Experts on the internet contradict each other about a lot of things, but one thing they’re possibly in agreement about is this: a website is never done. It doesn’t end once website developers finally turn over the management of your website to you. If anything, it marks the beginning of an arduous journey involving website maintenance.

According to UK digital agency MAKE, website maintenance services mean a lot of things, including: security updates, speed and functionality tests and a lot of tweaks and fixes (especially on how responsive it is). So a website must undergo timely audits for it to run smoothly.

If you’re still on the fence about the importance of website maintenance, we suggest you read on.

Why Is Website Maintenance Important?

Website maintenance is crucial in order to keep your website safe. 

Website maintenance is important for your website’s security. Websites are vulnerable to a lot of hacker attacks, especially the old, unmaintained ones. Hackers can easily breach the security of older, unmaintained websites; they only have to view the page source to see what version the website runs on and then go from there. Once inside, hackers can get to your company information and worse, they can steal the data you have on your customers as well. So if you’re an ecommerce website, this could include credit card and payment details and other saved sensitive information. And we don’t want that.

While getting hacked is a common occurrence online, you do have the power to avoid hackers from getting to your website. The first thing you have to look at is definitely the Content Management System (CMS) that you’re using. Take WordPress for instance. WordPress still stands as the largest CMS today, powering more than half of the world’s websites. But WordPress also works with a bunch of 3rd-party plugin developers. These plugins are so vulnerable to attacks. So, you’ll want to make sure that your website is running on its most up-to-date version, including bug fixes and security patches.

Your website is the reflection of your business.

You risk losing valuable clients and sales with a poorly maintained website. Imagine going to an ecommerce website, browsing the items for sale, and then finally deciding to check out—only for the order form not to work. I don’t know about you, but I’d definitely be frustrated. And the next thing a customer like me would do in this situation is go to your competitor. In short, a website that isn’t maintained and checked is bad for business.

A well maintained website definitely attracts new visitors and boosts returning traffic. It captivates visitors and reflects the goals and ideals of the business. Maintaining the website to reflect the best parts of your company could include updating website design, rewriting and making sure your content is up to par as well as making sure that all the links are working (so no 404 pages). A website must be managed as well as maintained post-launch, either by you or an outside company made up of experts who know what they’re doing. 

(Thinking of tweaking your website design to embrace a newer trend? Read our latest article on the website design trends for 2021 here.)

A well maintained website drives and boosts SEO ranking.

Customers also expect a website to be fresh and updated with new content, especially because new content is important for SEO ranking. And it’s important to note that Google cares (demands, really) about this as well. Google is more likely to crawl websites with fresh content. Search engines want sites that are well maintained, error free and load fast. They’re most likely to index sites with new content as this gives your audience a signal that your website is still working and not outdated. So updating and maintaining it with material related to your business will help more people find you through your website. 

SEO components must be optimised in order for things to run smoothly. This includes: optimising images; making sure there are no typos; all links are functioning; contact, order forms and payment gateways are working.

(Content should not only be fresh, but also accurate. Read on to see responsible copywriting guidelines for brands here.)

Website maintenance is essential to back up essential files and materials.

Website crashes can happen. And it happens a lot because of malware attacks or even natural catastrophes. Especially when your website is running on assets that have not been updated. Sometimes when a website crashes, you end up redoing everything from scratch. This isn’t just a waste of time but most especially of the resources and budget you used to create the website with in the first place. So what do you do to avoid crashes (or at least minimise its impact)? You maintain and back up essential files.

Backing up through website maintenance looks at two major things: the code and the content. Code is very much dependent on your content management system (WordPress, for example) and the updates they have. And content includes texts and media uploaded to your website. 

Make sure the people you onboard to do the website maintenance for you know what they’re doing and are trustworthy.

The metaphor about websites working like a car is an overused one, but that does not make it any less true. When you buy a car, you immediately also sign up to doing regular oil changes when needed, as well as making sure everything’s in tiptop shape. Likewise, websites need to be regularly checked and maintained so it caters to real-time visitors and their needs.

And of course, you wouldn’t let an inexperienced person touch your car. And it’s the same with your website. Amber Creative is made up of experienced developers who can help you build the website you need for your company, as well as digital marketing experts who’d help you rake in the results with fresh content.

Drop us a message today and let’s talk about our website development and maintenance services!