Maintenance Plan for Small Business Websites

Maintenance Plan for Small Business Websites

Websites Are not “Set It And Forget It”- Why Website Maintenance is Important

As a website owner, you have a responsibility for upkeep on your website.  That means applying regular software updates, updating your information, and taking the darned thing down if  you no longer need it. You may need a maintenance plan for small business websites.

I was working on a site the other day that someone had spent a LOT of money on in 2013.  I know, I did some of the work. In looking at it to fix a couple rather major problems, I noticed a couple things:

  • 2 posts a week, until November of 2013, then nothing
  • The office location on his about page was wrong, they moved across town 3 years ago
  • All the videos on the site were no longer showing up because the plugin that had been used for videos was no longer supported
  • Core WordPress software had stopped updating at 4.8.5 when there was an update bug
  • Plugins and themes were stuck at 2013 versions
  • Some plugins notably Google Maps were no longer working and were causing pages to show as blank screens

This was a highly developed professional site, with multiple languages.  He’d put thousands of dollars into development, but had failed to have any engineering or content maintenance done in the past 5 years.

Let me say this clearly: your website is often the first place customers go before they call you.  What do you think they do when they see a broken website?

They go elsewhere.

You invest in your website and you invest in your brand.  That means you need to ensure they’re being properly maintained.  At the very least:

  • Update software and plugins regularly.  If not monthly, certainly quarterly.
  • Keep your information up to date – do a monthly check that your info is correct.
  • Check that all means of contact through your website work – check all forms are properly submitting, emails are being recieved, etc.
  • Know when your domain expires and be sure it renews well ahead of time.

Another thought, remember that your website is a core marketing point of contact for your company.  If it looks out of date, say it screams “2010 called and wants it’s website back” then your customers will think YOU are out of date.

Web sites are not “set it and forget it.” There is an inherent responsibility on the site owner to tend his garden, i.e, maintain the darned thing.

Cahill Digital now offers a Maintenance Plan for Small Business Websites.

Maintenance Plan for Small Business Websites:

  • 2 hours of time monthly working on non-development, i.e. maintenance
  • Update WordPress software, plugins and themes (again, non-development)
  • Basic text updates within the allotted 2 hours
  • Google Analytics review to see if there are any issues apparent
  • Fast response to critical problems
  • Additional work on a preferred customer hourly rate

For $119 a month for non-eCommerce sites that fall into our definition of “small business”. For other plans contact us and we will tailor a package to meet your particular needs at a very attractive price.

Content Maintenance Plans are available, but really need a custom quote to enable us to provide the best solution for your site.  Contact us and we’ll be glad to work with you.

 

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