A home needs a good spring cleaning to get all the cobwebs out of the corners, but the same applies to the world of web development. A business that ignores things like broken links, expired licenses and stale content on its site is only undermining its efforts to grow an online presence. Avoid making that mistake and losing out on leads and conversions – be sure to regularly refresh your site with the following actions.
Update software, applications and plugins
One of the most important tasks to perform regularly is to update your website’s software, applications and plugins. This is necessary to address any security vulnerabilities, get the benefits of new features and enhance performance. But security is especially important, and outdated software is full of risks. Pay particular attention to PHP versions and content management system (CMS) installations to safeguard your site, your users and your brand’s reputation.
Renew domain names
An expired domain could be disastrous if not addressed within the grace period (the length of which can vary). After a further redemption period, the associated website and email services will likely stop functioning, meaning visitors would only see an error message on an empty page. The domain can then be released for public auction or back-ordering and eventually “dropped”, becoming available to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis. If the domain was associated with an established website, that means a loss of brand identity along with SEO rankings and backlinks – in short, an awful waste.
Fix broken links
Broken links not only cause frustration for visitors, they also harm your SEO performance. It’s necessary to do a thorough link check using specialised tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console every so often. Be sure to fix or remove any broken links you find so that search engines can crawl and index your pages effectively, and so that users don’t meet with an annoying Error 404 message when exploring your site.
Refresh content
Outdated or stale website content won’t do your site’s performance any favours, so be sure to update it regularly. In fact, you should conduct a thorough content audit to ensure that everything on your site aligns with your brand’s message and the goals of the business. Doing so also presents an opportunity to identify content gaps and to expand on content that has been shown to resonate with your target audience. And because search engines prioritise sites with fresh and relevant content, refreshing it can boost your SEO performance.
Review your hosting plan
Your hosting requirements are likely to change as your website grows, which will necessitate re-evaluating your existing hosting plan. If your site has outgrown a hosting package, you may need to upgrade to a Virtual Private Server (VPS) or a dedicated server. This will ensure that you have the capacity to handle more traffic without harming the user experience.
Put a spring in your site’s step
There’s never a bad time to boost your online presence or improve your site’s user experience. If the above includes any task you’ve been putting off, maybe it’s time to tackle them. You don’t have to do it alone, of course. With a capable digital partner to support you, your team can focus on what they do best. The combination of our expertise in web development, design and content creation means you can enjoy peace of mind while we ensure your site is at the top of its game.
For all the web design and development and website maintenance that you require, our services have you covered.
