Website Maintenance encompasses all the activities needed to guarantee the operational integrity of a site.
Whether you have an internal web team or are exploring outsourced website maintenance services, it is necessary to determine the service needed for the various updates required to keep your content fresh and relevant. In short the why, how and where of your website maintenance.
The first step is to ensure that your web sites remain useful and functional.
You must promote your web site constantly; on a daily basis add something, anything, which attracts people to your site. This is vital in order to ensure that people continue to visit your site day after day.
If your site is static and unchanging there will be no reason for people to come back again. So to get them to come back it is imperative to change the content constantly and to be sure that your visitors know it is changing.
On a regular basis review your statistics. You should check your page counts to be sure that your site is being viewed. At best, you need to know where people are coming from, which browsers they are using and what they visited while they were at your site.
Review your site; check your grammar, spelling and accuracy. As time progresses your articles may become stale, so be sure and recheck an archive conclusions and facts.
Learn as much as you can about web site security, and ensure that, to the best of your abilities and knowledge, that your site is secure for your customers and your web host.
Post a privacy policy and adhere to it without exception. Review your practices occasionally against your policy to ensure you are following it to the letter.
The next step need is to determine the frequency and nature of updates and improvements you want regularly and periodically.
Regularly check
Simple text edits such as updates to published event schedules e.g. training schedules, seminars, conference appearances
Implementation of search engine optimization
Addition of content such as client testimonials, case studies/success stories, press releases and news stories
Design and creation of sales announcements/promotions
Creation and testing of forms for sales lead generation, white paper downloads, customer support, client surveys and feedback
Conversion of file formats, for example: Word Doc to PDF
Design and creation of client newsletters
Provisioning and monitoring for website link integrity checking
Archiving content as it becomes old or outdated
Auditing website for browser compatibility
Obtaining Technical Consulting such as: preparation and assistance with moving to a new hosting service; server administration and maintenance; technical liaison to ISP/hosting service.
Periodically check
Redesigning pages or sections to improve look and feel
Creation of entirely new pages or sections
Conducting usability assessments
Website accessibility retrofit
Reorganizing site structure for ease of future website maintenance
Adding new functionality such as a local search function
Developing custom tools such as a store or dealer locator
