When you get a new website, everything feels exciting. The design is beautiful, the pages load fast, and your brand finally looks professional online. But here’s something most developers won’t tell you: once your website is launched, the real work begins. Our whole point is to convince you why website maintenance is crucial.
Yes, your website is not a one-time project. It’s more like a car—it needs regular checkups and care to keep running well. If you ignore it, it will slow down, break, or even go offline. And that means lost customers, lost money, and big frustration.
So if you’re a business owner or someone managing a website, we recommend you go through this article.
Keep Your Website Updated Regularly
Your website runs on different tools, like a content management system (CMS), themes, and plugins. These get updated regularly by their developers to fix bugs, improve speed, or patch security holes. If you don’t update them, your website can become slow, look broken, or even get hacked. Make sure your website is regularly updated, including plugins, themes, and the CMS.
Always Have a Backup
Imagine your website crashes, gets hacked, or someone deletes it by mistake. A good backup can restore everything. However, many websites don’t have proper backup systems. Without a backup, you could lose your entire website.
Make sure your website is backed up regularly—daily or at least weekly. Also, check that backups are stored safely and that you can access them if needed.
Check the Contact Form
Many businesses don’t realize their contact forms are broken. You think people are reaching out, but their messages never arrive. You might be missing leads and business without even knowing it.
Once every few weeks, go to your website and send yourself a test message. Make sure it lands in your inbox.
Don’t Let Your Site Get Slow Over Time
At first, your website is fast. But as time passes, you add new content, images, or scripts—and it starts to slow down. A slow website pushes visitors away. People leave if it doesn’t load in a few seconds.
Make sure your website speed is checked regularly, at least once a month. Also, ask that images are compressed and any unnecessary files be removed to keep your site fast.
Fix Broken Links Quickly
Sometimes, links on your site lead to pages that no longer exist. These are called broken links, and they look unprofessional. They hurt your SEO and frustrate your visitors. Use a free tool like BrokenLinkCheck or ask your developer to scan your site monthly.
Watch Out for Security and Hacking
Websites can get hacked—yes, even small business sites. You won’t always know until it’s too late. A hacked site can be blacklisted by Google or even spread viruses to your visitors.
Make sure your website has security tools like plugins or a firewall installed. Also, check that your site is regularly monitored for any unusual activity or threats.
Make Sure Your SSL Certificate Doesn’t Expire
An SSL certificate makes your site “https” and shows the padlock icon in browsers. It builds trust. If your SSL expires, people will see “Not Secure” warnings and may leave your site immediately.
Make sure you know when your SSL certificate expires and ask if it can be set to renew automatically.
Test Responsiveness – How It Looks on Mobile
Even if your website worked well on mobile at launch, things can shift over time with updates. Buttons may move, images may resize badly, or text may look awkward. Most of your visitors use phones, not computers.
Check your website on your own phone every month. Try using it like a customer would. If anything feels off, ask your developer to fix it.
Check Google Search Console
This is a free tool from Google that shows how your site is performing, if there are broken pages, and how fast your site loads. It helps catch issues before they become problems.
Make sure your website is connected to Google Search Console, and ask that someone checks the reports every month to catch any issues early.
Don’t Rely on One-Time Help
Some developers build websites, hand them over, and disappear. But websites need ongoing care. You should know who to contact if something breaks or if you need changes later.
Find out if your developer offers monthly website maintenance, what services are included, and how much it will cost.
Conclusion:
Your website is your digital storefront. It needs to stay fast, safe, and user-friendly. It needs ongoing support with a little website maintenance cost. If you’re not asking the right questions, things can go wrong without you even knowing.
We wrote this article to help you—not scare you. Now you have a checklist that’s easy to understand and follow. Bookmark this page, or share it with your team.
And if you ever feel like you’re managing your website alone, reach out. We offer ongoing website maintenance plans built for people who just want their site to work—with no stress or tech talk.