Maintenance Tips for Keeping Your Website in Good Shape

Having a website is great for marketing - being a good source for new business as well as a great tool for your existing customers. However you need to also look after your website, just like you do with your car. Your car needs fuel regularly, the tyre pressure checked, oil changed, etc. The same is true for your company website. If you neglect your website and don't look after it, you will have a website that operates similarly to a used car that is not looked after. Thankfully there are some things you can do to keep your website in good shape.

CHECK YOUR CONTACT PAGE

Your most important page is probably your contact page. Without a contact page, nobody would know how to contact you and all the effort that was put into your website would have been a waste. It is therefore vitally important to ensure that it is kept up to date. Check it regularly to make sure that all your contact details are correct. If you change phone numbers or address, let your web developer know as soon as possible and remind them where the contact details are on your website in case you have them listed in multiple places.

It is also a very good idea to regularly test your enquiry form if you have one of these. Test it to make sure that it is still working and that you receive the enquiry as expected. Also test the enquiry from a potential customer's point of view to see what the process is for them.

CHECK YOUR HOME PAGE

The next most important page would have to be your home page. This is the first page most people would see when they visit your website. If this has outdated information on it, then the viewer might think that your company is outdated as well. This page also has a great impact with search engines as it is your main page, so keeping it up to date will also benefit your search rankings. If you need to have things adjusted, get your web designer involved so that you portray the right message to your viewers about your company.

(A tip to keep the cost down when getting updates done by your web designer is to provide them with a list of updates to make all at the same time. Many times this will end up costing the same amount as it would for getting a single update made because most have a minimum charge.)

HOW IS THE LOOK AND FEEL ?

Does your website look like it was made in the 90's? If it does, then it may be time for a revamp. By using more modern styles your viewers will see that your website stands out from those of your competitors. The look and feel, or theme of your website is very important as this will give viewers the first impression of what your company is about. You can never make a second first impression, so it is important to make your first impression the best one that you can make.

CHECK YOUR WEBSITE CONTENT

The content of your website needs to be kept up to date at all times. It is a good idea to read it every once in a while to get an idea of what your customers are reading about you. Content doesn't just mean the text of your website, but also any images, videos, links and file downloads. Old out-dated files and links should be removed to avoid any confusion and images should be updated if needed. If you find that something is out of date, organise for it to be updated as soon as possible. Not only will your viewers love you for providing them with up-to-date information, but search engines will reward you with more relevant visitors to your site.

CHECK FOR BROKEN LINKS

Broken links on your website are like broken bits on your car. They serve no purpose and don't look good. Check your website regularly for broken links. These can either be internal links to web pages or files within your own website that have moved or disappeared, or they can be external links to other websites.

For broken internal links, you can either fix the web page or file so that the link works again, point the link to the new location if you have moved the web page or file, or delete the link if it is no longer valid.

For broken external links where you have no control over the external website, you can either point the link to a new location if the web page or file has moved or delete the link if the web page or file is no longer available.

Hopefully these few quick checks will keep your website in good shape so that it keeps working efficiently for you and bring you more business. Getting on top of any issues quickly will make your website work better and will also give a better impression to potential customers of what your business is about.

Tags:  company website   marketing   business   web designer   website content   home page   links  

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