The majority of business owners realize the importance of having a website. Unfortunately, many businesses create a site, launch it, then leave it. Don’t ignore your website! Website maintenance is so important for delivering a great customer service experience. Keep reading to learn why you must maintain your website.
Maintain Your Site for Customer Service
Whether in person or online, you should always strive to provide the best customer service possible. A poorly maintained site may be slow, images might not load properly, and links might not work anymore. This will make a bad impression on clients and customers. Don’t drive them away with a poorly maintained website! Some of the things you should update regularly on your site are:
- Update themes and plugins to the newest version.
- Make sure your forms and pages are compatible with mobile devices.
- Update photos to show current products and services.
- Ensure that promotions are up-to-date and current.
- Make sure that all links are working.
- Check that contact information and social media icon links are current.
- Ensure that product prices, menus, service fees, etc. are accurate and updated.
Website Maintenance is Important for Security
If there is only ONE reason to maintain your website it is this one: security. It doesn’t matter what platform you use, hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities in websites, and you do not want to risk a security breach. A breached site could lead to loss of client information, credit card numbers, or the installation of a Trojan Horse on your site. The impact on your brand’s credibility would be significant if your site were to breached. A website that is out of date is like a home with an unlocked door. Make sure that you are always running the most current version of your content management system to minimize the risk of breaches.
Boost Your SEO by Maintaining Your Site
Part of routine website maintenance is making sure that your content is current and up-to-date. A blog is one way to do this. Whatever option you choose for adding current content to your site, the result is the same as far as SEO (search optimization) goes. Current content ranks higher than older content. Search engines also like to “see” that your content has been optimized for portable and handheld devices. Maintain your site so that it is always optimized for mobile devices, which will increase your search traffic.
Website Maintenance to Back Up Essential Files
Just as you store and keep copies of paper files, you should similarly maintain your essential electronic files. You can do this manually or with an automated service. Hopefully, you will never lose your website, but disasters (both natural and manmade) happen. It is critical that you backup your site regularly so you can rebuild it if the worst were to happen.
A website is not the kind of investment that you can set aside and watch it grow. You have to nurture it and maintain it to get the best results. Don’t have the time or know how to maintain it yourself? The professionals at Houndstooth Media Group are ready to help!