We are talking about maintenance here and nobody likes the sounds of that.
Most of the time when a website is finished being built, there is a huge sigh of relief. Phew! It’s done! Some companies put their site out there and don’t touch it for years, or until they are ready to update the look again. BUT just like your car or house, regular website maintenance, changes and updates must happen on a consistent basis to maintain site functionality and to help it perform for your company.
I bet you’re wondering what we mean by website maintenance – well let’s go over a few things.
Your website is a huge investment. It’s the face of your company online. It needs consistent monthly monitoring, updating and optimization so it can keep reaching the customers you want it to. You will need to plan time and possibly find people with the skills to maintain it. Not everyone knows how to do this, and if you don’t have time or the know-how, this is where BOLD can help.
Website maintenance comes in two parts:
First, make sure your website is always fully updated and responsive. Below is a quick website health checklist. Reviewing these on a weekly or bi-monthly basis ensures a healthy site and that no visitors are let down.
- Examine website pages to assure they load rapidly
- Create a backup of your website data often to verify that your files are safe
- Assure software and plugins are up-to-date
- Test all forms to make sure they are working properly
- Delete spam comments from your website posts
- Assure there are no broken links on your website
- Investigate 404 errors and resolve them
- Keep your blog up to date to keep your audience engaged with new content
- Check-in with your website host and ensure PHP is updated and all is running efficiently
Second, we want to help increase your SEO and Google rankings while encouraging traffic growth. This happens with continuous content improvements, typically on a monthly basis. A website should be thought of as an ongoing living document that is never complete. Using Google Analytics to track trends, metrics and to analyze keyword data helps us understand which search terms are driving traffic and conversions. Updates to your content, optimization of your copy, headlines, calls-to-action, SEO metadata and site visibility are all part of a good website maintenance plan.
Fresh and updated content is what search engines and users like to see. This means reviewing your content on a regular basis, correcting mistakes, adding new blog posts, and adding or replacing images and information with new target words and phrases for a fresh website facelift.
While these are the basics, businesses may go even deeper based on their specific needs and content on their site. But, hey now, I can’t tell you all our secrets.
How you could benefit from a website maintenance plan?
A website maintenance plan isn’t just about improving the face of your website, it’s about making sure that your website is bringing you leads. With the right website partner and the right plan, you can rest assured that will continue to happen.
Whether you just launched your new site, or you’ve had one for years, BOLD can help support your online efforts. As a full-service agency, BOLD can help with visibility, website design and custom development, SEO optimization, user experience (UX) and much more.
Get started by reaching out.