1.1 billion websites exist on the internet today. That number will only continue to grow as more businesses launch their sites.
With so many websites out there, it’s essential to make sure yours stands out from the rest. One way to do that is to ensure your website is well-maintained.
But what does website maintenance entail? Let’s explore the five most common questions you must research before you outsource website maintenance.
Why Website Maintenance is Important?
An effective website is crucial for any business in the modern economy, and website maintenance is key to keeping it running smoothly. There are many potential benefits to website maintenance, including:
Improved security
Regularly updating your website’s software and plugins can help protect it from hackers and other security threats.
Enhanced performance
Regular maintenance can help ensure your website loads quickly and correctly, improving the user experience.
Increased search engine visibility
Search engines favor well-maintained and regularly updated websites, so maintaining your site can help improve your ranking in search results.
Reduced costs
Fixing errors and problems as they arise can save you money in the long run instead of letting them compound over time.
Question to Explore for Outsourcing Website Maintenance
Question #1: What content needs to be updated?
It’s essential to keep your website content fresh, relevant, and engaging. Try to:
Review your website regularly. Take a look at your website analytics to see which pages are being visited most often and which aren’t getting much traffic. This will help you determine which content needs to be updated or refreshed.
Keep your content relevant. Make sure that the information on your website is up-to-date and accurate. Make your content engaging. In addition to being accurate and relevant, your website content should be exciting and engaging.
Use headlines, images, and videos to make your pages more visually appealing and add value for your visitors.
Question #2: How often do updates need to be made?
Because of this, it’s necessary to keep your website up-to-date with the latest information about your products and services. But how often do updates need to be made?
The answer to this question depends on several factors, including the website type and the amount of content you share.
For example, if you have an eCommerce site, you’ll need to update your product pages regularly as new products are added, and old products are discontinued. If you have a blog, you should aim to publish recent articles at least once weekly.
Question #3: What technology platforms are being used?
A few types of technology platforms are being used for website maintenance. One type is a content management system (CMS). This type of platform helps to manage the content on a website.
Another type of platform is a hosting web service. This type of platform provides space for websites on servers. It also helps to connect website domain names with those servers.
The third type of platform is a domain name registrar. This type of platform helps to register domain names.
Question #4: Are there any security concerns?
Any website is susceptible to security concerns, no matter how big or small. One of the most common website security risks is SQL injection. Malicious code is inserted into a database through a web form field. To prevent this, sanitize all user input before inserting it into the database.
Another risk is cross-site scripting (XSS). This is when malicious code is injected into a web page that is then executed by the browser. To prevent this, validate all user input and escape any potentially dangerous characters.
Finally, there is the risk of information leakage. This happens when the server stores sensitive data such as passwords or credit card numbers in plain text.
Question #5: What is the budget for website maintenance?
As a website owner, knowing how much you should budget for website maintenance is essential.
If you’re unsure how much to budget, start by looking at your website’s monthly traffic and pageviews. If you have a small site with less than 1,000 visitors per month, you can probably get away with spending less than $100 on maintenance.
But if your site is larger and receives more than 10,000 visitors per month, you’ll need to budget at least $250 for hosting, security updates, backups, and customer support.
Bottom Line
Thinking to outsource website maintenance, explore the five basic questions. What is the cost? 2) What services are included? 3) How often do you need updates? 4) What is the turnaround time for changes? 5) Are there any hidden fees? By asking these critical questions, you can be sure that you are making the best decision for your business needs.
References:
1:Effectiveness of the hotel websites in Singapore: A perspective from Business‐to‐Business (B2B) organisations
Publishing date: 2 may 2007
https://doi.org/10.1080/10941660308725467
2:Social media engagement behavior: A framework for engaging customers through social media content
Publishing date: 8 Apr 2019
https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-03-2017-0182
3:Automatic ICD-10 multi-class classification of cause of death from plaintext autopsy reports through expert-driven feature selection
Publishing date: 6 Feb 2017
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170242
