Plenty of clients view regular website maintenance as an unnecessary expense. “Website maintenance? Heck, that’s just an excuse for web design companies to squeeze a few more dollars out of my pocket. It’s the oldest trick in the book!”
Far from a scam – regular web maintenance primes your website and business for success. Want the perfect analogy? Think of website maintenance like car maintenance.
When you buy a car, you plan to maintain it, right? Of course you do. After all, you paid a pretty penny for the car – so you want it to run smoothly for thousands of miles down the road.
But we all know what happens to new cars – they get old. Tires go flat, brake pads wear down, and water pumps break. Cars break down just as websites break down. Regular maintenance keeps them running like new.
Of course, accidents happen, too. That’s why drivers invest in full insurance and AAA coverage. Drivers get peace of mind from a car insurance policy. Website owners get the same peace of mind from security updates. The frequent security updates of a website maintenance program help keep hackers at bay.
A car can also be a source of income (think limousine drivers). More than a vehicle to get from point A to point B, limousine drivers must deliver a strong first impression. Clients expect a clean limousine inside and out – and users expect a maintained website.
Our car maintenance analogy should make it easy to see the value in a website maintenance program. Let’s dig deeper into regular website maintenance as a digital marketing strategy.
Staying in Style
Web design trends constantly change. The rise of mobile-friendly web design is the perfect example.
Google’s Mobilegeddon algorithm update penalized all websites without a mobile-friendly design. Today, even the boldest and most beautiful websites fail without a responsive or mobile-friendly design.
The same is true for cars. You could buy a brand new Mustang – but it’s only a matter of time before Ford rolls out a new model with another bell or whistle that makes the previous one yesterday’s news.
Like Google does with algorithms, WordPress also rolls out regular software and plugin updates, including more powerful features and functions to make your website even more robust. Think of staying up to date like upgrading to a newer car model.
Nobody wants to drive a car that’s going out of style. The same is true for your website.
Peak Performance
Tire rotations, oil changes, air filter replacement – cars need regular inspections, tuneups, and changes. After all, you always want optimal performance from your vehicle. The question is – don’t you want the same from your website?
The average website user demands web page load times under three seconds. How many potential customers will abandon a slower site? Just under half.
Another 30% will abandon a purchase without a mobile-optimized shopping cart.
Regular website maintenance fixes problems (like broken links) to promote a smooth, seamless operation. It’s wise to have a web design company check “under the hood” of a website for optimal page loading speed, and mobile-friendly features that keep the user engaged.
Content is King
Fresh and frequent website content is no longer a preference but a requirement. It’s essential to draw visitors in and keep them coming back for more.
An out of date, old fashioned website with stale content motivates users to click the “back” button on the web browser. It’s that simple.
Regular visitors want something new – whether it’s company news or exciting information. The bottom line – give visitors a reason to check in on a regular basis.
A blog is a great way to publish new content and push out old, outdated content. Through your blog, you can share company news, newspaper mentions, reviews of your website, and new staff member introductions and announcements. Any type of business exposure is good when maintaining a blog. All content that is informative and useful to your target audience is valuable content.
It’s easy for certain businesses (real estate, news, classified ad, social media, etc.) to publish engaging content on a regular basis. Other businesses need a bit more planning.
A content expert at Bowen Media is always available to help you make the most of content. Ask us about our weekly or bi-weekly blog post and content strategy services.
Extra Features and Functionalities
For plenty of drivers, purchasing a vehicle is only half the fun. The other half is upgrading the car with a new set of wheels, a more powerful engine, navigation system, and even a new paint job. The same rules apply to your website.
Imagine you launched a website without the initial budget for optimal features and functionalities. Now, imagine budget is no longer a problem – and you can afford to make some upgrades.
A new website budget can help you fix usability issues, make site improvements, and publish powerful content. You can add extra pages, for new products or services, or additional informational pages such as an FAQ section to cut down on emails and phone calls. The options are limitless.
As long as you see the value in investing in your business to continuously optimize the online face of your brand, there’s always another feature or functionality to add. Use the extra money to take your website to the next level.
Maintenance and Backup
Regular car maintenance (oil changes, routine inspections, etc.) keeps that pesky check engine light from flashing.
As your partner, we do the same – keep your website running smoothly before any warning signals reach both you and your website visitors.
Like a car engine, it’s critical to know when your website goes down. One server hack or crash is enough to lose a whole day’s work.
Insurance Policies
Accidents happen – on the road and on the web. Website security is a lot like auto insurance. It’s there in case something bad happens.
At Bowen Media, we recommend regularly backing up the entire website – including product descriptions, images, customer comments and reviews, blog articles and news feeds.
Backup everything. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Tracking Goals and Results
Think of Google as a mechanic to check under the hood of your website for an optimized machine. Google provides wonderful insight into your website maintenance program.
Google Analytics tracks important goals and results. From bounce rates and pageviews, to keyword phrases, and referring sites. A quick inspection is all you need to monitor SEO rankings and adjust your website’s content.
Google Alerts is another tool to monitor your website’s reputation. Discover the websites linking to yours and find sites using your content without permission. Again, the value Google provides is limitless in a website maintenance program.
Website maintenance can be a full-time job. Partnering with a web design company to maintain your website makes life easier. Bowen Media is the Long Island web design company driven by digital fluency, creative innovation, and client success. Contact us today for the perfect website maintenance program custom-tailored to your website.