When somebody lands on your page and sees a "Merry Christmas" banner in July, they wonder what else you've let slide. Fair or not, that's the read.

Then there are the bigger checkups. Twice a year, sit down and go through the whole thing. Read every page like a stranger would. Maybe even ask a friend to take a look. Check your hours, your service area, your pricing, and every photo. Is there an updated photo of you or your store front? Do you still offer all the same services? Ask yourself if the business described on that site is still the business you run today.

What actually belongs on your site

Start with the boring stuff, because the boring stuff drives calls. Your hours, your phone number, your service area, and your current pricing all need to be right. Small businesses lose real money because a customer trusted an old hours listing and drove out to a locked door.

After that, add the things that prove you're a real operation run by real people. New photos of finished work. A quick note about a new service you started offering. Your latest reviews. A picture of the guy you just hired. Customers buy from businesses that look alive, and those small updates are how you look alive.

Seasonal content matters too, especially here in Colorado. Landscapers, roofers, HVAC guys, and anybody who works outside should be talking about the season we're actually in. Spring cleanup in April. Ice dams in January. Your customers are searching for those things right now.

"But I don't have anything to update"

This is the objection I hear most, and I want to sit with it for a minute, because I think it comes from a good place. You're busy. You're not a writer. You genuinely believe nothing interesting has happened.

But I've never once met a business owner who had nothing. Not one. You just don't recognize your own work as content, because to you it's Tuesday.

So let me hand you a list of things you already have.

Take pictures of your work

You finished a job last week. You have a phone in your pocket. Snap a before and an after, send them to me, and that's an update. Do that four times and you have a gallery.

Answer a question you get asked all the time

What do customers ask you on every single call? "How long does it take?" "Do you offer financing?" "Do you come out to Woodland Park?" Every one of those is a page or a paragraph, and every one of them is something people are already typing into Google.

Write down what you told a customer

Yesterday you explained something to a client over the phone. You explained it well, because you've explained it a hundred times. That explanation is a blog post. You don't have to write it fancy. You just have to say it.

Show the people

Introduce your crew. Mention the anniversary you just hit. Post about the youth team you sponsored. Share an odd job or a problem you’ve never seen before. That kind of thing builds trust faster than any sales copy I could write for you.

Update what changed, even if it's small

New truck. New certification. New service you added quietly last spring and never told anyone about. Those all count. None of that takes an afternoon. Most of it takes about ninety seconds and a text message.

Here's the part where I make it easy

Honestly, the real reason websites go stale isn't a lack of ideas. It's that updating them is a pain. You have to remember the login, fight a page builder, and hope you don't break the layout.

That's exactly why I built Lamplighter the way I did. Every website I build includes unlimited content edits, and you make them by texting or emailing me. No logins. No ticket system. You send me a photo and a sentence, and I handle the rest, usually the same week.

Our Standard Business Website runs $187 a month with nothing down. If you want us to write the content for you, our SEO Boost add-on covers that too.

So if your site hasn't changed since you launched it, let's fix that. Call or text me at (719) 357-8727, I'll run a free audit on what you've got and even give you some free suggestions on how to improve it.