So you hired someone to manage your website for you, but now it seems like nothing ever happens. On your end, everything looks the same. As the weeks go by, you might start wondering why you’re paying for website maintenance.
It’s an excellent question to ponder, because you should absolutely know where your money is going. In this post, I list all the tasks your website maintenance provider is doing while you’re running your business.
#1: Leaving it alone
It may sound odd, but one of the most important things a good website maintenance provider will do is leave your site‘s design alone. You don’t need to and shouldn’t be changing much on your website every week or month, or even year.
The reason is that once you have your site designed and the layout is locked in, you don’t want to confuse returning visitors. Especially if you have an ecommerce site, you want your customers to feel like shopping your store is easy and familiar.
Of course you want to keep your site up to date (see #4). Continuing to add fresh content is great for SEO, and changing a nav menu item once in a while may be necessary. And eventually, you may need a refresh. But if your web support person isn’t frequently pushing you to update the design just for kicks, that’s a good thing.
#2: Keeping your site secure
Did you know that a cyberattack happens every 39 seconds (source: colorlib)? If you think your website is safe from hackers because you’re not a global conglomerate or government agency, you are very much mistaken. In fact, smaller business websites are a favorite target, because they can store private data like medical or tax records, and, of course, credit cards. The scary thing (for all of us) is that many of those sites are not maintained on a regular basis.
With my client sites, I not only have robust security systems in place, I get email alerts anytime there’s a perceived threat. For example, if someone tries to log in to any of the sites I manage, I instantly get an alert. Most of the time it’s a failed attack. Either way, it’s something that I look into and keep tabs on, because recognizing patterns of dangerous activity is part of my job.
Do I tell my clients every time I sense a threat? No. Part of what I maintain is their sanity and sense of safety so they can go about their day undisturbed. Besides, if I see something that is a legitimate threat, it’s my job — not theirs — to mitigate it.
#3: Backups
Backup, backup, backup. It’s the watchword of any good systems administrator. If your data is backed up, then your site getting hacked or losing functionality has much less of an impact on your business.
There are varying levels of backup on a website. For example, if your site’s design doesn’t change (see #1), but you keep a blog, then it’s important to back up the database more frequently than the rest of the site. One of my client sites takes in data in a web form, sometimes several times per day. That’s crucial to have backed up at least weekly, whereas I can easily restore the site’s images and code from last month’s backup.
Redundant backups are also an important thing to maintain. At certain intervals, I download the most recent cloud-based backup files and store them on a drive that I keep secure and protected in my office. That way I have backups stored both remotely and locally.
#4: Updating
Updating a website goes hand-in–hand with keeping it secure. Outdated plugins or other code can be fun pathways for hackers who have figured out how to break in. Updating can lock the door on them.
Read more about what happens if you never update your website.
If you run self-hosted WordPress, you may have updated plugins, themes, or WordPress core yourself from the Admin panel. It’s not difficult at all. However, the issues tend to crop up after clicking that little update button. Sometimes an update of one plugin can cause a conflict with another. For example, your web forms suddenly stop sending you notifications and you can’t figure out why. The last update could be the culprit.
That’s what a website maintenance person is there for. They will check your site after updating to make sure there are no issues, and if there are, fix them.
If your site is on Wix or a similar provider, then software updates are handled automatically. Your web support is there to:
- Check forms and leads: Ensure contact forms, booking requests, quote forms, etc. are working and that you’re receiving notifications.
- Quick analytics review: Look at Wix Analytics (and/or Google Analytics/Search Console) for big drops in traffic or obvious issues.
- Spot-check key links: Home, contact, main CTAs, and any external links you rely on.
Updating your website is one of those things like brushing your teeth, that should be a habit. A good website maintenance provider has those kinds of habits ingrained.
#5: Learning about new tech
How much time do you want to spend reading about and attending conferences and workshops on the latest web tech? If you said none, then you can chill because that’s what your website support is doing on your behalf.
Software, security, accessibility practices, and the world wide web itself are constantly changing. If you have a small bookkeeping business, for example, keeping up with the latest tech means that you can’t focus on learning new skills in your own industry.
As a website maintenance provider, I’m always attending seminars, conferences, and even taking classes to make sure I’m on top of what’s new — like the latest developments in AI or cyber security. The things I learned ten years ago will only get me so far today. I keep up so my clients don’t have to.
Behind the scenes of website maintenance
When your website is running smoothly, it can be easy to wonder why you’re paying someone to maintain it. And that’s the point, because where your website is concerned, no news is good news. Website maintenance is an ongoing set of tasks. When neglected, they can wreak havoc on your site and, consequently, your business. When performed regularly, you can relax and focus on what you do best.
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