You’d think that your schedule would become at least slightly clearer with the launch of the website, but no – someone has to keep it afloat. Let’s look into the main, budget-friendly strategies for keeping your website fresh, updated, and as stable as it gets.
Key takeaways 👌
Regular updates and consistent support of your website can almost fully decrease the risk of technical errors
Timely maintenance can cut spending on emergency bug fixes in half
Proper optimization can double the conversion rate
Introduction
Have you ever seen a car that hasn’t visited a mechanic for a while? These rust buckets are dangerous, unreliable, and can break in the middle of the road at any given moment. “Monthly check-ups” are monthly for a reason, you see.
The same goes for websites – without regular support and maintenance, even the most modern and high-tech web resources will quickly become inefficient and downright dangerous for all and every visitor (someone gotta update security certificates).
Regular training and exercises will make you look like a snack in no time, as long as you’re not forgetting about consistency and regularity.
The same goes for your website – breathtaking results are achieved not through one good security check, but through regular and timely maintenance and updates
Basic maintenance
So, where to start? Before you begin optimizing every single bit of code and UI, there are a couple of basics to keep in mind, most of which are security and update-related.
- Regular updates
First things first – CMS (content management systems) require weekly audits and your utmost attention: critical updates, safety measures, and “freshness” of various components. Losing track of time and missing an update or two can not only cause all kinds of instabilities but also make your website vulnerable to attackers.
Plugins and modules are not as picky but do require monthly audits. Check all the installed extensions for updates, clear up the mess you don’t use anymore, and keep an eye on any changes in compatibilities. Again, it’ll make your website much more stable and durable against unwelcome intruders
Every 3 months, the website’s content and functionality also should get some love. Are all elements working? Is the content fresh? Does the current version of the website meet your long-term goals?
- Website security
After you’re done with the basics and updated all the plugins and whatnot, it’s time to think about refreshing your security measures. Here are a couple of things you can do:
Making a reserve copy just in case:
- Weekly backups
- Separate servers for safekeeping
- Regular checkups on whether the reserve copy is intact
- Backup process testing
Establishing a safety monitoring routine:
- Regular check for possible break-ins
- Control of all suspicious activity
- Access logs analysis
- Blocking of fishy IPs
Scanning for viruses:
- Weekly scans of all files
- Fast response and quarantining of suspicious elements
- Clearing up the code
- Antivirus update
A modern website is not a static brochure, but a dynamic business tool that requires constant attention and development.
— Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress
Optimization
Got down the basics? You’re almost there. Now, let’s talk about optimization – another crucial component of website support.
Performance
Your website spends more than usual to load up fully? Maybe the pictures seem a bit off? UI response is not as quick as it used to be? Consider doing some performance tweaking. Regular optimization of everything listed above is crucial to quality user experience, which is especially true for the mobile version of your resource – this one must be updated monthly.
Check on your server settings. The right configuration of caching and database optimization can make things much smoother for the user. Regularly perform audits, improving your server performance as often as possible.
Analytics and improvements
There are always things to improve and adjust. How to update the right thing and not break everything else, that was working just fine before? Analytics is your answer.
There are 3 key elements to spotting areas in need of improvement:
- Metrics tracking. Weekly analysis of website activity, including visitor time, bottlenecks, and entry/exit points. Identify user issues and fix them promptly.
- A/B Testing. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the interface, trying different combinations of buttons, headers, and other UI elements. Even the slightest changes can significantly boost the conversion. Just don’t get too carried away – changing the website’s UI every couple of days can’t be good for business.
- Feedback. Never stop examining user reviews. Some of these might be absolute garbage, sure, but the ones written by responsible and real users can highlight the issues, that you wouldn’t be able to spot otherwise.
Interesting fact 👀
According to research, 94% of first impressions about a business are based on the state of its website. Moreover, 75% of users judge a company's reliability by how up-to-date and functional its web resources are.
Get to know your website’s security a bit closer by reading our article Website security tips: How to protect your web resource from threats
Related articles:
Conclusion
Truly supporting your website means a bit more than regular technical maintenance. It’s an unending process of introducing new updates, monitoring security, and making sure that the performance is at its top game.
The Toimi team provides comprehensive website support, helping businesses grow in the digital space without technical obstacles.
Artem Dovgopol
A website is like a living organism: it either evolves or degrades. There are no in-between states 😉