WHO’S WATCHING YOUR WEBSITE? 

I’m not talking about your competitors checking out your latest products, or Big Brother tracking your internet usage, I’m asking, “Who is taking care of your website?”  

“But, that’s why I have a website,” you say. “It can take care of itself. It is a 24-hour salesman who never complains or needs a raise or a lunchbreak or time off or healthcare.  What can it possibly need besides some new content every now and then?” 

I am so glad you asked that question. Although websites generally do run without much thought, they do need special care to ensure they are running smoothly, just like your car. Most of the time it runs just fine, but occasionally that brake light comes on or the change oil light reminds you to do those maintenance things.  

Unfortunately, websites don’t come with reminder lights which can lead to problems down the road. Chances are your web designer offered these mysterious “maintenance” services, and you grudgingly said yes, but what are you actually paying for? What does maintaining your website mean and why is it important? I have summarized a list of items from EXAI. You can check out their article here

What needs maintaining?  

Just like a car, there are some tasks that need to be done yearly, monthly and even weekly to keep your website purring like a kitten.   

Yearly tasks may include  

• Renewing your domain name,  
• Paying hosting fees (paying a company to store your website information)  
• Renewing your email service 

Monthly or Quarterly tasks may include: 

• Reviewing and updating graphics and photos 
• Making sure your website content is up-to-date 
• Making sure your website is mobile friendly and displays properly on all browsers 
• Update advertising and marketing 
• Test pop-ups, forms and call to action buttons (call now, get more info, get a quote, etc) 
• Keep your site backed up in case of malware, etc.
• Test web page loading speed 
• Check security on your site 
• Analysis of web traffic and performance statistics 

Weekly tasks may include: 

• Updating software (there’s always something new and improved out there!) 
• Publish blog posts to provide useful information to customers and improve your visibility in online searches (SEO) 
• Check for broken links. 

 What happens if you don’t keep your site in tip-top shape? 

Back to the car example.  Yeah, you can drive it with the brake light on for quite a while, you can even go much longer than the recommended mileage on an oil change, but continued neglect will lead to some major repair bills later. Same goes for your website. Neglect can lead to lost customers, a lower ranking on Google, create trust issues and result in a big repair bill later. 

Customer Experience 

If a potential customer visits your site and links don’t work, the information isn’t current or they keep getting error messages, they will move on to someone else. You only have, on average, 15 seconds to make a good impression.  It’s critical to make the most of that limited time. 

SEO 

Search Engine Optimization. I’m sure you’ve heard that term tossed about quite a bit. It may seem like some mythical creature, but it is real and important. If your links don’t work or you are not putting out relevant information on a regular basis with amazing keywords that people are searching for, the internet will not find you no matter how beautiful your site looks.  Just like that gorgeous Lamborghini sitting in the parking lot with no engine…it’s going to sit there a while. 

Trust 

A well designed, sleek, smooth website that leads people seamlessly where they want to go will build trust. The more trust you build the better your business reputation will be. If you’ve spent the time to create a website that is not only beautiful but functional and up to date, the consumer will inherently understand that you care about your brand, your company and ultimately the customer. 

Major Repairs 

Keeping up on security as you go means chances are greater you will catch hacks and spams before they completely crash your site and breach your data.  A crashed site can sometimes be recovered, but better to be safe than sorry. 

What are my options? 

1. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, it’s fairly easy to find information on the internet about how to do updates, etc.  
2. Hire someone else to do it for you.  If you aren’t techie and would rather spend your time doing what you’re good at (running your business) hiring someone else is the best option and a worthy investment. 
3. <Insert shameless plug here> Bonnie Lou Web Design provides maintenance plans with no long-term contracts and if you decide you can handle it yourself, we’ll be happy to turn it over to you with step by step instructions.