The Website Is Live - Now What?

Just like changing the oil in your car or killing the weeds in your yard, your website needs regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly for many years. However, unlike the oil and the weeds, your website will not cause any issues on its own but the technology around it will. As technology evolves, your website will also need to evolve with it in order to maintain its functionality. There are many reasons why it’s necessary to maintain your website but here are some of the main reasons why.

Page Error

The images and links that go to or from the other pages of your site or directory, as well as other websites, could change and these changes could cause a page error. This error mostly affects the content of the site like your images or hyperlinks and it varies from error messages on certain sections of the page to the replacement of the entire page.

Functionality Error

Page functionalities like hover effects, transitions, email delivery, etc., could stop working due to software updates or page errors. Functionality error can be critical and could greatly affect your business especially if these functions are necessary to complete an important task like completing a purchase order or sending a business inquiry.

Browser Incompatibility

Outdated websites could have display and functionality issues in modern web browsers. Certain web browsers could display your website with incorrect alignment or layout, weird image or font sizes, or prevent certain content to display making your website unusable or invisible to the user. 

Software Updates

Hackers and malware are always finding ways to infiltrate websites so software like WordPress and its plugins are constantly updating to prevent any attacks. These regular updates are necessary to keep your website one or a few steps ahead of malicious attacks.

Spam and Hacker Attacks

A hacked website could get red-flagged by web browsers like Google and could put your site in their blacklist banning it from their search engine and preventing users from visiting it. If left unchecked for too long, the ban could be permanent and it would take a long period of time and resources to restore its credibility.

Backup Website

Websites and servers can get hacked or crash for all kinds of reasons. Backing up your website regularly could prevent the loss of important data and website files. This simple maintenance process could save you plenty of time and resources in the restoration of your site when your website gets corrupted.

The time it takes to maintain a website varies from a few hours a month to several hours a week. The determining factor of the time varies on the site and your developer. Regardless, it is always a great idea to be on top of your website’s maintenance because if any of these issues left unchecked, it could greatly cost your business in the long run.