Failure to water your garden leads to wilting and poor growth. Similarly, neglecting your website can result in stagnation, decreased traffic, and reduced user engagement. Regular website maintenance ensures your online presence doesn’t suffer from a “digital drought.” So here is how to establish a few good habits to help you keeping your website in tip-top shape.
Pruning And Planting
Just as a garden needs water and a few fresh flowers, your website thrives on new content. Remove everything that is outdated or update it if you can. This not only keeps your website visitors engaged but also boosts your search engine rankings.
Schedule a time each month to “plant” some fresh content, be it blog posts, a few short news, or better product details. And maybe every 6 months go through your existing content: pull out what isn’t alive anymore and update what needs updating.
Keep Bugs At Bay
Your website needs protection. Regularly check for security vulnerabilities, bugs, update plugins, and employ strong passwords. This is a bit like covering your vegetable patch with a strong net to keep unwanted bugs at bay.
Make It Inviting
A landscaped garden is a pleasure to stroll through, just as a user-friendly website is a joy to navigate. Regularly review your website’s layout, functionality, and ease of use. Ensure that visitors can find what they need with ease. Over time, things change and so do your website visitors’ expectations.
Cut The Grass
Also, slow-loading websites can drive potential users away. That feels a bit like walking through uncut grass, it is just exhausting after a while. So, check your caching on a regular basis, compress any new images, delete drafts and revisions that are no longer needed, and optimise your code to ensure swift loading times.
Weather-proof It
Your garden plants adapt to changing weather conditions, your website must adapt to various screen sizes. Mobile traffic is ever-increasing, and a non-responsive website may deter potential visitors. Check at least once a year that your website is still responsive to different devices.
Don’t Forget Weeding Your SEO
Weeds constantly sprout and can quickly overtake the garden if not addressed regularly. For SEO success, you need to remove undesirable elements on your website that can harm its search engine ranking, such as low-performing content, broken links, or any poor user experience. The goal is to create an environment where your best content can thrive like flowers or crops. Monitor content and keywords to help your site stay visible.
Website Maintenance Habits Are Key
The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and going with the flow will help you stay competitive. Keep your website appealing to visitors by removing unwanted elements, planting new and nurturing the best content, and constantly adapting to change. So, put your digital gardening gloves on and start building good website maintenance habits.
By the way, I am great with website maintenance but fail my garden terribly…
