What is website maintenance? How to keep your website up to date

Imagine if you never serviced your car. What would happen? Eventually, it would break down. In the end, you might spend more time and effort fixing your car than if you had maintained it regularly.

The same is true for your website.

Today, 81% of shoppers research businesses online before buying anything. And with 73% of small businesses maintaining their own websites, consistent upkeep might be the competitive edge you need. (Zippia, 2023)

But what is website maintenance, exactly? How often should you do it, and what benefits can you expect? Dive in to explore these critical questions and more.

What is website maintenance?

Website maintenance is the process of regularly updating and managing a website to ensure it stays fast, secure, and visible. Some key elements of web maintenance include:

• Regularly updating website content
• Applying software patches and updates
• Conducting security checks
• Performing data backups

Just as regular cleaning keeps a home comfortable and inviting, these website maintenance tasks ensure your website remains accessible, up-to-date, and protected from digital threats.

Why is website maintenance important?

If you’ve ever encountered a website that took ages to load—or worse, didn’t load at all—you’ve likely experienced the consequences of poor maintenance.  By contrast, a well-maintained site ensures a better user experience through: 

• Faster load times – About 83% of website visitors expect sites to load within three seconds. 38% will stop engaging if certain site elements (like pictures or links) take too long to load. (Design Rush, 2024) Regular updates keep your website speed optimized to meet your audience’s expectations.
• Improved security – Maintenance helps safeguard your website from vulnerabilities and cyberattacks. Without these essential security updates, hackers could exploit these gaps to steal sensitive data or take down your site. Staying on top of security patches helps keep your website—and your customers’ information—safe.
• Enhanced search engine optimization (SEO) performance – Search engines like Google and Bing prefer websites that deliver optimized user experiences. Updating content, fixing broken links, and ensuring fast loading times can improve your search engine ranking.

As you can see, proper maintenance is about more than simply fixing issues as they pop up. A well-maintained website achieves its maximum potential: It attracts more traffic, minimizes security risks, and reinforces your business credibility.

Key components of website maintenance

To reap the full benefits of website maintenance, you must follow the correct procedure. Here’s a closer look at three core tasks that help keep your website running smoothly and securely.

#1. Content updates

One essential but often overlooked aspect of website maintenance is simply updating content.  Fresh, relevant content signals to both readers and search engines that your site is active and worth visiting. This positively impacts your search engine ranking while keeping your audience engaged.

Examples of effective content updates might include:

• Refreshing older blog posts with new information and links.
• Adding new product or service pages to keep your offerings current.
• Updating outdated information to reflect the latest insights or trends.

Keeping content current drives fresh traffic to your site and maintains their interest.

#2. Security and software updates

Websites rely on various software and plugins to function correctly. But those same components can be a security risk if they aren’t regularly updated. 

Ensure any software connected to your website, like content management systems (CMS) and other third-party plugins, always operate on their latest version by checking for recent updates frequently. Doing so is an essential aspect of web maintenance to help protect you from hackers, malware, and other emerging threats. 

Security is especially critical for businesses that handle sensitive information, like customer payment details. Name.com recommends using SSL certificates, which create a secure connection between your website and individual customers. 

Find the right SSL certificate for your business using Name.com’s SSL Solutions. 

#3. Backups and disaster recovery

While you should always strive to prevent issues, you should also have a (literal) backup plan. Regular website backups ensure you can restore your website if something goes wrong, be it a cyberattack, server crash, or accidental deletion. This safety net not only helps you preserve important data, but also enables your website to recover with minimal downtime.

How often should website maintenance be done?

Given the critical role of web maintenance, it’s essential to establish a firm website maintenance plan and schedule. Consider dividing maintenance tasks into monthly, weekly, and even daily tasks to ensure every part of your website receives the necessary attention.  

Here is an example checklist you can follow:

• Daily – Perform daily data and website backups, and monitor website uptime to promptly identify and address potential issues.
• Weekly – Apply pending plugin or software updates and check for broken links.
• Monthly – Review security settings, update content, optimize metadata, and monitor overall website performance.
• Quarterly – Test loading speed and backups. Analyze website traffic and SEO metrics.
• Annually – Conduct a comprehensive website maintenance checklist and renew security credentials, conduct audits, and update website design.

Adjust this schedule depending on your specific goals. For example, if search engine optimization is a priority, you may wish to analyze metrics and update content more frequently to stay ahead in the rankings. Really, you can’t overdo maintenance.

Tools for website maintenance

With so many tasks involved, maintenance may begin to feel overwhelming. Thankfully, you don’t need to do everything manually. You can utilize several tools to automate key components, making it easier to keep your site in top condition.

These tools can assist with: 

• Tracking uptime and loading speeds and automatically alerting you of potential issues.
• Backing up essential data on a predefined schedule.
• Enhancing site security with 24/7 monitoring and alerts.

For example, if you create a website with Name.com, you can enhance your security through our website hosting services, such as SiteLock. These services include automated solutions like daily scans for vulnerabilities and secure servers that can improve load times by up to 50%. 

Compare plans to find the best option for your website’s needs.

Website maintenance best practices

To keep your website running efficiently, consider following these four best practices:

1. Set a maintenance schedule – A regular routine for website maintenance ensures you address any issues early. This proactive approach prevents minor problems from turning into major headaches.
2. Create regular backups – Depending on the nature of your site, aim to back up data weekly or even daily. This precaution ensures that, in the case of a crash or unexpected issue, you can quickly restore your website with minimal data loss.
3. Use strong passwords – Protect your site from unauthorized access by using complex and unique passwords for all accounts. If available, consider employing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other secondary layers of security.
4. Periodically review and optimize your site – Even if your site doesn’t experience downtime, aim to conduct occasional audits. Check for load speed, cross-browser compatibility, and accessibility options. The goal is to ensure your site remains user-friendly for all customers.

By implementing these best practices, you can keep your website updated, secure, and optimized—maximizing the value of your digital presence.

Common website maintenance mistakes to avoid

It’s easy for some tasks to slip through the cracks when managing a website. That said, avoiding the following maintenance mistakes can save you time, money, and stress down the line:

• Neglecting software updates – Plugins and third-party software are some of the most common ways for hackers to gain access to your site. Always ensure they remain up to date to prevent any possible issues.
• Backing up data improperly – Relying on infrequent backups—or failing to verify that your backups actually work—leaves your data at risk. Leverage automated tools to put the practice on autopilot, and then test those backups to verify their integrity.
• Ignoring performance – While security is the top priority, visitor experiences come in a close second. Unoptimized sites can take a long time to load, which risks losing business and hurts your professional image.

While it may seem challenging, dodging these smaller pitfalls prevents them from snowballing into bigger issues. This keeps your website and business on track for success.

How to outsource website maintenance

Outsourcing your website maintenance tasks to a dedicated professional website maintenance service can be a smart way to save time and ensure your site stays in peak condition. For many businesses, this approach offers several key advantages:

• Expert solutions – The right service providers have specialized knowledge and skills. This know-how equips them to tackle ongoing maintenance with complex issues, optimize performance, and keep your site secure.
• Enhanced efficiency – Outsourcing maintenance lets you focus on what you do best—growing your business. Leave the technical details to the experts.
• Personalized help – Managed services are scalable and tailored to your individual needs. In other words, you can always receive the right level of service at any stage of your business.

Take Name.com’s managed WordPress hosting plan as an example. This service lets you enjoy all the benefits of WordPress websites, such as automated data backups and enhanced security, without having to worry about technical upkeep.

Final thoughts on website maintenance

Launching your website is an exciting milestone. But it’s not the finish line—it’s the beginning of your digital journey. Regular, ongoing maintenance is crucial to ensure your website provides a secure, seamless experience for every visitor.

To support you on this journey, Name.com provides a comprehensive platform for all your digital and web development needs. From managed services and advanced website security solutions to reliable domain hosting, we offer everything required for a strong online presence.

With access to hundreds of top-level domain (TLD) extensions, including popular options like .com, .net, and .org, as well as unique and industry-specific extensions like .tech, .shop, .ninja, .app, and .studio, Name.com makes it easy to find the perfect domain for your brand. Whether you’re a professional, creative, or entrepreneur, there’s a TLD extension tailored to your needs.

Combined with top-tier products and services, Name.com is the ideal partner to elevate your online presence to the next level.

 

Sources: 

Zippia. 20+ Essential Small Business Website Statistics [2023]: How Many Businesses Have A Website. https://www.zippia.com/advice/small-business-website-statistics/

Design Rush. What Is Website Maintenance? https://www.designrush.com/agency/website-design-development/trends/website-maintenance