Why Web Care Plan is Critical to a Successful Website
Why Web Care Plan is Critical to a Successful Website
Just like any app or computer program, websites require maintenance to keeping the site working properly. Even if you purchase a Porsche if you do not change the oil from time to time or add fuel you will end up with a very expensive (and heavy) paper weight. Meaning you wouldn’t drive your car very long if you didn’t look after its maintenance, would you? Well, the same process is true for your website. Your website should always be live, ready for customers and presenting yourself an expert in your field, not just another service company. And in case you have this one figured out everybody is saying words like quality, customer service…blah, blah, blah. What is your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)?
Websites Are Not a “Set and Forget”
If you haven’t read “The Age of the Customer” I would suggest it. It explains a very real phenomenon that is happening now and will continue evolve. Customers and the buying cycle is changing dramatically. There are no sales people and print advertisements are becoming more and more, less effective. We are operating our businesses in an age where information can be acquired in seconds from the Internet. Customers are not flipping through phone books or magazines to find a solution to their problems, they search web. Biggest question is can you be found and are you providing solutions to their problems? Is your website a beacon of your professionalism and expertise? Or is it dying on the vine from lack of updates and valuable information? Care plans make sure your site stays relative, informative and problem free. When a visitor goes to a website and find things wrong with it, they often don’t stick around. Many website owners never check their website to see how it’s functioning. Missed website issues or downtime can lose you potential customers.
The Benefits of Maintenance
Many people don’t realize the benefits of site maintenance. The website performance, its load time, downtime and up time, is all dependent on the website software and installed features functioning as they should. The website growth, it’s fresh content, analytics monitoring and design changes, is all dependent on you having someone making sure all updates to the website are done in a smooth and error-free fashion.
Maintenance Workflow
At Nieto Creative we take great care to first backup the website, and check the website after our updates for any issues. Our software keeps a record of plugins we update so if there is ever an issue we see what plugin version was changed and revert back. Also included in our monthly maintenance report are the performance and security scans. If in the event we ever catch a plugin issue, it becomes a support ticket and we address it before you ever know there’s a problem.
Dangers of Do It Yourself Maintenance
Maintaining your site yourself could cost you more than you may think. If you just update from your WordPress admin, you wouldn’t have a record of what was done. If an update to a plugin created an issue a couple weeks later, it would be difficult to know what changed and how you should revert back without restoring a very old backup (and possibly losing content changes, sales orders, contact entries, you name it).
It Costs More to Fix Than to Maintain
Inexperience and neglect can damage the look and functionality of your website. When that happens, you have a choice to make. One, you try and fix it yourself, in which case you may do further damage. Or two, you can then pay the (sometimes hefty) price for someone experienced to fix it. Just like your car, it costs more to fix it than it does to maintain it properly. Regular oil changes help keep your car running properly, regular site maintenance helps keeps your web site running properly.
Call in a Professional
Why not deal with what you know best and let us deal with what we know best? Would you try to fight that court battle without a lawyer? Then why try to maintain your own website if you’re not a web professional? By securing an experienced web professional to update and maintain your site properly you are actually saving potential lost sales and visitors.
If you’re interested in securing a maintenance contract for your web site, contact us to learn how we can keep your site in proper working order. To view our Web Care Plan pricing go here.