Like any other device or machine, your website also needs regular maintenance to work properly. Website maintenance is all about checking any flaws in the website, correcting them immediately and updating your website on a regular basis.
Now, let’s read further to know why the website maintenance is compulsory rather than optional
Search engine optimization: Google gives preference to well-maintained websites that can give a smooth experience to users. Regular updates, fresh content and excellent site structure can give better ranking to your website and can make your website more effective.
User experience: What do you expect while visiting any website? Well! In my personal opinion, I want the website to be easy to navigate, functional and appealing. All such aspects can be met with regular maintenance. As it allows website owners to solve any usability issues, update old content and ensure that the interface can impress the visitors’ right at the first go.
Backup and recovery: It is required to take regular backup of your website in case something goes wrong like a server crash, hacking incident or any accidental loss. Website maintenance routine includes automatic backups to start the restore procedure.
Role of maintenance in website performance and security
Regular website maintenance involves keeping the software up to date. This action protects your website from hackers, as often the software update patches the security vulnerabilities. Ignoring these updates can leave your site vulnerable to attacks.
You can enhance your website performance through regular updates. Thus, with maintenance you can optimize loading time, fix broken lines and can ensure the compatibility of websites with various browsers and devices.
What does website maintenance include?
There are a wide array of core components to ensure the optimum performance of the website. Let’s take a look on them:
- Regular updates and backups: You must focus on the software update part during maintenance. This includes a CMS (Core Management System) update along with the plugin or theme used on the website. This update patches security vulnerabilities and ensures compatibility with latest web standards.
- Security checks and malware scanning: This includes keeping a check on malware, security breaches and other vulnerabilities. During routine checks you can implement security measures like firewalls, malware scans and SSL certificates.
- Performance optimization and monitoring: You must monitor the loading time of your website and optimize it accordingly. This may include image optimization, minification of CSS and JavaScript.
WordPress-specific maintenance services
These services are designed to keep the wordpress website secure, updated and performing well. Some of the maintenance practices include:
Navigating the WordPress Dashboard for maintenance: This involves accessing your WordPress account to see the Dashboard. Here you will see the recent posts, WordPress news etc. You can go to the updates section and check for any update notification. You can also manage plugins from the dashboard and can add new ones.
Here in the above image you can find the plugin-update option from the dashboard mentioned at the right end side of the screen.
Essential WordPress maintenance tasks: Along with the update notification and plugins, you can also update your theme to the latest version to enhance security. You must store your data in the cloud to restore the website quickly in case of data loss.
The above image shows the way you can update the theme through Dashboard. In case if the theme is already updated you will get the message about the same at the bottom (as shown). Otherwise you will get an option to update there.
Choosing the right plugins for maintenance: Look for security-related plugins like security scanners, malware detection, firewall and use those plugins that offer excellent security features like firewall protection, malware scanning etc. You must select a well-coded plugin to avoid slowing down your website.
Maintenance for custom-coded websites
Here, let’s talk about the custom-coded websites that are usually built by using codes like PHP, Java etc. Although these websites are much more secure than WordPress websites, you need to maintain them regularly, to update the code regularly for efficient website working.
Let’s know how to maintain the custom-coded websites:
Tailored strategies for custom website upkeep: You must ensure that your custom code is updated and tested for compatibility with the website. You must use customized monitoring tools to track metrics, and uptime. Ensure that your custom functionalities comply with industry standards and legal regulations.
Best practices for maintaining code integrity: You can use version control systems to monitor the change in code with time. This will allow you to revert to the previous version if required. It is good to stick with coding standards to maintain consistency and readability. This may include naming conventions, comments, indentation and documentation.
Tools and resources for custom website maintenance: You can use tools like Google Analytics to get insights on website traffic, performance and behavior. For content optimization tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs are commonly used.
Do You Need Website Maintenance Services?
Assessing Your Website’s Maintenance Needs: Through regular assessment you can know the vulnerabilities in the website, plugins and configuration. Regular assessment will let you know the bottleneck of the website like slow-loading pages, insufficient scripts etc. Accordingly you can determine the need of website maintenance services.
The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Outsourcing Maintenance: Outsourcing this work to professionals can save your money in the long run, as they have a specialized team and you can save on hiring an in-house team and giving them proper training. Through outsourcing your in-house team can focus on their core jobs. Also your outsourced company will have access to advanced tool and software licenses which can be expensive for you if bought independently.
DIY Maintenance: Is It Right for You?: Doing this task by yourself is a preferred option for start-ups or small businesses. You can enjoy the full benefits over maintenance schedules. This gives you flexibility in website maintenance. However you must have skilled employees in your team to handle the maintenance work. Also, your team needs to invest a significant time which may hamper your core job.
Choosing a Website Maintenance Service Provider
- What to Look for in a Maintenance Service Provider: You outsourced service provider must have expertise in technologies like CMS platform, server management, programming language and security protocols. Ensure that your provider offers comprehensive services like security monitoring, performance optimization, regular updates and uptime monitoring.
- Comparing Packages and Pricing: Different providers will have different packages, but usually the basic package remains the same. This includes security checks, backups, updates etc. The highly valued packages may include SEO optimization, content updates, performance monitoring etc. You can choose the package as per your requirement.
- Testimonials and Case Studies: Testimonials from satisfied clients work as a social proof and increase the trust of the customers. Also you can check the case studies of the service providers as this may let you know the challenges the company has faced and how they overcome them.
Conclusion
Website maintenance usually covers regular updates of plugin, themes, content, SEO optimization, security checks etc. You need to choose suitable tools to analyze your website performance and make the changes accordingly. You can do the maintenance work by yourself, if you have a technical team that can handle this work for you, otherwise it is better to outsource this work, just like you might have outsourced web development work.
