Don't let your website gather dust!

Why regular maintenance is crucial for your safety and that of your customers.

It can happen to anyone: You let your website slide for a few months. And before you know it, you think, “Oh right, I should have mentioned that my store is closed on King’s Day.” Or, “I don’t even have that one product in stock anymore.” Without even realizing it, you’re turning people off and causing frustration before a customer has even visited your website.

In this blog post, let’s take a look at how you can keep track of this yourself so you don’t scare off potential customers and your website stays secure!

Information Must Be and Stay Up-to-Date

As mentioned in our example, there may be times when you no longer have a product in stock or no longer sell it. If this information is still listed on your website and you’re luring someone to your store for that product, it can lead to major frustration for the customer. Making a promise and not keeping it is never a good thing in almost any interaction. In this context, however, it’s avoidable and easy to prevent.

In addition to your products and inventory, you also need to ensure that all other information on your website is accurate and up to date. For example, do you still mention a price in a text that hasn’t been accurate for a long time? Or is there an outdated contact option somewhere on your website that’s no longer correct? This can lead to confusion.

The website must remain secure

A website and the code behind it are never static. A frequently asked question in the ticket system that we receive as a hosting provider is, for example:

“I haven’t changed anything on my website for months—why is it suddenly offline and displaying a 500 error message?”

We strive to inform everyone about this and point out that this approach is downright disastrous. Every line of code can lead to an error message, since the underlying technology is constantly evolving. Take something as simple as a database connection, for example: A single line can cause your entire website to become unsupported if the PHP version is updated.

Even if you don’t work with a website’s code yourself—which, thanks to content management systems like WordPress, isn’t really necessary these days—your website is still vulnerable to this. And, of course, our servers are regularly updated with comprehensive updates to keep them secure, fast, and reliable.

After a certain amount of time, a software version reaches its EOL (End of Life)—you’ve surely experienced this yourself with the Android or iOS version on your smartphone or on your computer running Windows or macOS. At some point, a version reaches the end of its life and must be updated.

Will your visitors encounter an error message, or—in the worst-case scenario—will their data be stolen and sold on the black market? This leads to reputational damage, legal proceedings, and many other unpleasant consequences that can easily be avoided.

Email and Contact Information

When setting up a website, it makes sense to set up an email address as part of your package right away; this is included by default in our hosting packages. This allows you to communicate professionally with customers, suppliers, or colleagues and keep track of matters that can’t always be clarified during a phone call or through other means of contact.

We recommend that you set up your business email address in an email client of your choice on your computer, smartphone, and any other devices you use frequently. You can also easily access your webmail on any device without having to install or set up anything. This makes it simple to respond to contact requests promptly.

You should also check the contact information on your website to make sure it’s still correct—such as your phone number, email address, or mailing address.

Establish a Routine

The most important step you can take to prevent all these problems or mishaps is to establish a routine for yourself where you quickly check off a few tasks for your website. After all, a website can always use new content. For example, write a blog post about an interesting new service or product, create a social media post, or reply to an email. So set aside a fixed time slot in your calendar—ideally daily, but at least weekly—to work through these tasks.

Log in to your website, create a backup, and update WordPress, your theme, and your plugins. Check your emails. And quickly write an update for an article. With just half an hour of work, you’ll be back on track in no time and ready for the next challenge. And you’ll prevent damage, hours of extra work, and damage to your reputation.