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Website Maintenance: How It Can Make or Break Your Business

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Building a great website doesn't stop when the development is completed and the site launches. A great website requires frequent and routine maintenance to ensure it is as secure and up-to-date as possible. There are several critical reasons why you always want to keep your website well-maintained, including:

Improved Online Security

Many websites today use Content Management Systems (CMS), with the common ones being Joomla and WordPress. CMS platforms are always trying to improve the performance and security with each new release they deliver, while simultaneously fixing minor bugs that have been reported. The longer you wait to update, the more prone you will be to the hackers trying to expose the outdated and vulnerable code on your website.

The same can be said about the programming language with which your site is built. If you're running a CMS built in PHP, for example, you want to make sure your PHP version is also up to date. Typically, every PHP version is supported for about 2-3 years after the release date. After the support date passes, no more security updates will be made, making your website highly susceptible to an unwanted attack. The current version of PHP as of this blog writing is PHP 7.3, and many website owners today are still using outdated and unsecure versions of PHP.

Save Time and Money

Good website maintenance includes updating your site as new releases become available within a reasonable timeframe. If you've postponed updates for a while but finally decide to update your site after several months, there will be a higher risk of the update failing or breaking something else on your site. However, if you make the updates to your site as they are released, the risk of the update breaking something on your site is significantly lower.

The longer you wait to update, the more time and money will need to be invested with developers to ensure this update will not break your site. It is best practice to update plugins, components, and CMS versions shortly after they come out, as it will make your mind and wallet happier when you know your website is being updated regularly.

Improved SEO

Google loves fresh content. If you're updating pages on your site regularly, Google will view your site as more relevant than a site that is staying static. Fresh content will help improve the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your website.

Regularly checking your site for broken links is an important part of a well-maintained website. If your site has broken links, your SEO will be negatively affected. There are several free broken link checkers available on the internet such as Broken Link Check and Dr. Link Check. The more frequently you check, the less time you will need to spend fixing broken links.

Regular Web Maintenance = Website Success

As you can see, a well-maintained website will save you time, money, and headaches. Maintaining your site will significantly decrease your risk of unwanted attacks while also increasing the performance and speed of your website. Keeping your website well-maintained will also help to improve your SEO which could mean more site visitors, more business, more money, etc.

Make sure you're updating your website regularly, and if you need help with regular web maintenance, we offer monthly plans to assist with that. We even offer complimentary website updating with our plans to help our clients keep their site current. Contact us today if you're interested in a monthly web maintenance plan! 309-827-7977