Virtually every professional organization has a website. It is the go-to place to learn more about a brand, product or service. To get relevant information and to make a purchasing decision. But, it’s not enough to just have a site. It needs to be maintained on a regular basis.
Understandably, many business owners wonder how much this service costs. If this is your case, then read on and find out how much budget you should allocate and what it usually includes.
What web maintenance involves
Web maintenance is something you should not skimp on. If you want it to work well you have to maintain your website on a regular basis. This is the only way you can make sure that all the updates are up to date and prevent hackers or cyber criminals from taking advantage of it.
There are several things that go into website maintenance. Here’s a closer look at what this service covers:
Keeping a WordPress website up to date
As the name suggests, the first thing included in website maintenance is to make sure it is always up to date. What do you mean by this? For example, if you have a WordPress site, you need to make sure that you are working with the most recent version of the software. This is going to ensure that your site is secure, and that it can’t be hacked.
In addition, this is also going to give your SEO ranking a boost, as your website is going to be much more discoverable by search engines. This is a task that you can do yourself, but if you choose to outsource the maintenance of the website, it is important to make sure that it is always up to date with the latest version.
Update plugins
WordPress plugins are often updated automatically. But, there are cases where you must do it manually. It’s a simple task but key to achieving optimized performance of your site.
It is important that you take the time to remove older themes and plugins that you no longer use. Of course, you can’t forget to make backup copies of your themes before deleting them.
Verify strong passwords
Additionally, website maintenance looks to check if you are using good strong password practices. For example, a strong password has at least 12 characters. But, the other thing you need to check is that each user with access to your site has their own password.
A secure password:
- Must be a combination of letters, numbers and characters.
- Must be unique
- Cannot include personal information
- Cannot include consecutive numbers or letters
Keep in mind that only those who really need it should have access. So, when making this kind of revisions you should remove people who are no longer working on your website. This will help you avoid problems that may arise if those accounts are hacked or misused.
Stop spam
To stop spam you can choose to install a plugin like Antispam Bee. But, if you really want to provide much greater security we recommend working with a hosting service.
Empty the cache
Emptying the cache also helps you to ensure better performance of your website as it prevents the server from having to load the same page over and over again.
Keep in mind that the cache can be responsible for modifications to your site that are not noticeable to the naked eye.
Optimize images
You must pay special attention to large images that can generate a large delay on your website. It is essential that you embark on an image optimization project to convert them into much smaller files so that they do not cause unnecessary delays in the loading speed of your page.
Clean the database
It is important to regularly clean your database to ensure that your website performs better and shows fewer delays. Once you have completed this, you can opt to install the latest version of PHP. Ideal to counter hackers, improve loading speed and enjoy new features.
Optimize SEO
Maintaining your website does not necessarily mean that you will increase the number of visitors you receive. But, the truth is that you have to spend time to optimize the different pages and content according to good SEO practices and taking into account who your target audience is.
The goal of this whole process is to make your site much more attractive to users and to achieve a better search engine ranking. There are several SEO tools you can use.
Why do you need web maintenance?
The answer is simple. This effort translates into better site performance. That’s why we insist that you regularly check that plugins are up to date, that PHP is installed, that blogs are in the right place, that images are optimized.
That said, we fully understand that this is not an easy task. You need a staff trained in the area. The task involves much more than just clicking to update one system or another. You must periodically check that your website is still in good health and that visitors enjoy the necessary security. In addition, make sure that the backup is done and that the site has the responsiveness it needs.
How much does it cost to maintain your website?
For the maintenance of your website you have two options. You can do it yourself with an in-house team or you can leave it in the hands of agencies specialized in the area. Undoubtedly, the first option is much cheaper than outsourcing the service to a third party.
If you have the team trained and with the necessary tools then, we could say, that web maintenance is under $100 in some countries. If that is not your case, we recommend you to consult one of these specialized agencies. Keep in mind that the maintenance fees for your website may vary depending on the size, type and your digital strategy. For example, informative sites are easier to maintain than large digital online stores.
If you decide to hire a web maintenance service, keep in mind that the average cost is between $5 and $500. The difference lies mainly in the size of the site:
- Personal page has an average cost of $5 to $25 per month.
- An SME site ranges from $35 to $500 per month.
- A large company’s site ranges from $200 to $4,500 per month.
- E-commerce ranges from $1,500 to $5,000 per month.
These figures generally include tasks such as site maintenance, web hosting, domain name, email and spam filtering. Plus, website and email backups, SSL certificate and technical support.
Should you outsource site maintenance?
As a business owner you are probably looking for your visitors not to get problems when browsing your website. After all, this is the first image they have of your business. To this end, it is essential that you perform the necessary updates and management on a regular basis. While you may have the knowledge to do so, it is also true that you have other priorities. That is why we insist that hiring a web maintenance service is your best option.
The agency you hire will have the necessary technical knowledge and its main objective will be to verify that your website works in the best possible way. They will also make sure that any errors that may arise are resolved immediately.
Companies that specialize in website maintenance will also monitor the content of your blogs to optimize them when necessary. As well as regular review of contact forms and mandatory fields to fill in, for example, email address, address and phone numbers.
Businesses in the service sector need a well-maintained website. Only then are they going to be able to attract enough customers and ultimately make a profit from it.
Advantages and disadvantages of website maintenance
Maintaining your WordPress site is only going to bring advantages for your business:
- It helps visitors get a good user experience on every visit they make.
- It prevents your website from slowing down in performance or errors.
- Increases the possibility of converting potential customers into regular customers of your business.
- Improve search engine rankings, which translates into more visits from qualified users.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that website maintenance is a must for any business. It is the way to ensure that good security practices are working and that users do not stumble upon errors while browsing. It is not for nothing that we insist that you allocate part of your budget to this effort, which should be recurrent.
You have the option of doing the maintenance yourself, at a low cost, or of outsourcing it to a specialized agency. Whichever option you choose, the important thing is to make sure you have a good understanding of all the tasks that need to be accomplished and why each one matters.
The better optimized your website is the better the chances of increasing your business revenue. So, are you ready to start scheduling your website maintenance?
