What is Website Maintenance?
Website maintenance happens when a professional (hello) checks your website for any potential problems your site may be experiencing or may experience in the future, then takes action to correct or prevent those problems.
Why Does a Website Need Maintenance?
If you’ve been here before, you know I love an analogy. I’ll be comparing a website to a house a lot in this blog because the similarities are pretty dang spot on when it comes to how necessary maintenance is. So let’s get into it. There are so many reasons your website requires regular maintenance, but some of those reasons are more pressing than others.
Preserve Security
You may think your website and business are so small that hackers won’t bother you. Think again. Hackers are interested in easy targets and the end result can be catastrophic. The less often a website is updated, the more likely it is that website is going to look like a tasty little target for a hacker. If plugins and other software haven’t been updated and the SSL is out of date, it’s like leaving the door to your house wide open and putting a sign in the front yard that says, “Come on in! We have no security system and no one’s home.” Don’t do that. That’s bad. Instead, a maintenance plan can help shore up your security to make it less likely someone does anything nefarious while protecting you if, on the off chance, anything bad happens.
Maintain Site Speed
Keeping your site nice and fast is big. We’ve all attempted to visit a site that takes too long to load. What did we do? We left and found their competitor. Part of maintaining your website is about monitoring its site speed and removing or condensing anything that may be slowing it down. If we’re talking about a house, think about heading to your friend’s house to drop by unexpectedly (please don’t do this to people, but for this example, let’s pretend). If they don’t answer the door pretty quickly, you aren’t going to hang around hoping for them to suddenly let you in, right? I would hope not.
Boost the Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
When you have a monthly SEO strategy in place (in the form of regular blog posts, content refreshes, and more), you can feel that positive impact in the long run. Google and other search engines appreciate sites that have fresh content because it’s an indicator that someone actually cares enough about the site to keep it updated. In fact, fresh content is a ranking factor for Google for some queries. Without getting into all of the implications there, the general idea is that if a search on Google requires an answer that has to do with something current, content freshness matters.
Elevate the User Experience
It all comes down to the user experience. If a website is loading slowly or not at all, or if elements are broken, the user experience is going to be pretty terrible. If your users aren’t having a good experience while using your website, what’s the point of having a website? Website maintenance can help ensure the features on your site are functioning properly, so your users aren’t getting frustrated and leaving forever.
Protect Your Investment
Websites that are left alone after launch are a lot like a house that’s been built and left alone without maintenance. Over time, decay sets in. It gets ugly, unsafe, the weeds overtake it, and no one wants to go inside. Putting in the time and resources to ensure your site is kept up-to-date helps preserve its integrity and improve its longevity. A website is an investment in your business and a maintenance plan is kind of like an insurance policy/handyperson/housekeeper combination. Some things are going to go wrong (we don’t control what software does 100% of the time, unfortunately), but those things should be rare and fixable. With the right maintenance plan in place, that’s the goal!
Green Ivy Creative’s Website Maintenance Plans
We offer two types of maintenance plans: a pay-as-you-go option and a retainer option. The pay-as-you-go option means we may take a while to work you into the schedule, but it’s a great choice when your budget is smaller. The retainer option means we commit to monthly updates and guarantee you a spot on our schedule each month. Pricing depends on the size of your website and the work needed, but we’re happy to have a pressure-free (seriously) discussion and get you a quote. Take a look at our marketing services and let us know how we can work together!