WHY WEB MAINTENANCE IS ESSENTIAL
Just as important as having a website in today's marketplace, it's equally important to take good care of it. Ensuring your site is well-maintained, secure, updated, and visitor-friendly assures success now and in the future. If a website fails to be any of those things, it can quickly work against your objectives and impact user trust and brand image. So, do you have a regular maintenance plan in place?
In short, web maintenance is the practice of confirming all works well and looks sharp on your site – actively making updates and regularly taking steps toward optimal performance.
Below are eight key components of web maintenance and why they are essential:
Security
Whether a simple marketing site or a robust storefront, it's crucial to protect your website, site visitors, and business by ensuring it's secure from hackers and cyber thieves. Regular maintenance checks on implemented security measures evaluate effectiveness and steps towards additional protection.
Functionality
Making sure your site works the way you intend is paramount. Whether it's form fields, special scripts, plug-ins, or other installed tools or themes – consistent review and testing (especially during site updates) will ensure features are running smoothly for every site visit.
Accurate Content
Regularly audit your site's content to accurately represent your business, services, and any new happenings. Periodically modified details like seasonal operating hours, certifications, and offerings should also be quickly and regularly updated. These steps keep the integrity of your site content intact and accurate.
Audience Engagement
Adding value to site visitors' experience is important and can be achieved by including shareable, frequently updated content. Guests will be more inclined to refer others to the site or share a direct link if they receive something valuable from their visit. Think: downloadable resources, helpful tips, notable statistics, and more.
Higher Rankings
Regularly updating and maintaining a website leads to your site ranking higher in search results on Google and other search engines. In competitive marketplaces, this small step can make a difference in the success of site traffic.
Backups
As they say, "hope for the best and be prepared for the worst." In most cases, your website is the leading digital destination for your business. There should always be a backup (automatic or manual) in the event of digital damages or mishaps, allowing you to perform a quick site restoration.
User Experience
According to a survey by Top Design Firms in 2021, 42% of respondents would leave a website if it had poor functionality. That's almost half! The user experience should be evaluated and tested during web updates to work through any inefficiencies or broken elements and retain site views, visits, and sessions.
Helpful Insights
There's power in numbers. Performing regular web maintenance allows for changes and results to be logged, aiding in analytics tracking. These results can be studied to create strategies for higher audience engagement and follow-through with meaningful site calls to action (and more).
We know websites are an ever-evolving, dynamic platform that needs regular attention. With the proper care and maintenance, a website can be a powerful asset that furthers your business goals.
If completing these audits and updates is outside your internal capabilities, we recommend connecting with a web professional to explore a maintenance plan that suits your setup. Your website is valuable and worth the steps to ensure optimal performance.
Aedieno is a boutique creative agency. For website design, development, and maintenance services, please contact us.
