How Regular Web Maintenance Can Save You Time, Money, and Stress

Regular web maintenance is often an afterthought when you’ve built your website.

Now that you’ve gone through the process of designing a website you’re happy with, and it’s up and running, you think you can step back and leave it.

But:

A website that’s left without regular maintenance is vulnerable. Liken this situation to your car; you wouldn’t keep driving your car for years without maintaining it. You’re used to having to get new tyres, changing the oil, and testing the brakes when it comes to your car.

The same can’t always be said for websites though.

Lots of business owners and marketers think web maintenance is an unnecessary cost which they can eliminate. However, by leaving your website without conducting updates and security checks, you’re leaving it open to cyber criminals and attacks.

What’s more, regular web maintenance isn’t a huge cost, yet it can save huge costs further down the line.

In this blog we’ll be exploring

• What’s involved in website maintenance
• Who can manage this process for you
• The benefits of regular web maintenance
• How often web maintenance should be done

Let’s get started with understanding more about what’s involved in website maintenance.

What’s Involved In Web Maintenance?

Website maintenance covers a range of checks and updates designed to keep your website running smoothly, loading quickly, and protected against cyber attacks.

If you’re running an outdated website that has vulnerabilities, you’re a prime target for cyber criminals who are experts at detecting where weak areas are. These are things in the back end of your website which you might not even be aware of, but they’re leaving you open to hacks and breaches.

Regular website maintenance tasks include the following:

• Updating software and plugins
• Broken links
• Misspellings
• Slow site speed
• Security vulnerabilities
• Poor readability
• Content freshness
• SEO issues
• Backing up/ securing files

Scheduling in regular maintenance keeps your website operative, updated, and secure at all times. A healthy website means a better user experience, increased web traffic, and higher search engine rankings for your web pages.

Why Is Website Maintenance Important?

Website maintenance is important as it keeps your website up to date and secure. Rather than leaving your website, and your business, open to vulnerabilities, taking time to do some simple checks can keep it secure.

Aside from the all-important security aspect, regular web maintenance also keeps your site running smoothly to provide a good user experience. When people land on your site, they should be able to navigate seamlessly through the different pages, ultimately converting (whether that’s filling in a form or making a purchase).

If you’re not maintaining your website however, it can affect loading times, overall site speed, and the user experience. We’ve all been there; you just want to open a webpage and it’s taking forever. Rather than sitting waiting, you’re more likely to bounce back to Google and browse on a website that does load.

The same applies to your customers.

If your website isn’t maintained and updated, you could be losing valuable traffic and possibly customers.

What Are the Benefits of Website Maintenance?

Your website isn’t a set and forget thing; it’s a living, changing part of your business and it needs regular updates to stay fast, secure, and effective.

Instead of waiting for something to go wrong, proactive website maintenance helps you avoid costly fixes later, keeps visitors happy, and ensures your online presence is always working for you rather than against you.

Let’s explore some key benefits of regular website maintenance to keep your business visible and profitable online.

Improved Security

We’ve highlighted this throughout the blog, but security is a huge priority for any business. When you’ve got sensitive information, be that client info or personal data, you need to keep it protected. That’s why regular updates are key whether that’s updating your CMS, plugins, and security patches.

All of these efforts protect against hacking attempts, malware, and data breaches, safeguarding both your business and your customers’ trust.

Better Performance and Speed

Routine maintenance clears out code bloat, fixes broken links, and optimises load times, so visitors enjoy a smoother, faster browsing experience (and search engines reward you for it).

As we’ve mentioned before, users are more likely to bounce off your website if it doesn’t load straight away as they’ve got other options. This means from the moment they land on your website, it needs to be easy to use and simple, otherwise they’ll not be inclined to stick around.

Higher Search Engine Rankings

Search engines love functional, valuable websites that provide users with exactly what they’re looking for. This is the foundation of good SEO; to make content useful and easy to find.

Regular website maintenance ensures your site is up to date, mobile-friendly, and free of technical issues that could hurt your SEO performance. By taking a small amount of time to keep your website in good working order, you’re increasing the likelihood of Google showing you higher in the results pages.

Reduced Downtime and Fewer Emergencies

By catching problems early, you can stop a small issue before it becomes anything major which requires time and money to put right.

The last thing you want is downtime, as the longer your website is offline the more opportunities for customers that you’re missing out on. However, regular website maintenance proactively looks for issues before they happen so you’re never caught off guard. If you spot an issue during website maintenance, you can either resolve it there and then or put steps in to prevent this sort of thing happening in the future.

A Better User Experience

From fixing broken forms to updating outdated content, regular website maintenance keeps your site relevant and enjoyable for visitors to browse. This in turn increases engagement and conversions as people are more likely to reach out when they’ve had a positive online experience. When people can find what they need quickly, it shows that your business is active and paying attention to their needs as you’re making the journey easy for them.

Over time, these small updates make a big difference, giving visitors more reasons to stay on your site and return when they need your brand in the future.

Protects your brand reputation

When you spend time maintaining your website and keeping it in good condition, you’re taking care of your brand. Any interaction that customers have with your brand can affect the way you are perceived. So making sure this is a positive interaction when customers land on your website, is essential.

Brands spend so much time perfecting their logo and the design of their website, that this care and attention needs to be extended throughout its lifespan. Don’t fall into the habit of thinking your website is built and live, so it’s fine. Get into a routine of conducting regular website maintenance to nurture the brand you’ve spent so long creating.

Who Manages Website Maintenance?

There’s a few ways you can manage your website maintenance depending on your needs and budget.

The most ‘budget-friendly’ option is to manage it yourself. However this involves you spending time and resources on conducting the updates yourself, potentially taking you away from your day-to-day role. Whilst this can seem like a tempting option at first, it can mean spending valuable time troubleshooting issues and trying to stay on top of technical checks.

The second option is to partner with an external agency who knows exactly what they’re looking for. For most businesses, this makes the most sense as it allows you and your team to focus on growing the business whilst the agency keeps your website in top condition.

They do this day-in, day-out so they can spot issues before they become costly problems. Instead of juggling maintenance tasks alongside running your business, you can focus on what you do best: serving your customers and growing your brand.

Meanwhile, your agency works quietly behind the scenes to keep your site functional, secure, and optimised for conversions.

How Often Should Website Maintenance Be Done?

Generally, website maintenance should be carried out at least once a month. This gets you into a good routine of doing it on a regular basis and acts as a good starting point. However, more frequent check-ins can help ensure your website stays secure and up-to-date.

Some maintenance tasks such as security scanning can be automated, whereas other tasks such as updating your website’s content or monitoring performance needs to be done manually.

Below are general timeframes for website maintenance, outlining when each check should be completed.

Every 1-2 weeks

• Security checks – You should run these checks frequently to scan for vulnerabilities, malware, or any unusual activity.
• New content – To boost your SEO and rankings in Google, you should publish new content or refresh existing content to keep the site relevant.
• Functionality tests – Make sure all of the contact forms, checkout processes, and interactive features are working properly, especially as you want people to convert.

Monthly

• Plugin, theme, and CMS updates – Apply updates to keep your site secure and functioning optimally.
• Performance monitoring – You want users to have the best experience so check page load speeds, image sizes, and mobile responsiveness.
• Broken link scan – Scan and fix links that no longer work as you don’t want users to get a 404 error code as they’re navigating the site.
• Accessibility review – Regularly test for usability across devices, browsers, and assistive technologies.

3-6 months

• Content audit – Things change all of the time in your business so review your site’s key pages to make sure information is still accurate and relevant.
• Design and UX review – As your business evolves you might add new pages or design. Assess the current layout, navigation, and calls-to-action to make sure they’re still effective.
• Security policy review – Security is key so update passwords, user permissions, and authentication processes.

Website Maintenance FAQs

Below are some website maintenance FAQs to help answer some of your top questions.

What is website maintenance?

Website maintenance involves regularly checking and updating your website to keep it secure, functional, and relevant. It involves tasks like fixing bugs, updating software, and refreshing content to ensure a smooth experience for users.

What are website maintenance services?

Website maintenance services are professional packages which typically cover security updates, performance monitoring, backups, SEO checks, and content updates, saving you time and stress doing it yourself.

What is a website checklist?

A website checklist outlines all the tasks needed to keep a site running smoothly. It helps you stay organised, track what’s been done, and make sure important updates, tests, and optimisations are completed on schedule.

How Regular Web Maintenance Can Save You Time, Money, and Stress

Website problems can strike at any time, and they can be quite costly. That’s why conducting regular website maintenance is key as it proactively checks for these issues before they turn into anything serious.

Often, website maintenance is an afterthought or is deprioritised as brands focus on other things such as sales or customer acquisitions. However, website maintenance is key to achieving both of these things as it keeps your website engaging, functional, and visible in search engines.

Whilst doing it yourself is an option, partnering with a website agency means there’s one less thing for you to worry about. Not only does this give you peace of mind, it also means issues are solved quickly.

At Discovery Design, we work with clients across numerous sectors to maintain their website and boost their online presence. From web design, to SEO, to website maintenance, we keep your brand front and centre. Get in touch with our team to find out how we can help.