Short answer: less often than most owners assume. Technical updates need monthly attention, content deserves a quarterly look, and a full redesign is usually only necessary every three to five years. Here's how to split the work so it doesn't become a constant chore.
Technical Updates: Monthly
If your site runs on a platform like WordPress, plugin, theme, and core software updates aren't optional—they patch security vulnerabilities. Run these at least once a month. Skipping them is the fastest way to end up with a broken or compromised site. If you'd rather not track this yourself, it's one of the things covered under ongoing website maintenance.
Content Updates: Quarterly
You don't need to rewrite your homepage every week, but your core pages—Home, About, Services—deserve a review every quarter. Ask:
- Are the prices still accurate?
- Have you added or dropped any services?
- Is the team information current?
- Do you have new testimonials worth adding?
Blog and Resource Updates: Consistently, Not Constantly
If you publish a blog, consistency matters more than frequency. Whether that's once a week or once a month, sticking to a schedule signals an active site. If content creation is the bottleneck, one post can be turned into several pieces of content instead of starting from scratch each time.
Full Redesign: Every 3–5 Years
Design trends and technical standards shift over time, and most small business sites start to look dated or fall behind after three to five years. A redesign is a chance to realign the site with where the business actually is now, not where it was when the site was built.
Separating technical maintenance from content review is what keeps this manageable—evergreen content reduces how often you need to touch the content side at all.