Your website serves as one of your most important digital assets, but the daunting truth is that many businesses consider their website as a one-time project. Once you have completed the web development process and your site is live, it’s crucial to understand that ongoing maintenance is vital to maintaining a robust digital presence.
Your website needs regular, ongoing maintenance, and there are a lot of benefits that come with it. Learn more about these benefits below!
Protection from Hackers
Did you know that more than 70% of websites are prone to hackers? If you have a WordPress website, every single WordPress plugin and theme installed is a potential security risk. Those with exposures could have backdoor access to your website’s administrative backend.
All that being said, you need to keep your plugins, themes and WordPress versions as up to date as possible. These WordPress additions are continually releasing security updates, and it’s important to keep up with them. We provide options for our own ongoing maintenance plan to seamlessly update our customers’ websites quickly and efficiently.
SEO Benefits
Google is always crawling the web to see how relevant web pages are, and one factor in a page’s ranking is how recent it was updated. When search engines review your web pages, they will store the previous version of your web page and compare it with the new one. If there are significant changes to this web page, it is a signal that this fresh information is more relevant to searchers than the previous version and will rank higher than more “outdated” pages.
On top of that, Google loves fresh content. By adding new blog posts and pages and incorporating keywords, your pages will get some much-needed search engine love.
Make Your Digital Presence Shine
Imagine yourself checking out local restaurants for your upcoming vacation. You come across two Chinese restaurants on Yelp with high reviews and decide to explore their websites to compare their menus. One website updates their website weekly with specials and upcoming events. The other site, on the other hand, not only requires you to install the latest Flash player to view their menu, but there’s a big, flashy sign that says, “$10.99 buffet special” that expired three months ago.
We can guess you’re more inclined to go to the other restaurant, and this is a common scenario all industries face. In today’s digital world, people are more willing to do business with those who are active online and do what it takes to look like the clear winner against competitors.
Show That You’re Willing to Change with the Trends
The point above and this one go hand in hand. The Internet is constantly shifting and growing, and your website needs to keep up with these trends. Whether you decide to do small, incremental changes over time or a full site refresh every three to five years, it shows the digital world that you are a fierce competitor and want to keep up with what’s important.
Overall, no website should be static. Just like your business, your website needs to shift with the trends and improve however possible to stay competitive. Make ongoing website maintenance a part of your daily duties, and you’ll be sure to see the benefits in the long run.
For more information about ongoing website maintenance, contact GreenMellen today!
