You’re probably wondering, what is website maintenance? Let me explain. Website maintenance is the process of keeping your website up to date. This includes upgrades to your CMS, plugins, servers, content and coding languages.
Think of it like a car, you can’t expect it to run smoothly for years without regular servicing or an MOT.
By taking a proactive approach to website maintenance, you can significantly reduce the risk of unexpected downtime, ensuring your site remains accessible and reliable. Regular updates and performance optimisations will enhance speed and functionality, providing a better user experience for your visitors.
Additionally, continuous monitoring and security measures will help protect against potential vulnerabilities, safeguarding your business and customer data. This allows you to focus on your core operations and business growth, while the technical complexities of website maintenance are handled by experienced professionals.
Why should you maintain your website?
Keeping your website properly maintained is essential for several reasons:
- Security and Protection: Over time, websites become more vulnerable to hacks. Regular updates protect you against security threats, while reliable backups ensure your site can be quickly restored if anything goes wrong.
- Improved Performance: As your website grows with large media files, unused plugins, or outdated code, its speed can suffer. This slows down the user experience and negatively impacts other channels like SEO and PPC. Slow websites increase bounce rates, as visitors are more likely to leave without converting.
- Impact on Rankings: Search engines, like Google, prioritise fast, secure and well-maintained websites. Broken links, outdated content and sluggish loading times can harm your rankings.
- Benefit From New Features: Over time, additional features on your website will become outdated and lose developer support, which can affect functionality and security. For example, if you run an e-commerce store using WooCommerce, regular updates introduce new features that can enhance your marketing efforts. WooCommerce version 5.3, for instance, introduced order attribution, allowing you to see the source of your orders. Without updating, you would miss out on valuable tools like this, limiting your website’s potential.
- Cost-Effective: Failing to keep your website regularly maintained can result in costly upgrades later on. When updates are missed, compatibility issues with plugins, themes or your CMS can develop, making future upgrades more difficult and expensive. In some cases, skipping major updates may even require a full website overhaul, which is significantly more costly than routine maintenance. By keeping your site consistently updated, you can avoid these unexpected expenses and ensure it continues to run smoothly and securely.
Expert insight from our website developer
Our Web Developer, Jarkko, says, “Regularly update your website, including its extensions, plugins and apps. We’ve seen many neglected websites that have fallen into such disrepair that we’ve had to invest significant time just to restore them to a well-functioning state before we could effectively begin our marketing efforts. “
First impressions of your website Count
Your website is often the first point of contact for potential customers or clients. A well-maintained, modern, and responsive site creates a strong first impression, reflecting professionalism and credibility.
On the other hand, an outdated or poorly maintained site can quickly drive visitors away. With users accessing websites on various device sizes, ensuring your site is fully responsive is key.
Investing in routine maintenance is a proactive way to safeguard your website’s performance, reliability and long-term success. Combining website design with regular maintenance ensures a seamless, joined-up approach that keeps your site running smoothly.
How can you maintain your website?
At Pod, we offer a comprehensive website design and maintenance service for any website we build. Your site will be hosted on one of Pod Digital’s secure servers, while our team ensures it stays up-to-date and performing at its best.
Our website maintenance service is an ongoing retainer that goes beyond hosting. It ensures your website remains secure, optimised and reliable. This includes:
- Regular updates to your CMS, plugins and PHP version
- Performance monitoring to keep your site running smoothly
- Content updates to keep information fresh and accurate
With a maintenance plan, you’ll have dedicated support for any unexpected issues or updates. This proactive approach minimises downtime, strengthens security and allows you to focus on your core operations while leaving the website management to the experts.
Ready to Keep Your Website Running Smoothly?
Want peace of mind knowing your website is secure, up-to-date and built to perform? Get in touch with the Pod team today to find out more about our website maintenance packages.
