Website Maintenance: What Is It and What Does It Entail?

Consider your site as a brand new automobile. It works perfectly in the beginning. It is slick, speedy and performs all that you desire. However, what will become of you, when you never replace the oil, never check the tires, or do a tune-up?

It will begin to malfunction and will be disjointed. Constant maintenance of the site is similar to taking your vehicle to a service center. It is the habit of checking your website to see that it is working and is not hitched. This is all that is required to keep your digital environment healthy, safe, and functioning optimally to every visitor.

What is Website Maintenance?

Web site maintenance is essentially a series of procedures that you undertake in order to maintain your web site in an efficient and safe condition. It is not only about the lights being on. It is all about ensuring that your site is fast, secure and convenient to the user.

Imagine you have a store. You would clean the floors, check the doors and lock them and change the products on shelves. Online maintenance is the online copy of the same. You are sweeping the cobwebs of the old files, closing the digital doors to the hackers, and posting new, new materials to create interest to the visitors. These periodic checks will ensure your site does not slow down, grow old and easy prey to security issues.

The question arises: Why was Website Maintenance So Important?

Ignoring your website is like a small drop in your roof. At first, it’s just a tiny drip. However, a drip so little may do a great deal in the long run. Constant website maintenance ensures that you uncover little issues and rectify them before it grows to big issues that are costly.

The following are the main reasons why it is a must-do:

Security

This is the most significant reason why to maintain it. Hackers are in search of vulnerability in sites. They find it easy to access outdated software and plugins as they are unlocked doors. Routine maintenance will involve security scans and updates to ensure your site and personal information of your visitors is not stolen.

Better User Experience

Have you ever been to a web site that just took ages to draw up? Or pressed on a link which resulted to an error page? It’s frustrating. A site that is not user-friendly will soon lose visitors. The repairs of broken links, optimization of pictures to load quicker and making sure that your site is mobile phone friendly create a pleasant experience to your audience. This will make them desire to remain in it and revisit it.

Boosts Your SEO Ranking

Search engines such as Google desire to present the best and most relevant sites to the people using them. It is an indicator of quality by having a well-maintained site. Google favors the sites that are fast, secure and updated with fresh material regularly. This will send good signals to the search engines because you do regular maintenance of your web sites and this may rank you high in the search results leading to more visitors to your web site.

Simple Web Site Servicing Checklist.

What then is involved in this process? This can be subdivided into weekly, monthly and annual activities. This is a basic checklist that you could use.

Weekly Tasks

These are fast examinations to ensure that all is functioning accordingly.

• Check 404 Errors: You should ensure that all your pages are loading properly.
• Maintenance Core Software and Plugins: Have your website engine (such as WordPress, Joomla, etc.) and add-ons updated to the newest version to be secure.
• Make Full Website Backup: Have a more recent copy of your site. In case of any failure, then it is easy to restore.
• Filter and Delete Spam: make your comments section clean and professional.

Monthly Tasks

These activities explore a little bit into the performance of your site.

• Test Your Web Site Speed: An online application will tell you the speed of your web pages and how you can speed them up.
• Check Security Checks: Check the outcome of your security checks and correct any problems that have been identified.
• Examine Website Stats: Check the number of visitors that visited your site and the pages visited. This will enable you to know what your audience prefers.
• Checking Bad links: Browse through your site and correct those links which are not working.

Yearly Tasks

These are more general reviews of your site.

• Test Your Web Design: Does your Web Site still look contemporary and new? Is it easy to navigate?
• Revise Old Content: Find pages or blog posts that are not so new and update them with new information.
• Check Your Contact Forms: Complete your own forms to ensure that they work and send message to the appropriate location.
• Revise Your SEO Strategy: Check your keywords and determine whether they are still assisting you to get the right people.

Do You Need Help with the Maintenance of your Website?

Maintaining a web site may be a full time job. In case you wish to concentrate on running your own business and not to be bothered with technicalities, then, you may seek professional assistance.

To take care of all these, the team at Loyal Web Solutions is offering professional services of maintaining your website. They will keep your site blazing, safe and at its optimum performance so that you can rest without any care.

Finally, a small investment of time and efforts in maintaining the websites is rewarded highly. It safeguards your investment, makes your visitors happy, and contributes to the expansion of your online presence.

Your car or house, and your website require normal maintenance in order to maintain a great condition. With the help of the simple checklist and keeping up with the updates, you can make sure that your site will serve its purpose well in the years to come.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQ).

What should be the frequency of the maintenance of the sites?

It depends on your website. An online store that is busy may also require a check on daily or weekly basis as opposed to simple blog which may just require monthly check. The best thing to do with most small business websites is to make weekly key checks and more thorough monthly reviews.

Am I capable of maintaining the website myself?

Yes, you can! Most of the tasks that involve simple updating of new features of the site such as checking broken links can be done without much technical knowledge. Nonetheless, more complicated problems such as security fixes or speed optimization can be better left to a professional to prevent creating even greater issues.

What will become of my website when I do not update it?

Failure to maintain your site may slow down your site, quit functioning properly, or even be hacked. This will harm your image, lose clients and your position on the search engines such as Google will plummet.

Does it cost a lot to maintain the websites?

The cost can vary. The cheapest way to do it is doing it yourself which uses no money but costs time. Professional hiring can cost as little as a few dollars per month on the simple sites and even more on the sophisticated sites. Nonetheless, the price of maintenance is nearly lower than the prices of a severe issue such as a security breach.