Your website is like a living, breathing organism. And like any other living thing, you need to take good care of it to keep it fit and healthy!
That’s why having a thorough website maintenance plan is so important. Without it, you’ll struggle with security issues, performance in the search rankings and you might not attract the visitors you’re hoping for!
Check out the 5 main website maintenance tips below:
1. Improves Security and Eliminates Harmful Spam
Security is the most important reason that you need to stay on top of your website’s maintenance. Sites are vulnerable if they are running outdated software or haven’t kept up with essential security updates issued by their content management system.
98% of WordPress websites are currently thought to be vulnerable and more often than not, 3rd party plugins are the culprits. The majority of successful hacks on these vulnerable sites occur as a result of outdated security features.
2. Website Maintenance Enhances UX
Whilst it’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing your digital marketing efforts on what google wants, you need to remember who your site is really for…your customers!
Update your pages with upcoming events, blog posts and contact information to keep to ensure you’re offering the best user experience possible. In the same vein, you need to remove information that is out-of-date as it can mislead consumers and worsen your site’s performance.
3. SEO Optimisation
Google keeps its algorithms under lock and key but one thing we do know is that a well-maintained website ranks higher in organic searches. And a high ranking means one thing: better visibility, so it’s important to nail your SEO optimisation.
Google monitors your websites loading time and the coding techniques it uses. If your pages are loading slowly or outdated codes are detected then you’re likely to suffer in the rankings and you’ll find it harder to reach your customers.
4. Prepares You to Grow
Proper website management can help your business to grow. As you scale up, introduce new products or adapt to changing consumer behaviours, your site will need to change.
But making major changes to a site can be time-consuming and costly if you have to spend hours struggling with a bad website design before you can make your updates. By making sure that your site is organised, free of clutter and easy to navigate, you can assist growth rather than slow it down.
5. Saves You Money
Yes! You heard correctly, a well-maintained website can actually save you money in the long term.
Weak security leads to hacks and hacks can lead to lost data and irreparable damage to your business. At the same time, poor site optimisation loses traffic, meaning your product/service won’t be reaching your target consumer. You might even need to fork out for expert help to get things functioning as they should.
Keeping on top of your maintenance and conducting audits regularly can help to minimise these risks, so you’ll keep more of your customers engaged and interested in your site.
Prioritise Website Maintenance
Website maintenance can have a significant impact on your digital marketing efforts. Creating a maintenance schedule will ensure that your site is secure, offers a great user experience and performs well in the rankings.
