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Your website is the foundation of your business’s online presence. People visit it to learn about your company, find your contact information, and purchase your products.
If your website isn’t working properly or is out of date, you may lose out on significant opportunities, such as new leads and sales.
Since 94% of first impressions relate to web design, people may come away with a poor first impression of your business if your site isn’t up-to-date and functional. Additionally, if you’re an ecommerce business and your ecommerce functionality fails, people won’t be able to purchase your products.
Regular website maintenance helps prevent these website issues.
In this post, we’ll explore what website maintenance is, what it includes, and why it’s so essential for your business.
What is website maintenance?
Website maintenance refers to the tasks required to keep your website functioning properly and up to date. It involves regularly checking your website for issues, correcting any issues, and making updates.
Why is a maintenance plan important?
Why is a website maintenance plan crucial for your business? Here are some of the top reasons.
1. The majority of customers conduct online research
Before making a purchase online, 87% of people conduct online research. People that are considering buying a product from you will likely end up on your website.
If your website gives them a negative impression of your company, they’ll likely continue their research on a competitor’s site, and you could miss out on a sale.
2. Your Website informs users’ first impressions
If your website doesn’t work properly or looks outdated, customers will often click away. It will set a negative first impression of your business. If your website looks unprofessional, customers may think that your business is, too.
3. Your Website helps grow your sales
Your website plays a crucial role in guiding users toward making a purchase. In the case of ecommerce sites, your site facilitates purchases. If your site doesn’t work properly, you’ll miss out on potential sales.
4. Site visitors value user experience
Among consumers who have a poor user experience on a site, 89% will shop with a competitor instead. Regular maintenance prevents these poor user experiences and encourages potential customers to stay on your site, increasing your chances of making a sale.
5. A maintenance plan improves security
Cyberattacks cost U.S. companies $15.4 million per year. Repairing the damage caused by cyberattacks is often costly, plus you may lose customers who no longer trust your company with their personal information.
Regular maintenance helps protect your site from cyber threats by keeping your security systems up to date.
When you maintain your security protections, customers will feel more comfortable making purchases on your site.
6. Website supports your SEO strategy
If users frequently leave your website shortly after arriving at it, Google may view this as a sign that your site isn’t relevant. This increase in bounce rate can lead to lower rankings in search results, which means you’ll drive less traffic to your site.
Persistent technical issues, security issues, and outdated website design, structure, or content all contribute to diminishing your search engine rankings.
What does website maintenance include?
So, how do you do website maintenance?
Here are some of the most important tasks involved in website maintenance.
- Testing your whole website annually: Test your whole website at least once a year and after making updates. Check that all features work, look for broken links, and watch for outdated or incorrect information. Bring in someone not associated with your company to get a fresh perspective on your site’s usability.
- Testing browser compatibility: Test whether your website works correctly in several versions of mainstream browsers at least once a year.
- Testing your forms and checkout process quarterly: At least once a quarter, make sure all your forms and your checkout process are working properly.
- Checking for software updates monthly: Check for software updates from your hosting provider, security provider, and other third parties monthly. These updates help ensure proper functionality and security. Even better, install patches as they’re released, if possible.
- Backing up your website: Backing up your website can save you from losing a huge amount of time and money if something goes wrong with your site. If you have an automatic backup feature, check that it’s working each month. If you don’t have automatic backups, complete a manual backup at least once a month.
- Reviewing key metrics weekly: Using tools like Google Analytics, review your website’s performance at least once a week. Check your key performance indicators (KPIs) and make sure your site is helping you meet your goals. If it’s not, make updates and check whether they improved your site’s performance the next time you review your key metrics.
This website maintenance services list includes the most essential website maintenance tasks, but it isn’t a comprehensive list of all the maintenance work you can complete.
You may choose to create a more extensive website maintenance plan or work with a professional website maintenance company to meet your goals.
Learn about website maintenance with Solter Vision
Keeping your website maintained improves your business’s reputation, keeps your site secure, and helps you gain more leads and sales.
While you can conduct website maintenance yourself, working with a professional website maintenance company like Solter Vision can help you make sure you cover all your bases.
We offer several website maintenance packages that will ensure your site stays up to date, functions correctly, and remains secure.
As a full-service digital marketing agency, we also offer a range of other services, including:
- Web design
- SEO
- Update any references to the current year
- Website Domain and Hosting Manage
- Website Optimization
After reading through the web maintenance guide, explore our website to learn more about website maintenance and other Internet marketing topics. Check out our free resources, or subscribe to our Revenue Weekly newsletter for industry updates and actionable advice on how to generate more revenue.
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