Website Maintenance Tips

When your website’s up and running you might feel like sitting back and giving yourself a pat on the back. We’ll allow a quick bit of congratulation, perhaps, but the work is far from over.

Now you have to think about website maintenance. Web maintenance is vital if you want to keep your website operating effectively. In this blog we’ll look set out the kind of quick website maintenance tips you need to take on board to make sure the site stays secure, effective and user friendly.

Why website maintenance matters

In a previous blog we delivered tips on how to reduce the bounce rate of your website. Website maintenance is one thing that can play a vital role in ensuring visitors stay engaged rather than bouncing. It can also make sure your site loads as quickly as possible, something else we’ve written a blog about Improve website loading speed.

In simple terms, everything you care about when launching your blog – load times, visitor engagement, security, effective content – needs to be monitored and maintained. If not, your website won’t deliver for your business.

The basics of website maintenance

There are different aspects of website maintenance to think about. The easiest way of looking at it is to separate your website into key components. Each of these components will need to be checked on a regular basis to make sure your website is delivering optimum performance:

Speed

Your website needs to load as quickly as possible on any device used to access it. Slow loading times can deter visitors from exploring your site further after waiting too long for the first page to load.

As well as impacting engagement and conversion rates, slow loading can make your site less accessible. In a previous blog we outlined the importance of accessibility, not just as an ethical choice but also in terms of SEO. Quick loading is a strong sign that your website is simple, streamlined and effective.

As your business grows so does the complexity of your website, particularly if you need to add more functionality. Additional plug–ins and content – particularly data rich content like videos-can slow the website down.

One of our website maintenance tips is to audit the site regularly to ensure that every plug-in or piece of software is necessary, and that all content has been optimised for quick loading.

Content

Review the content of your website regularly to ensure that it is up to date and relevant. Our own blog pages cover topics such as current UI/UX design trends and how much to invest in a new website.

If the information in blogs like these isn’t kept up to date through regular reviews it could damage SEO and user trust.

The same applies to all other content, from text and images to videos. Content which is accurate when a site launches might not be a few months later, so audit regularly and ask yourself if updates are needed.

Functionality

In simple terms, does the site work? One of the more obvious website maintenance tips is to work through the site, page by page, to make sure that none of the links you use are broken.

Visitors clicking on a link and being taken to the wrong page, or not going anywhere, are quickly going to lose patience with the website and your business. Remove or repair any broken link. Also check the functionality of any interactive elements and forms the website uses.

Security updates

According to the UK government, 50% of UK businesses have experienced a cyber-security breach in the past 12 months.

You can avoid becoming part of this statistic by carrying out regular security updates and downloading the latest patches. Make sure that aspects of your website such as malware, the firewall and SSL certificates are all fully up to date.

Back-ups

Even the best-managed website runs the risk of losing data through a technical fault, natural disaster (such as flood or fire) or cyber breach.

Protect your precious data by establishing a regular back-up regime. Vital details such as customer information, content, site layout and even orders being processed should be backed up automatically as a matter of course.

In the event of a disaster, the backed up data can be used to restore the website, minimising downtime and preventing damage to your reputation and bottom line.

Responsive

In the 21st century there’s a very good chance visitors are accessing your website via a range of devices, from a 52 inch smart TV to the watch on their wrist.

Test your website on a regular basis to ensure that it delivers in a responsive manner. In other words, that it looks equally stunning and works just as efficiently on the fullest range of devices.

This ensures a first rate user experience, no matter where and when that user is choosing to visit your site.

The numbers to look at

When you audit your website there are key numbers you need to look at to determine whether or not the site is operating at full efficiency.

You’ll get a rough idea just from looking at the site, clicking on the links etc. but when it comes to an objective impression of how well things are operating, the numbers simply never lie. Metrics you need to check regularly include:

• The bounce rate of the site
• How long visitors tend to spend on each session.
• The conversion rate – i.e. how many ‘visitors’ become ‘customers’.
• Data on where visitors come to the site from. Do they arrive via direct visits? Social media? Search engines? Having this data will help you to focus your marketing efforts in the future.

Simple website maintenance tips in short

Even the simplest website needs regular TLC to make sure that it is delivering everything you want from it. Don’t think of a website as being ‘finished’ when it launches.

Think of it as being like a pet that needs constant feeding, watering and grooming. Relatively quick and easy website maintenance tips can make all the difference between a site that delivers and one that gradually stops working for your business. Here are a few simple bullet points to bear in mind:

• Update your blog posts regularly
• Rework any content which may have become dated and irrelevant
• Switch out images to keep the site looking fresh and on-brand
• Timetable automatic back-ups
• Update security features
• Test for accessibility
• Test for responsiveness
• Run the numbers such as conversion and bounce rates