What is Website Maintenance ?

[Beginner’s Guide]

Your website is the foundation of your business's online presence.
People visit it to learn about your company, find your contact information, and purchase your products.

If your website isn't working properly or is out of date, you may lose out on opportunities, such as new leads and sales.

People may come away with a poor first impression of your business if your site isn't up to date or professional. And if you run an online store and it stops working, people won't be able to buy your products.

Website maintenance helps prevent these problems. Below, we explain what website maintenance is, what it includes, and why it matters for your business.

What is website maintenance?
Website maintenance means the tasks required to keep your website working properly and up to date. It involves regularly checking your website, correcting any issues, and making updates.

Why is a website maintenance plan important?

1. Your customers research you online
Before they call or buy, most people look you up online. If your website gives them a poor impression, they'll likely keep looking at a competitor's site, and you could miss out on the sale.

2. Your website shapes first impressions
Customers will often click away if your website doesn't work properly or looks outdated. If your website looks unprofessional, customers may think your business is too.

3. Your website helps grow your sales
Your website guides people toward calling you or making a purchase. If you sell online, your site is your checkout counter. You'll miss out on sales if your site doesn't work properly.

4. Site visitors value a good experience
When a site is slow, broken, or confusing, visitors leave. Regular maintenance prevents these problems and keeps potential customers on your site.

5. A website maintenance plan improves security
Repairing a hacked website is costly, and you may lose customers who no longer trust you with their information. Regular maintenance keeps your security up to date, and customers feel more comfortable doing business with you.

Note: This is also why we do not build WordPress sites. We replace them with professional sites that take less billable time to maintain and secure.

6. Website maintenance supports your SEO
If visitors frequently leave your website shortly after arriving, Google may see that as a sign your site isn't relevant, and your rankings can drop. Technical problems, security issues, and outdated design or content all hurt your search rankings.

How much does website maintenance cost?
It depends on the size of your site and how much help you need. Our monthly plans start at $95 a month for Tier1, with Tier2 at $170 and Tier3 at $299. If you'd rather not commit to a monthly plan, our On-Call option covers help as you need it.

Other costs to keep in mind

1. Domain name renewal
Your domain name is your website's address, like realwis.com. It renews every year, and it's essential to keep up with the payments so nobody else can buy your domain name.

2. SSL certificate
An SSL certificate keeps your site secure and puts HTTPS and a padlock next to your web address. Sites hosted with us include the SSL certificate for free.

3. Website hosting
Your website has to live on a server somewhere. Our hosting is $60 a year, and it includes your SSL certificate and edge caching, which stores copies of your images and files on servers around the world so your pages load faster for every visitor.

Every site we build uses Bootstrap, a mobile-first framework that keeps sites fast and secure without the constant plugin updates WordPress needs.

What does website maintenance include?
Here are some of the most important tasks involved in website maintenance.

Testing your whole website annually: Test your whole website at least once a year and after making updates. Check that every page loads, look for broken links, and watch for outdated or incorrect information. Bring in someone not associated with your company for a fresh perspective on your site's usability.

Testing browser compatibility: Test whether your website works correctly in several versions of mainstream browsers.

Testing your forms and checkout process quarterly: At least once a quarter, make sure all your forms and your checkout process are working properly.

Checking for software updates monthly: Check for software updates from your hosting provider, security provider, and other third parties monthly. These updates help ensure proper functionality and security. Even better, install patches as they're released, if possible.

Backing up your website: Backing up your website can save you from losing a huge amount of time and money if something goes wrong with your site. If you have an automatic backup feature, check that it's working each month. If you don't have automatic backups, complete a manual backup at least once a month.

Reviewing key metrics weekly: Using tools like Google Analytics, review your website's performance at least once a week. Check your key performance indicators (KPIs) and make sure your site is helping you meet your goals. If it's not, make updates and check whether they improve your site's performance the next time you review your key metrics.

This list covers the most essential website maintenance tasks, but it isn't a complete list of all the maintenance work you can do.

You may choose to create a more extensive website maintenance plan or work with a professional website maintenance company to meet your goals.

Real Wisconsin Website Design gives you the most value for your investment.