Planned obsolescence has made many people rich. Computers, cars, and television in particular are things that we all happily update on a regular basis. We just know that something better is coming out; it is only a matter of time. The same for the Internet. New design styles (a move from shiny to grunge), new services (a move from Facebook to Twitter), or new goals (making house payments to finding a member of AIG and punching them in the eyeball) are common. New and better are so ingrained in our vocabulary that “new” actually means better– well close enough.

Even Google puts weight on recency in assigning value. So, updating your content can be the first step in improving your results from search and your results from visitors. High return visitor rates mean you have a great opportunity to expand your relationship with the visitors.

Many years ago manufacturing came to a cross-roads there were two paths: one was to be big and pump out one thing really well all the time (most US manufacturing) the other was to be small and modular to reduce to cost of changing product (most of Japanese manufacturing). When planned obsolescence became the norm an unexpected side-effect occurred– no barrier to entry. Because manufactured goods have shorter lifespans and new became equivalent to better people have less resistance to changing their suppliers. This allowed every company that could add features and drop out-dated products to have an advantage.

What people are looking for, how people are looking, and what they expect to see are going to be changing. How can your website compete? Plan to be obsolete. A 6-12 month cycle that replaces all of your main content should be part of your plan. Incrementally you should be changing your presentation, because seeming new is as good as being new, the content on your site, and the offering that you put forward. The environment is changing and you do not want your customers leaving over a need that you are capable of serving.

Changes in presentation and content give people a feeling that you are paying attention and reacting to them. The information that you have on your site is not a perishable commodity, so you can continue to leverage old content by properly archiving it, and you have nothing to lose by assuming that every 6 – 12 months there will be a better way to present the information to your users. Regular updates communicate to both humans and search engines that you are paying attention.

As many businesses continue to struggle start investing in your marketing and brand. Start to position your business for the new needs that have been created, and make a plan for how you will make your website react to it’s users.