Launching a website is the first step towards creating an online presence for your brand or business. Many people think that after the launch they can finally relax, but any professional web developer or designer will tell you this is far from the truth.
For your business website to succeed and grow, consistent updates and improvements are necessary. Managing your website will prepare it for future growth by expanding its capacity to host more visitors and offer more content.
Your website launch is an accomplishment worth celebrating, but don’t sit back just yet: here are 4 steps for managing your site.
1) Back up Your Website
In case your site happens to crash without warning, it would be tragic to lose all your data. In addition to this, you’d lose all the work and coding done to build the website. If your site generates revenue, then you would also lose your income before rebuilding, which may take time.
Therefore, we suggest backing up your WordPress files and database often. Backing up the site can be done daily, weekly, monthly, or whenever new edits are made to the page. This will enable you to restore the most recent version of the site in case of a crash.
According to IT Services Houston, you should schedule backups that increase in frequency over time. You could also keep your own copy backed in your computer and another in a removable drive.
2) Perform Regular Security Reports
With increasing online security malware and threats, you cannot afford to leave anything to chance. Always ensure that your website is malware-free. You can install automated security checks which notify you of anything suspicious detected on your website.
Consider the following:
Use of complex passwords that are consistently reset to ensure the safety of the website.
Firewalls can also make the security of the site go a notch higher as they will stop hackers from accessing your site and prevent malicious endeavors.
Install plugins that limit the login attempts that visitors can make to reduce the vulnerability of the website.
3) Click through Your Website
Programmers and website developers can get so used to the site that they end up making some unnoticed mistakes. Do a content run-through by looking at every page in detail. This ensures that the text and material are displayed correctly.
Some basic things to look at include:
- Spelling errors
- Misused words
- Proper formatting
Non-uniform text and image size
You can double-check whether all links direct the user to the correct page. Ensure that all the images are the intended size and not duplicated on other pages of the site.
To enhance the speed of the site, you can optimize your images before uploading them. The website should also look presentable and function when viewed on both large and small monitors.
4) Test the Website Speed
Keeping your site running fast improves the experience of your users and places it higher in search engine results. This increases its visibility and hence creates even more traffic.
With time, as your clients begin to add potentially more plugins and media files, the speed of your website may fluctuate and slow down. Make a point of testing the site’s speed often or at least once a month. Ensure you optimize the site to consistently load faster so you will not have to worry about the visitors abandoning it, therefore, reducing its traffic.
Bottom Line
As your website enhances over time to include new features and designs, web maintenance become more important. With these tips, your website will be protected and perform at its best.
