You might think that once you have a website up and running, it will basically take care of itself.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
This isn’t an infomercial rotisserie and barbecue. You can’t just set it and forget it.
After all, sites that deliver inaccurate information or outdated stats leave visitors with a bad impression of your company.
If you’re not willing to provide them with the most valuable information, how much do you really care about them as customers?
For a site to drive traffic, generate quality leads, and help increase conversions, you must perform regular website maintenance.
This idea may seem overwhelming, especially if you’re not a webmaster.
The good news is that there are many excellent, easy-to-use, free website maintenance tools available to help ensure your site provides the most updated content for optimal results.
Why Website Maintenance is Important
Your website is a lead-generating, money-making machine, so it’s critical that it’s running at full capacity.
Here are three main reasons why it’s crucial to stay on top of website maintenance.
1. Boosts Traffic
Google aims to provide its users with the most relevant, useful content.
Websites that are regularly updated typically offer the most valuable information, so they’ll earn higher SERPs.
This boosts visibility and increases the chances that your target audience will see your website in their searches.
Ensuring your site is free of broken links, outdated statistics, and duplicate information keeps you current, relevant, and useful to existing and new users alike.
2. Increases Security
Cybersecurity is a major concern for web users, and rightfully so.
There’s a surprising number of businesses that don’t make this a priority, leaving data unprotected and at risk.
Even websites that use a Content Management System (CMS) must still keep up with current updates and patches.
Without these, hackers can more easily steal personal and financial information.
Not only can this damage the lives of your users – it can ruin your company’s reputation and lead to loss of business.
3. Improves the User Experience
Updating your website with current content and sharable information like images, events, and articles helps improve your audience’s engagement with your site.
Keeping things up to date means you can more effectively promote your mission, offerings, and brand.
When people know that your links are active and your data is current, they trust your business.
This encourages them to become loyal followers and advocates of your company.
Conduct regular audits to identify errors, obsolete information, and any other issues that might detract from the user experience.
Maintaining a website ensures you’re delivering the best user journey possible, and that’s sure to be rewarded in conversions and sales
"I develop websites that are highly optimized with a focus on functionality, efficiency, and site health"
5 Website Maintenance Tools for Optimal Site Performance
Website maintenance tools can help you provide a polished, clean website that provides accurate information that’s sure to resonate with your readers.
Here are five website design and maintenance tools to help simplify the process of website upkeep while yielding positive results for your business’s success.
1. Google Analytics
Running metrics and tracking your progress are essential to the success of your website and your business.
Google Analytics provides thorough reports on the ins and outs of your site.
Learn how much traffic you’re gaining and where it’s coming from.
Discover what people view on your site, how much time they spend there, and how frequently they bounce.
All of this valuable insight reveals what areas of your strategy are working and what needs improvement.
It’s a free resource that provides infinite value and is an absolute must for all website designers and managers.
2. Firefox Rank Checker
Knowing where your website ranks in SERPs is helpful insight for developing an effective digital marketing and SEO strategy.
Firefox Rank Checker is an easy way to see where you fall in the list on Yahoo, Google, and Bing.
If your placement is low, you know you need to make some adjustments to your game plan.
Rethink keywords, assess your user experience, and check your load speed.
Discover where the breakdown is happening and determine what improvements you could make to get your website higher in the rankings.
3. LinkStant
Links are a great way to broaden your reach and further position yourself as an authority in your field.
LinkStant helps track and monitor new links that direct people to your site.
If such links contain anchor text with errors, this tool will notify you so you can correct them as quickly as possible.
Broken or incorrect links can negatively impact your search engine rankings. To avoid red flags, keep a close eye on link building and earn higher SERPs.
4. Domain Hunter Plus
This inconspicuous Chrome Extension enables you to scan a page on your website to discover dead links and domain name availability.
Once your web page has loaded, simply click an icon and watch as the app explores all of your links.
If any links are no longer functioning, you’ll receive a notification.
When finished, it confers with an internet domain registrar to identify domain availability.
For any available domains, you receive an alert and can visit the site’s registration page at the click of a button.
The only downside to this extension is that it cannot complete its scans when an ad blocker is in place.
Disable that software before running Domain Hunter Plus, and you should have no problems locating these issues.
5. Sublime Text for WordPress
WordPress is one of the leading website hosting platforms globally, with over 1.2 million websites in their portfolio.
In terms of WordPress maintenance tools, Sublime Text is beneficial for editing text in code.
It’s completely customizable and offers assistance across multiple platforms.
Ideal for people who are new to programming for website design, Sublime Text is one of the premier tools for WordPress sites and can be accessed for free with a trial.
Entrust Your Website Design and Maintenance to a Professional
Website maintenance is a crucial element of your digital marketing strategy.
I develop websites that are highly optimized with a focus on functionality, efficiency, and site health.
Armed with the latest statistics and research, I can help design and maintain your website to ensure peak performance that yields results.
If you’re ready to evaluate your website’s current state and bring your content up to date, contact me to discuss your needs today.
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If you're ready to evaluate your website's current state and bring your content up to date, contact me to discuss your needs today.
