Proactive Planning and Organizing: Keeping your Website Savvy

Before trusting a business with their money, 70-80% of consumers research the company’s website.

Having a site for your business is essential to boosting sales and generating leads. However, creating a website is only the first step. You must maintain the site.

Website maintenance is much like car maintenance. Schedule regular check-ups to guarantee everything is running just as it should. Neglect will only cause you trouble in the long run.

Keep reading the guide below for all the information you need to know on planning and organizing site updates. We’ll show you how to keep your site savvy.

What’s Included in Site Maintenance?

When learning how to maintain a website, you’d be surprised how much goes into the process. It’s more than just throwing up new pictures on your homepage.

You should also be:

• Double-checking business information (phone number, address, etc.)
• Replacing low-quality content
• Fixing broken links and plug-ins
• Adjusting formatting issues
• Making the site more accessible
• Guaranteeing the site is secure

Doing all of these things and more keeps your site up-to-date, accessible, and appealing to visitors. Don’t forget to make sure your site is accessible on both computers and mobile devices.

If you do find out you need to perform updates, make a backup of your site. Default to your backup in case there are malfunctions with your update.

Gather second opinions on your site by asking employees and friends to check the site out themselves. Tell them to give you their best review from the perspective of a first-time visitor.

How Often Should You Update Your Site?

You’re probably asking, “Well, how often should I update my site?”

The answer to this question has a few layers to it. Minor updates should be conducted every few days, at least once per week.

If you’re wanting to perform a complete revamp of your site or launch a rebrand, aim for major maintenance every 2 or so years. Don’t make drastic changes to your site too much because customers rely on consistency.

The easiest answer is: Make minor updates as much as minor updates are necessary.

Benefits of Site Maintenance

We know consistent site maintenance is a tedious task, but we promise it’s worth it. Do you not believe us? We’ll dive into the benefits of site maintenance a bit more.

Greater Reliability

We’ve all shown up to a business only to find out they were closed. When businesses don’t update their site’s business information, it wastes the time of their customers, resulting in poorer business.

Boost business and the satisfaction of your customers by establishing your site as a reliable source of information. Encourage visitors to check out your site for important information, including a list of available products and services.

Updated Security

Performing regular web maintenance ensures your site’s security is top-notch.

Inspect your add-ons and make sure they’re secure for your site to use. Refrain from using too many plug-ins and add-ons because this sacrifices a good bit of security.

You’ll also want to make sure your subscriptions to security platforms are updated, and always guarantee your admin passwords are strong and working.

Improved Accessibility

Having an ADA-compliant site is crucial for any business. (ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act.)

You never know if the visitors on the other side of the screen have difficulties with sight, hearing, etc. Install the necessary tools that allow all visitors to experience your site as it should be experienced.

These tools include:

• Text enlargers
• Text-to-voice capability
• Image descriptions & alt tags

Current News and Announcements

Do you have a big product launch coming up? Is your company adding new management members?

Announce these types of things and more with an updated site. Keeping your loyal customers updated allows you to develop more trustworthy, personable relationships with those who matter most.

Your announcements don’t always have to be blog posts! Mix it up with photo albums or short videos. Strong visuals keep site visitors engaged with your content.

In addition to a website, announce news updates on your social media too! Facebook posts and Instagram stories are great for everyday announcements.

Improved SEO Results

If Google doesn’t seem to be showing your business as a result of localized questions, invest in SEO (search engine optimization).

Regular maintenance boosts your spot on search engines and makes you more visible to search engine users. Google and other major search sites enjoy consistent blogging, regular reviews, and updated sites.

Chat with a digital marketing agency offering SEO services about what you can do to get a leg up on the competition.

Be Proactive, Plan Now

Put yourself and your business several steps ahead with careful planning.

Create a schedule with your team or a digital marketing agency for site updates. There’s no shame in needing a reminder to check up on your site. You have a lot going on!

You’ll also want to establish a plan for moving forward. Establish who will perform audits and updates on your site, and clarify what these updates will look like.

Don’t forget to set goals with your team. What level of security for your site would you like to achieve? Ideally, how often would you update the content on your site?

Updating the content on your site is an important part of digital marketing plans. Develop a marketing strategy for the year to come in order to track your progress towards your goals.

Keep It Savvy With Planning and Organizing

Site maintenance is no small task, but it’s possible with careful planning and organizing. Update your site in order to maintain a savvy site for your customers!

Lighten a bit of the load on your plate by keeping the above guide close to your side. Lean on your digital marketing agency team for guidance.

You can trust Cheeky Monkey Media to guide your business through digital marketing with our incredible services. Use our site to explore the full list of our services, including website audits.