So your business has a website. That is great, it helps to broaden brand awareness, and attract customers, and if you happen to be an eCommerce-based business, then it is the essential tool for the very success of the company. But here’s a question for you, after creating and designing the website, how much thought have you given to website maintenance? Have you ever heard of essential website maintenance? Let’s break down what this concept is, and why it should be on your list of priorities.
It Goes Deeper than How the Website Looks
With so much focus on how a website looks (the layout and design), all too often other important factors get ignored. Website maintenance addresses how the website performs and how safe and secure it is. Hackers are doing their absolute best to steal your data and intellectual property, install malware, and more – so what are you doing to prevent that from happening? That is where website maintenance plays a role.
What are the Essential Steps?
The term “website maintenance” is broad and encompasses several factors, so which are the most important steps? It’s going to come down to the website itself, but in general, the following are steps that should be on the list of priorities:
- Installing and updating malware software
- Update the content
- Update SEO tools such as keywords
- Code and plugin updates
The larger the website is and the more content that you have, the larger this job becomes. It can also be rather time-consuming.
Improve Speed and Search Capabilities
Did you also know that staying on top of website maintenance can also boost the site’s speed and search ranking? Visitors have very little patience for slow-loading pages, which is one of the fastest ways to lose a sale. Customers will be inclined to go elsewhere if the website gives them problems. Keeping a site well-maintained means all content can load smoothly, and even more importantly, quickly.
Then we have the Google search ranking, which can make or break the site. The goal is to appear on the first page of results, and there are plenty of SEO tools that will aid in that process. Website maintenance will ensure you not only get to the first page of results but stay there.
There’s No Need to Tackle Website Maintenance Solo
If this all sounds a bit daunting to you and you don’t have the time and energy to dedicate to proper website maintenance, the good news is you won’t have to. There is no reason to go about this solo, as you can hire a company that offers a maintenance package. These are often based on the services and hours of work needed, so that a plan meets each company’s needs. Outsourcing this very important task to a professional with experience could be the smartest move.
Website Maintenance Deserves to Be Labelled as “Essential”
As you can tell, there are many steps and factors involved in website maintenance and it’s clear to see how each of these is essential.