Website Maintenance: What You Need To Know
Website maintenance is usually thought of as a mundane or even tedious task. Sometimes it may be an expense rather than an essential part of keeping a website relevant for visitors and search engines alike. But not maintaining your site is more costly in the long run.
Read more to learn about the seven essential facts about website maintenance that you should know:
1. Website Maintenance Is Essential To SEO
Search engines love fresh, updated content, and so do your visitors. When was the last time you added a new page or post to your site? If it's been more than a couple of weeks, then you're losing out on potential traffic and SEO value.
2. Without Maintenance, Your Site Will Get The “Sandbox Effect.”
If your site has been around for a while but hasn't been touched, then Google will put you into what's called the “sandbox effect,” which is essentially a timeout period where your site is isolated from achieving high rankings. While this might sound great, it can last anywhere from weeks to months, depending on how long it's been since you've added fresh content or worked on your site's link building.
3. The Content On Your Site Will Tend To Get Outdated
If you've been to a website recently and found that it hasn't been updated in a while, then you probably moved on pretty quickly, didn't you? Well, that's why content gets outdated fast, and search engines take notice of such things. Websites that haven't been updated in several months tend to get demoted as people's attention spans go elsewhere.
4. Visitors Will Tend To Think Your Site Is Neglected If It Isn't Maintained
There's a psychological reason why we know not to touch things that we think are dirty or neglected, and the same thing applies to websites. If your site hasn't been updated in a while, visitors will think that it's either neglected or obsolete, and they'll take their attention elsewhere.
5. You Run The Risk Of Having Your Site Hacked When It Isn't Maintained
Security problems with websites are more common than most people realize, mainly because those responsible for updating their sites usually aren't technical whizzes. Websites tend to become more vulnerable if they haven't been updated in a while, which opens the door to hackers who can infect your site with malware or viruses that could be used to collect information about visitors. So it's important to maintain your site!
6. Nobody Will Be Able To Find Your Site When It Isn't Maintained
Websites that aren't maintained don't stay indexed on the web. This means that if you decide to take a break from updating your site, then search engines will stop indexing it after a while, making it virtually impossible for anyone to find your website again.
7. Your Site Could Have Technical Or Reliability Problems When It Isn't Maintained
New updates and bug fixes are often provided as the web evolves, including those that improve your site's overall performance. What happens if you don't keep up with such things? If you're not familiar with technical issues, it could be difficult to find a solution when they arise.
8. Your Site Might Even Malfunction When It Isn't Maintained
Today, most websites use plugins or extensions, whether offered for free or purchased from a third party. Such items may not work as they should if you don't update them, and therein lies the problem: your site will have technical issues and might even malfunction.
These are just a few of the reasons why it's so essential to maintain your website or blog regularly, especially if you want to attract more traffic and keep them coming back for more again and again.
