Website maintenance is the work of maintaining a website. This includes the administration, security, performance and testing, backup and recovery of all hardware, software, and data associated with a website.
It ensures that a site will run smoothly and securely at all times. It also ensures that if something does happen to go wrong, then it can be fixed quickly and efficiently.
The main aim of website maintenance is to ensure that your site stays up-to-date with the latest technology so that it runs smoothly at all times. It is also important to ensure that your website remains compatible with all popular browsers and devices used by your visitors. This means that you need to keep up-to-date with new browser releases as well as mobile device releases.
The ultimate website maintenance checklist
Here’s a complete website maintenance checklist as per weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
- Weekly
- Post blogs to improve SEO of the website
- Ensure all forms are working efficiently
- Check for broken links (if any)
- Prepare content to be shared with your contacts
- Update software and core plugins
- Check and fix 404 errors.
- Monthly
- Analyse website’s statistics
- Evaluate the performance of your content
- Ensure local search visibility
- Test website loading speed and fix issues if any.
- Run various security checks
- Quarterly
- Update website images and graphics
- Update meta titles and description
- Evaluate if there is room for content enhancement
- Manage backups
- Test website performance on popular browsers and devices
- Check for website’s mobile friendliness
- Ensure pop ups, forms, etc. is working efficiently
- Annually
- Consider design and content update
- Renew domain names
- Update the copyright date in the footer and other references as well/
- Check and update best performing blogs.
Tasks involved in website maintenance
It is important that you keep your site up to date with the latest technology and other developments in the world of digital marketing.
Here are some of the things you should be doing to keep your website active:
- Checking for broken links. If someone clicks on a broken link on your website, they'll be taken to an error page instead of the page they wanted to see. That can frustrate visitors and lead them to leave your site quickly before they find what they need. Ensure all hyperlinks work properly by checking for broken ones regularly (at least once every few months).
- Site backups: It's recommended to back up your site at least once every week. Ideally, you'll want to back up your site daily, but this can be difficult if you're not using a hosting provider with built-in automated backups. If you're using a third-party hosting service like Dreamhost or WP Engine, they should be able to help you out here. If not, many WordPress plugins will do the job for you easily.
- Security updates: Many WordPress plugins and themes include security updates as part of their update process. But if yours doesn't, then it's important that you check for new versions often and update them as soon as possible. Keep an eye on any third-party apps or services that are integrated with your site (like analytics software or Google AdWords). These are often updated independently from WordPress itself and may require additional steps to update safely (like disabling them completely until an update is available).
- Review Search Console: Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor the site's performance on search engine results pages (SERPs). It will also show you any issues or potential problems with your website that might affect how well it's ranked. You should use this tool regularly to see how your site performs in the SERPs and fix any problems that arise.
- Review Analytics: Analytics are one of the most important tools for measuring your website’s health and performance. They can tell you which pages on your site are popular, where users are coming from, what they’re clicking on, and much more. Use this information to make decisions about how best to optimise your site for user engagement and conversions.
- Check for malware and viruses: If you're running a commercial website, it's important to use a system that scans for malware and viruses on a daily basis. You don't want to risk being hacked by someone who wants to steal your customers' information or install malware on their computers.
- Keeping up with browser compatibility issues: Web browsers are updated constantly, and they sometimes introduce new features that older browsers don't support properly. This can cause problems for your site when visitors try to use a browser that doesn't support some of its features (like HTML5). You need to keep track of these changes and make sure that your site works properly on all major browsers (including mobile devices).
- Keeping up with security patches for plugins and themes: If you're using any third-party plugins or themes, you'll need to make sure that these are kept up-to-date as well — because most of them will have their own internal security patches which must be installed manually by the user after they become available from the developer's website.
The importance of website maintenance
Websites are a business' most important marketing tool. They can boost sales, increase brand awareness and help you stay ahead of the competition. However, if you don't keep your site up-to-date with new content, it can quickly become obsolete – losing customers along the way.
That's why it's so important to regularly maintain your website. By doing this, you'll ensure that it remains relevant to visitors and search engines alike. It will also help you avoid costly problems such as broken links and server downtime.
Here are some key reasons why website maintenance is vital for businesses:
- Improves search engine visibility: One of the main benefits of regular website maintenance is that it improves your site's search engine Optimisation (SEO). This means your website will reach to more people and they will be able to find your site through online searches and visit your pages on a regular basis. This can increase traffic levels significantly over time, which could lead to increased sales conversions and higher profits for your business.
- It keeps your site up-to-date with the latest technology: Your site should automatically update as new versions of software are released. This prevents bugs from being introduced into your site, which could lead to security issues or other problems.
- It allows you to make changes quickly when necessary: If there's an issue with your site that needs to be fixed right away, such as a broken link or error message, you can make the change immediately instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you. This saves time and money because it won't require an employee's time or another company's services if they're needed to fix the problem before they can even begin working on it!
- It helps protect against hackers and other security threats: When you keep up with updates and patches from vendors like Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla (FireFox) etc., you're less likely to experience problems caused by malware or other malicious programs trying to infect.
How can Digiwhiz help you with your website maintenance?
At Digiwhiz, we are a team of highly experienced and dedicated professionals who are committed to offering you one of the best website maintenance services in the market. We have a myriad of clients from different industries including roofing, hospitality, skip bin hire and many more.
We have a dedicated team that is well versed with the latest technologies and can take care of your website maintenance needs, from installing new plugins and themes to making changes in their code or fixing bugs.
Our experts have in-depth knowledge of all aspects related to website development and maintenance. They understand how to make changes in the existing website design as per your requirements, so as to make it more customer friendly and functional. We also offer free consultation on any technical issues related to your site so that you get quick solutions for all your problems.
Schedule an appointment with your local web development company in Melbourne today!