Website maintenance is an essential aspect of running an online business, with routine maintenance designed to prevent unexpected problems.
Website maintenance needs a structured plan of work, carried out by specialists and within specific time frames for completion. Tasks are generally divided into two groups, covering aspects of website content and technical work.
Who is Responsible?.Website administrators & editors, working as directed by the company owners, are responsible for all website content creation and updates: news and products, for example.
The website developers, on the other hand, are responsible for the mechanics of the site, implementing revisions and upgrades to the platform.
Website security and data backups are usually handled by the datacentres directly or the internal IT departments depending on the hosting resources used.
Natural search teams usually work directly with the administrators & editors and website developers to implement agreed technical changes to improve rankings on search engines.
Area Maintenance.Depending on the size of the website, breaking down the number of pages to be maintained at any one time may be sensible. On large sites with many pages, editors need to review content, check optimisation and address errors.
On the same set of pages, the developers needs to fix bugs in the code (HTML, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript etc.) and improve accessibility standards (Section 508) so that scripts, multimedia, podcasts and forms work correctly and are compliant with industry standards and best practice. Extensive new sections of content will need to be optimised for the search engines.
Developers need to look for broken links and review statistics for technical problems. Editors will then update any broken links and review statistics reports, which will highlight underperforming pages. Use this information to update content features and landing pages.
Review the Platform.Considering how quickly even the smartest websites can soon start to look outdated, it is important to learn what really makes a website work for the business it represents. Once every twelve months, give the website an annual competitive landscape review. Is it still leading the way in the sector? is it performing in terms of its ease of use for visitors, or does it collapse under heavy traffic? Is the website efficiently optimised for users searching on the move?
Check how the website performs in different browsers and keep records of load speeds, security flaws and system upgrades. Look at the website from a visitor's perspective: consider navigation speed, devices used, keyword search and accessibility. Adopt the use of industry standard tools to help analyse specific types of data or to carry out tests.
Once a thorough review has been undertaken of the site, then schedules for implementing technical improvements, special elements and major content sections can be planned. It may mean that a decision has to be made on whether a full redesign is now necessary, from either a technical, aesthetic or positional viewpoint.
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