Incremental Updates – The Way Forwards
SEO is the foundation of all web marketing, probably true, bit like saying Apple OS or Microsoft Windows is the foundation of all computing. But how do big companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple and even Meta keep us moving forwards? I’ve often wondered if at Microsoft HQ they are using Windows 19, while we’re still on Windows 11, or is it 12 now?
Big companies have a constant risk that some other smaller more agile business is going to come up and steal their No 1 spot with some revolutionary new tech that blows the world away. In 2006 it was the Apple iPhone, around the same time, Facebook Messenger, today it’s AI.
Yet – if you have 4 billion people using your service every day in a multitude of hundreds of different ways – how do you as an incumbent technology introduce that fancy new feature without destroying people’s lives – literally.
We normal people get used to our current way of life, if I use a spreadsheet for Invoices – that’s because it’s how I’ve always done it. For the record, personally, I am playing a big game of catch-up with Instagram. Sure I was one of the first people to ever download it on a phone, but since then, post post photo photo and not much else. I have fallen by the wayside.
Incremental Updates
Different companies take different approaches:
- Microsoft
We all know it and it is a bain of a PC, Windows Updates – they happen every two weeks or so and the changes are barely noticeable until you try and reset an old computer when suddenly you have about 6 hours of updates to install.
Microsoft’s secret though is to constantly update features and prepare the way for new features. It’s simple and clever and even the most novice user of a PC can still navigate their way around basic Windows – this same theory can be extended to most of Microsoft’s products such as Office or Outlook. - Apple
A slightly harder line on updates, Apple don’t like to admit that their software is anything less than perfect, every now and again they will force an update on users, but generally they just want you to buy the latest hardware.
The reasoning here is simple, the new hardware is so improved that the software can handle it. It means a bit more of a leap for users each time they upgrade. But Apple is more caught than most when changes are needed. Because this this ‘leap’ in updates, there is usually more fuss made and Apple considers this to be great PR. - Meta
There’s a wealth of products in the Meta Stable from Facebook and Instagram to WhatsApp and Messenger, but the approach to mobile Apps is simply constant updates, you literally never know if you’re using the latest version and usually, there’s no prompt or choice when updating.
The good part is users tend to all be using the newest version of the Apps, plus any Website interface will be as up-to-date as possible at all times. All this just means new features kick in gradually over time and all the time. It’s a constant evolution. - Google
We have to separate the two sides of Google, Search and Advertising and Mobile and Apps – with Mobile and Apps following the same constant updates as Meta products. It’s an evolution.
Google Search and Google’s core advertising products that allow them to give away almost everything else they do is also continuously updated. In the business, this is known as Agile Management. It’s just constant and you don’t notice.
So when do you notice
Humans are extraordinary beings, we almost don’t notice, we certainly don’t notice evolution. When we make things extinct there are so few left anyway we barely notice. It’s more a case of whittling down. We, humans, also like a bit of nostalgia – we love an old classic ard, but we don’t drive Roman Chariots, we do move on, eventually.
But in most humans’ lifetimes, there are probably only three or four truly revolutionary life-changing technologies that cause true human advancement, we probably couldn’t stand more. The automobile, fridge, space rocket, we can do it all already, but that does not mean we will.
the last 30-40 years have been especially drastic, or so we think, the personal computer, then the Internet, then mobiles and now AI. Each is potentially utterly life-changing, yet in 100 years time we may well look back and treat this as a single event.
We notice these changes all the time, but with that we either accept them or not, it’s our choice most for the time and it frustrates us when it’s not out choice, Banking branches and money online, is it good or bad?
Your website
This brings me to my point, incremental updates, should you be doing the same with your Website? Well, yes, pretty obviously you should. By constantly updating your offering, whether you’re an artist with new work or a marketing manager with a budget, you need to let people know what’s new as quickly as possible.
There are really three aspects to this and of course, those who use NCompass’s SEO services will know all this:
- Content – be it images, photos, services, products, text, news or whatever, there needs to be a channel to update your public-facing profiles.
In the old days, this would have been a newspaper announcement or a new brochure that was mailed out to existing customers. Today, it’s simply updating your website. - Liked or Linked – Using all the channels available to you the plan is simple, get the news out there. Marketing is all about updating your content everywhere, not just on your website, but on social media, perhaps an Ads campaign and so on.
Updating of this nature has to be by default an incremental operation you wouldn’t store up all your news and release it once a year. - Well-Managed Tech – the underlying tech needs to be robust, secure and up-to-date, if it’s updated it should perform better. There are dozens of analogies that apply, you wouldn’t buy a new car with old brakes.
NCompass offers all clients a simple updating service for their websites, it just keeps the lid on things, it is usually cheap and cheerful, around £30 a month, but it takes care of all the security and performance issues. Exactly like Microsoft and its Windows Update.
Conclusion
Websites need to be kept up-to-date at all times, and we would heartedly recommend using the incremental update approach every time. There is no need nowadays to throw out an old website that needs just a few enhancements to bring it back from the brink.
The only thing you cannot do is leave it until it’s too late – but then that’s what we’re here for.