Imagine you’ve built a beautiful home. The foundation is strong, the walls are painted in a color you love, and every room is meticulously designed and decorated. You proudly invite guests over to show off your new space. But as time goes on, you notice cracks appearing in the walls, leaks in the roof, and the once vibrant colors fading away. You wouldn’t dream of letting your dream home fall into disrepair, would you? Well, your website is no different.
Your website is the digital storefront of your business, and just like a physical store (or your home), it requires regular upkeep to remain inviting, modern, and functional. But many small business owners make the mistake of launching their websites and then neglecting them, assuming that the job is done. In reality, every website requires ongoing maintenance and care.
Why is a website maintenance plan important?
You’ve spent countless hours perfecting your website, ensuring it reflects your brand and provides a seamless user experience. But without regular maintenance, all that hard work could go to waste. If your website is slow, outdated, or insecure, you risk driving visitors away before they even have a chance to engage with your brand. In today’s competitive market, you can’t afford to lose customers because of a poorly maintained website.
Here’s why you need a website maintenance plan:
Enhances security
According to a report by SiteLock:
- 4.1 million websites have malware at any given time
- Cyberattacks cost small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) $25k annually on average
- SMBs across the SiteLock global scanning network face a staggering 228 million threats per month
You can see how, without proper security measures, your website could be vulnerable to attacks, leading to data breaches and damaging your brand’s reputation. Once your site is hacked, you can clean it up, but your URL is forever more vulnerable to future attacks.
Improves website performance and traffic
A one-second delay in page loading time can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. That could mean a lot of lost revenue over time! Regular maintenance ensures that your website runs smoothly, loads quickly, and provides a positive user experience, leading to increased traffic and higher search engine rankings.
Reduces downtime
Website downtime can lead to lost revenue, decreased productivity, and damage to your reputation. With a maintenance plan in place, you can minimize the risk of downtime by ensuring that your website is always up-to-date and functioning properly.
Improves user experience
Good user experience is crucial for retaining customers and credibility. In fact, 88% of site visitors are less likely to return after a bad experience. Regular maintenance helps ensure that your website is easy to navigate and provides value to your visitors, leading to higher engagement and customer satisfaction. A well-maintained website sends a message to your customers that you care about their experience and take your online presence seriously.
Improves search engine rankings
Google prioritizes websites that are fast, secure, and up-to-date. By optimizing your website through regular maintenance, you can improve your search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site.
Saves time and money
Investing in a maintenance plan can save you time and money in the long run by preventing or fixing issues before they become disastrous. If you catch problems early, you can hopefully avoid spending hours troubleshooting technical problems or paying hefty fees for emergency fixes.
One of our clients learned this lesson the hard way: she created a simple website on her own to give her business an online presence. But the site quickly became more than she could manage on her own. Due to a glitch with her hosting provider, she ended up losing a lot of the original site content, and promptly turned to Brighter Messaging for professional help.
What’s included in a website maintenance plan?
Most providers offer various website maintenance packages for different needs and budgets. Whatever level of support you choose, remember that a maintenance place is a necessity—not a luxury.
Here’s what your website maintenance plan could include:
Security:
- Regular security scans to identify and address vulnerabilities
- Updates to plugins, themes, and software to patch any security holes
- Backup plans and disaster recovery strategies to minimize the impact of potential breaches
Performance optimization:
- Monitoring site performance to ensure fast loading times and seamless user experience
- Identifying and fixing any issues that may affect performance, such as broken links or outdated content
- Ensuring all forms are in working order and received by someone who can respond to inbound inquiries
Content updates:
- Regularly updating content to keep it relevant and engaging for your audience
- Conducting audits to identify outdated or obsolete content that needs to be refreshed or removed
SEO:
- Optimizing meta descriptions, tags, and titles to improve search engine visibility
- Conducting backlink audits and removing harmful links while building quality backlinks to improve SEO
Get your free eBook: 5 things your small business can do right now to improve SEO
Bug fixes and compatibility issues:
- Identifying and resolving any conflicts or compatibility issues that may arise with updates or changes to your website
Owning a website is a commitment
Just like owning a house, owning a website requires ongoing maintenance to keep it safe, appealing, and functional. So don’t launch it and leave it—take care of your website, and it will support your business by continuing to attract visitors and generate leads.
If you need professional website development or maintenance services to help your business shine online, we’d love to hear from you!
