Up until about 2014, websites needed a second, mobile-friendly version for phones. However, now there are so many different tablets around that a site can have a hard time deciding whether to show the desktop or phone version to the visitor.

The second, mobile-friendly website version has become outdated. Instead, our WebUpdate sites are responsive: the site's layout changes with the visitor's screen size. A wide screen display will see a site design with multiple columns, while a small screen will see the same content presented in a neat, single column. Site navigation also changes to be touch and swipe based, rather than mouse based. Text size adjusts to be readable, whatever the device. This way, you can be sure that whatever device your visitor is using, your site will look its best.

Another major thing that companies do in January is examine how their website performed during the previous year. Having ongoing site traffic reports, as our clients have, helps with this.

Using these logs, clients can see if their visitor rates have changed. Whatever happened to traffic, they also need to know where they show up on search engines.

This is usually where the most things have changed. Many companies who were on page one last January are surprised that they are now on page three. Why would this happen?

1. Search engines adjust their rules three to four times a year. Each time they change, your site may slide down. This could be just the site repeating keywords more or less than the search engine requires.

2. Stagnation. The searches prefer sites that keep making changes, because that shows a company is involved in their web presence.

If changes are regularly being made, any small slips in search engine position are more likely to be spotted and adjusted before it's too late.

However, if a site is untouched for a long time, the searches see you as not interested, or maybe not around anymore, and you can slide off the first page. When that happens, it is harder to recover.

If you have concerns with your web presence reaching your widest customer base, now is the time to look into our WebUpdate system sites. Not Open Source, they take advantage of advanced SEO, social, and responsive features to give your business the best competitive edge online.

Terry Young is the founder and CEO of Internet Marketing and Design. Since 1997,
his computer programming and graphic design knowledge have kept his company
at the forefront of the latest technology in web development.