Why website maintenance will keep you ahead of the curve

When it comes to websites, the work should never end at having a new shiny version put live.  

 

To ensure that you truly get the most out of your website, it needs to be updated and improved on a regular basis – even if this means just tweaking the copy to ensure that all of your content is relevant to the business, and customers.  

 

You may be wondering why you might need to maintain your website, especially after investing a lot of money to get it to the place it is in today.  

 

Sure, your current website is great, but just like your house, it needs a bit of TLC to keep it sparkling.  

 

When it comes to reasons for supporting your website, there is a variety, and no solution is built with a 'one size fits all' attitude; so the ongoing help which you receive needs to be tailored to your needs.  

 

Digital is constantly changing  

 

It seems like every five minutes a new trend is popping up which people want to follow and it can be confusing to know what the best things are to integrate into your strategy. With a specialist agency on board, you can be guided to the best solutions for you and your business, whilst also ensuring that your website is a front runner in your industry.  

 

Not only do new trends come around frequently, but there are also updates in security and general best practice which need to be implemented to create the best possible solution for your clients.  

 

Additionally, big players in tech (such as Google) frequently change how their products work with websites to make sure that their users have the best possible experience. For example, Google now penalises sites which are not built to be fully mobile responsive, meaning that your site could quickly lose its rank if it isn't mobile friendly.  

 

Large changes do not come around every week, but it is definitely worth keeping on top of them to avoid any issues further down the line.  

 

Ease of updates  

 

One of the greatest benefits of improving an existing website is that smaller changes can be made over time and these can be thoroughly planned and thought through – also, these can be made live with little disruption to your audience and so changes can easily be made on an ad hoc basis.  

 

With maintenance and continuous improvement, the team working on your website can make frequent updates (even daily), which will make a huge impact upon your website - these can be for a range of requirements from bug fixes to new functionality.  

 

Frequent, smaller updates (as apposed to a large redevelopment) also ensure that your codebase is in the best possible shape, further reducing the risk of any issues with your website later down the line.  

 

Change of requirements  

 

We know that the requirements and needs of businesses can change over time, and sometimes, these can change quickly.  

 

When these changes happen, it is important to keep your website in line with your needs to create the best possible customer experience – for example, a new product coming out is a key area to be promoted on your website.  

 

One of the perks of improving your website on an ongoing basis is that changes can be implemented easily and at a speed your business requires, meaning that your digital presence will always be in line with your business needs.  

 

You may also find, that over time, your user behaviour starts to change and that you need to make iterations to cater to your audience needs. Instead of going through a large redevelopment process, through continuous improvement, you are able to make improvements in a modular way which can easily be put live for users.  

 

Essentially, they key for ensuring that your website is the best that it can possibly be is to make updates and changes whenever they are required, instead of waiting for one, large, redevelopment project.  

 

At Wool Digital, we specialise in website and software maintenance and work with a variety of businesses to ensure that their digital solutions are delivering to their highest possible potential. If you would like to hear more about what Wool Digital can offer to your digital strategy, drop us a line hello@wool.digital or give us a call on 0161 636 0045.