Once a website is ready and operational, the job is not done. In fact, it has just begun! Websites need to be regularly updated and checked for errors and these errors need to be corrected. This is when website maintenance comes into play. With time, a website may become outdated, or the content and information added to it may become obsolete or irrelevant. This content needs to be updated on a regular basis to keep the website up to date and relevant.
Why does a website need maintenance?
Websites need to be regularly checked and the information needs to be updated on a consistent basis for it to be considered a healthy website. Regularly updating content and information on a website keeps the pages fresh, which helps improve search engine rankings. Google bots especially favor high-value content as it helps improve the websites SEO and Google rankings for the target keywords.
Maintaining an eCommerce website
Keeping an eCommerce website well maintained and attractive is important for your business to flourish. If you have an online store, customers will visit you again and again if you regularly add new products to the store and remove items that are old or out of stock. Website maintenance is not a one-time job. It has to be done regularly and consistently, and it may take a whole team to regularly update a large online store.
Without maintenance, website health falls apart
Just like your health which needs regular checkups and maintenance, so is the case of a website. If you do not regularly update it and check it for errors, the website will gradually lose its rankings in the search results and the health of your website will fall apart. This will lead to reduced traffic and customers coming to it and eventually, you will lose business. Your competitors may be regularly updating and maintaining their website and taking away your customers and business without you even knowing. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain and update your website on a regular basis.
Things to Regularly Monitor
When it comes to website maintenance, you need to regularly monitor the following:
- Check that the web pages are loading without errors
- Update plugins and website software
- Check for spam comments, posts, or pages
- Run regular backups to save recent changes
- Check and remove any 404 error
- Fix any broken or outdated links
- Add fresh content to your website and blog
- Test the load speed of the website and pages
- Check for security threats and viruses
- Change any outdated graphics
- Update old content details and addresses
- Check and correct any typos and grammar errors
In order to achieve all this and keep your website well maintained and updated, it is important that you have a proper website maintenance plan in place. Website maintenance needs to be a consistent part of your business and if correctly implemented, you will reap the benefits for years to come.
If you need help maintaining your website, contact the experts at Connected Cloud by calling (832) 376-8086.
