5 Website Maintenance Mistakes to Avoid
To keep your website functioning optimally, you need to monitor its performance and maintenance. If neglected, a website can become outdated and present potential users with barriers to engaging with your brand. Furthermore, if not properly updated and maintained, your site can be in danger of being penalized by search engines such as Google, which may view it as an unreliable source of information due to broken links, missing images or out-of-date content. It is essential to keep your website up-to-date so that users can access the information you want them to see. This blog post will explain some mistakes commonly made when keeping a website maintained and some general tips on how you can avoid them.
1. Be Careful With CMS Updates
When using a content management system (CMS) to update your website’s content, make sure to use the correct version. For example, if you are updating a WordPress website, make sure to use the correct “version” of WordPress, otherwise, you may risk breaking your website. Most CMS websites will have a recommended version listed on their website. If you are unsure, you can always contact the support team to find out which version you should use. A website update doesn’t always have to be about adding new content or creating new pages. You can also use your CMS to remove or change pages that are not relevant to your business or have incorrect information. You must keep track of which pages have been updated, which pages have been removed, and which pages have been edited. You can do this by keeping tabs on your website’s “version log”. This log will store information on all pages that have been updated, removed, or edited.
2. Don’t Skimp on Website Content
One of the most important aspects of website maintenance is ensuring that your site has the right amount of content. If you have too little content, visitors to your site may have trouble finding what they’re looking for. On the other hand, if you have too much content, your pages may be overwhelming or difficult to read. To avoid both of these potential issues, it’s important to create an outline of your website before creating any content. This outline should include information on what pages you want to include, as well as the purpose of each page. Then, once you have your outline, you can begin to write your content. When creating content, it’s important to remember to keep it relevant to your business. It is also important to ensure that your content is optimized for search engines. Finally, you want to make sure that your content is easy to read and understand.
3. Don’t Forget About Mobile Users
With the ever-increasing use of mobile devices to access the internet, you want to make sure that your website is friendly for all types of users, including those on mobile devices. When designing your website, make sure that the site is responsive, meaning that it will look normal and fit on any screen, regardless of its size. You can also use mobile-friendly themes and plugins that have been tested for usability on mobile devices. Additionally, make sure that your website’s content is written in a way that is easily understood by mobile users. Finally, before publishing your new site, make sure to do some final testing on different mobile devices to ensure that everything works as intended.
4. Don’t Neglect Branding and User Experience
When designing pages, you don’t want to only focus on functionality. You also want to consider how each page will look, as well as the overall user experience. For example, if you want to create a call-to-action button on a specific page, you may want to consider the size and colour of the button. Will it blend in with the rest of the page, making it unnoticeable? Or will it stand out, creating a powerful impact? One easy way to ensure that your website is designed in a way that is attractive and user-friendly is to create a style guide. A style guide is a set of rules that determines how each page on your site should be designed, as well as what fonts, colours and other design elements should be used. When creating a style guide, you should consider things such as the aesthetics of each page, the intended user experience, and how each page can be structured to maximize its functionality.
5. Don’t Forget About SEO
When designing your website, it is important to consider the future and how it will fare in Google search results. You should create your content with the end-user in mind, but you should also create it with Google in mind. When creating your website, make sure to use the right keywords and to include links that will lead users to other pages on your website. You should also make sure to update your site regularly with new content, including links to other pages on your site.
Conclusion
There are many ways to keep a website maintained, and it is important to avoid the mistakes listed above if you want to achieve success. When designing and creating your website, it is important to keep the above tips in mind. By doing so, you will create an attractive, useful and future-proof website that will serve as a valuable asset to your business. No time to maintain your website yourself? Let a professional maintain it for you.
