Website Maintenance: What Are the Benefits?
Elise is a Squarespace web designer & Circle member from Baltimore, MD.
If you've had a new website created or have an existing one that hasn't been updated in a while, it's time to prioritize maintenance. While it may seem like a minor task, putting it off can have major consequences. Did you know that visitors form an opinion about your website within the first 0.05 seconds of landing on it? Don't let a neglected website tarnish your business's reputation.
Think about this from the standpoint of a consumer. When you are researching various businesses in any given industry to hire for a job, your first impression of their website is typically based on the way it looks. If you decide to stay, the content becomes the next focal point. Does it make sense to read? Are the images professional? Are there any promotions or information that is not current? Things like this can easily slip your mind but can also negatively affect your credibility.
If you're unsure about what monthly website maintenance entails, you're not alone. You may be wondering if it's necessary to maintain your site every month, or if you should attempt to do it yourself or keep your designer on board if they offer a maintenance service.
Keep reading to discover the advantages of website maintenance and how it can help you achieve more freedom in your business.
Understanding Monthly Website Maintenance
For small business owners, understanding the benefits of regular site maintenance is crucial. Particularly since approximately 88% of online consumers are unlikely to revisit a website following a negative experience. Enhancing user experience is just one of the many advantages of functional improvements such as updating links and identifying website errors early on to prevent bigger issues from arising.
In what ways can regular website maintenance be beneficial?
General Site Monitoring
Content management systems are always improving their platforms by releasing updates. To ensure optimal performance, it's important to monitor your site for two things: installing new updates and observing how these updates affect your website's performance. This is where general site monitoring comes into play. This process involves checking the performance, availability, and functions of a web service or website. Items like widget integrations, website speed, and analytics are all examined to ensure that everything is working as it should. Ultimately, this process is about ensuring that your website is functioning correctly, rather than focusing solely on its appearance.
Content Updates to Your Website
Keeping your website up-to-date is crucial in maintaining its relevancy. It's like taking care of a house - big or small, there's always something that needs attention. Neglecting these issues could lead to bigger problems down the line.
Monthly content updates are a great way to keep your website looking fresh and updated. Tasks such as checking links, removing outdated events, managing your data, and updating your store's merchandise are just a few examples of what you can do. You may even want to update a design feature to a newer version or improve the functionality of a page section.
Regular content updates not only enhance the appearance of your website but also improve your search engine rankings. Search engines like Google prioritize websites that are updated frequently. If your site hasn't been updated in a while, it will be much harder to rank high in search engine results.
38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.
Keeping up with Website Security
It is common knowledge that website security is a top priority, as hackers are always on the lookout. A simple explanation is this: an outdated website can leave your business exposed to a cyber attack. Therefore, it is crucial to partner with a website professional to ensure your website's SSL (Security Sockets Layer) is always up-to-date. SSL encrypts the data transferred between browsers and servers, protecting it from interception. This should be a primary concern if your website stores customer information. A secure website can safeguard your business's credibility, customer relationships, and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Outdated Website Design
If your website is aging, a complete redesign may be necessary. However, if only a couple of pages need attention, it could fall under maintenance. This might involve adjusting your theme colors, updating fonts for better readability, or rearranging content layout. Oh and don’t forget about mobile optimization. Did you know that over 50% of web traffic is generated through mobile devices? This highlights the importance of ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly and accessible to users who access it through their mobile devices. The ultimate goal is to create an engaging and attractive website for all relevant devices that keeps visitors browsing for longer periods of time, and hopefully converts them into customers.
Higher SEO Rankings
Having a high ranking in search engine results is incredibly important for businesses and individuals who want to increase their online visibility. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website and its content to increase its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). Being discovered online is the first step towards establishing a relationship with potential customers or community members. Therefore, it's worth emphasizing that updating your website on a regular basis is crucial. Doing so informs search engines that you are relevant and actively engaged.
How can this help you ultimately?
Less worry, more focus, and rest when you want it.
By outsourcing your technical tasks, you'll have less to worry about and can enjoy a more peaceful existence. Plus, no need to keep up with the ever-changing "tech stuff," freeing up the capacity to concentrate on other significant aspects of your business or interest. You'll have more time to relax and unwind when you need it, instead of stressing over technical issues
Webz by Elise is here to help you achieve a more peaceful existence when it comes to managing your website. Having a dedicated webmaster takes the worry out of having a website.
Basic web maintenance services include the following:
Site monitoring
Content updates
Basic SEO Updates
On-call support
Please get in touch for a quote. Email Elise at eliseelbourne@gmail.com
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