Well, it took a while, but you found a website designer and budget that worked for you, you got your content down and your pages up, your foundational SEO and security measures are in place, and you’re starting to see those clicks come in. Huge sigh of relief. Your website is done, right?
Uh, no … unfortunately, it’s not. Just like anything worth having in life—a reliable car, a sound home, healthy pets and thriving children, even a great haircut—upkeep is needed for things to continue to run safely and properly.
A website maintenance plan does just that: it keeps all of the components of your website up-to-date, it makes improvements when called for, and it helps keep hackers out to vitally protect both you and your clients. Maintenance packages can be tailored to meet your specific needs and cost considerations, and you can arrange for a monthly, quarterly, or yearly plan. So long as the plan is ongoing, you can expect to reap multiple benefits from maintaining your company’s most valuable and visible marketing tool:
- Design & Development Updates: Website hosts and content managers (like WordPress) frequently revise and debug the behind-the-scenes processes and procedures that make your site operational. Your maintenance plan will ensure that plugins, themes, functionalities, and the like are all current and optimized.
- Site Backup & Monitoring: Automatically scheduled backups of your site will prove invaluable both time- and money-wise if you ever have to restore your site, and regular monitoring catches any glitches (like broken links and speed issues) that can derail your intended user experience.
- Continuous Security: Nothing is more crucial these days than keeping data as safe as possible, both yours and that of your site users. Website maintenance plans set in place gatekeeping parameters and protocols that thwart threats and attacks, guard private information, and systematically renew your safety certificate.
- Access to Analytics: You need to understand your traffic and site trends to make the most of the information they offer and the metrics they measure. Website maintenance specialists implement your assessment tools and offer guidance on how to expand your online presence.
- Business Status & Standing: When visitors get “Page not found” and error messages, when faulty image files block the content they’re seeking, and when their transactions time out, it reflects poorly on the competence level of your business and your overall professional reputation. Give your customers the best user experience you can, and it’s likely they’ll keep coming back.
- More Free Time: Most website owners don’t have the skills and knowledge to maintain their own sites, and even if they do, wouldn’t the time be better spent attracting new business and delivering exceptional customer service? Oftentimes, it’s worth the investment to let an expert expertly tend to your site.
The prevention you do today creates a secure and viable site for the future. Contact RWS Consulting today at 202-409-8113 to get started.