ROI of Website Maintenance

Need a website maintenance package tailored for your business?

During the last year, over 12,000 stores have closed in the United States alone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To adapt and survive, many businesses went digital, and as a result, the e-commerce industry has grown by 44%. 

For a physical store, cleaning, stocking, re-sets, and fresh displays are all a part of what makes the store successful. Maintaining the store and providing customers with a positive experience are all part of building your brand. The same attention to customer experience must happen when you’re managing an e-commerce store.

While an online business doesn’t have to worry about mopping the floor or cleaning the windows, website maintenance instead plays a huge part in the store’s performance and customer experience. 

Online Store & Web Maintenance Should Include: 

• Updating Plugins and Integrations: Most website platforms, especially WordPress, have items that require updates. These should be tested before just updating on the live site.
• Website Updates & Page Changes: Seasonality, photography, and featured products should all be reviewed on a regular basis.
• Fixing Bugs: Seems like little things happen on occasion. Sometimes they happen to every visitor, sometimes they’re inconsistent or could be a browser issue. Keep a log of these items to correct and monitor over time.
• Security Updates: SSL certificates are one thing for site security, as are the plugin updates and other patches that help you avoid vulnerabilities.
• Creating Backups: Most hosting platforms have a backup option for your website. Still, it’s a good idea to keep backups of your website just in case.
• Monitoring Inventory: Ensuring the latest products are on the site, removing old or outdated products and services to keep it fresh.

Websites Require Regular Testing & Maintenance

Proper website maintenance can help you avoid a long list of potential issues. For example, if you notice your website is starting to become slow, don’t just ignore it or write it off as an Internet connection issue. Assess and identify the potential issues that are causing the slow down so you can correct it quickly.

It could be too much JavaScript implemented into the website or maybe a plugin needs to be updated. Whatever it is, it’s worth looking into and solving them. Best to invest in the maintenance of the website rather than lose more money fixing the website when it is too late.

Keeping your website up to date can also help improve the bottom line. If you’re marketing to past customers, (and you should be), then your emails, social media posts, and review requests can encourage them to return to buy again.

Showing new featured products and fresh displays get them back on the site browsing and buying.

Websites Are Not “Set It and Forget It” 

Just like retail stores and restaurants require regular cleaning, fresh layouts, and new offerings, your website requires the same attention to detail. Nobody should have a website that is outdated and untouched.

Businesses need to treat their website just like they would their brick-and-mortar location. Keep it clean, up to date, and manageable - and have a plan for regular updates.

Need a website maintenance package tailored for your business? If you need help properly maintaining your website, hiring a dedicated team skilled in website development like RED66 Marketing can help. Have a question, just let us know!