Building the perfect website requires technical know-how, prudent judgment and a fair amount of planning. Maintaining that website once it's completed is another matter entirely. While specifics vary from site to site, a few general maintenance best practices nearly always apply. Whether you're a seasoned professional or a rank amateur, the following website maintenance tips should serve you well.
Update Your CMS & Plugins
In all likelihood, your website relies on a mature CMS like Wordpress, Drupal or Joomla to serve up content. Updating your CMS software to the latest version is just common sense if you want to sidestep security threats and avoid poor performance. Be sure to upgrade any installed plugins while you're at it.
Periodically Test for Speed
A fast site is important for a number of reasons. For one thing, sluggish performance can greatly increase bounce rates. It can also hurt a site's standing in the SERPs. Give your site a regular audit with Google PageSpeed. Pay close attention to whether or not your CDNs are serving up resources quickly.
Clean Up Broken Links
Another run-of-the-mill website maintenance task that should be performed regularly is checking for broken links. Besides degrading the overall browsing experience for the average user, go-nowhere links are a serious SEO no-no. There are tons of great link checkers available online for free such as Open Site Explorer that can quickly point out bad links.
Keep Your Layout Fresh
Studies have shown that a modern, professional look can help sites to attract followers in droves. Like it or not, visitors are more likely to develop a negative perception of your site if it looks outdated. As far as style is concerned, go with the current web design trends but make your site look unique.
Add New Content Often
If you want to keep the clicks rolling in, a steady stream of content is a must. Be sure to update your blog with regular posts that are relevant and timely. Even basic informational sites that are meant to be more or less static can benefit from gradual keyword tweaks and content rewrites from time to time.
The Never-Ending Struggle
Unfortunately, there's no magical automated solution to website maintenance that'll cover all of the bases. With so much riding on the performance and security of your sites, it's best to have an experienced web administrator on the job. If you're not up to the challenge, hire someone that is as soon as you can.
