Website Maintenance for Beginners: Your Guide to Getting Started
Many website owners often overlook the importance of regular website maintenance. But without consistent updates, your site becomes slow, is exposed to security threats, or fails to rank well in search results. In fact, according to InVision, slow-loading websites cost businesses $2.6 billion in revenue loss.
In this guide, we’ll show you which maintenance tasks to focus on, how they help prevent costly issues, and whether you should handle them yourself or hire experts.
We’ll also introduce you to tools that can streamline the maintenance process to ensure your website remains secure, efficient, and competitive.
What is website maintenance?
Website maintenance is about keeping your site secure, functional, and optimized for users and search engines. Think of it like regular upkeep for your home—you make sure that everything works smoothly and stays in great shape.
Additionally, website maintenance isn’t only about fixing issues when they appear. It’s a proactive and continuous process so you deliver a seamless web experience for visitors without fail and avoid costly problems down the road.
6 Website maintenance tasks you should do
1. Improve your security
Security updates strengthen your website security by protecting your site from cyberattacks, data breaches, and malware infections. A compromised website can harm your business by exposing sensitive customer data. When this happens, you’ll lose your reputation and money from the legal fees and damage control.
To prevent these issues, enhance your security regularly. This maintains user confidence and prevents disruptions caused by hacking or data loss. Strong security practices also help you avoid legal repercussions or penalties from search engines.
In addition, this proactive measure keeps your site safe from new threats and maintains your online reputation as a trustworthy business.
Best practices:
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- Enable automatic updates for themes and plugins.
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- Use security plugins like SiteLock Security to scan for vulnerabilities routinely and protect against hacks.
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2. Back up your data
Backups ensure that you won’t lose your website data in an emergency, such as a server failure, cyberattack, or human error. If you skip this task, you might lose valuable content, customer information, or worse, business revenue.
Back up your site frequently to restore it quickly and avoid business operation interruptions during an attack.
Best practices:
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- Set up automatic backups using UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy to save your site’s data constantly.
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- Store backups in cloud storage (e.g., Google Drive or Dropbox) and external storage for redundancy.
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3. Monitor your website performance
Performance monitoring involves checking for slow loading time, broken links, and excessive scripts, among other things. Keeping an eye on these issues is important because they negatively affect user experience (UX) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
For example, slow website speed drives visitors away before they get to see what you offer. According to Google, 53% of mobile users leave a website if its loading time is more than three seconds.
By conducting routine performance monitoring, you can give a seamless experience for visitors, maintain higher search rankings, and stay ahead of competitors.
Best practices:
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- Use Google PageSpeed Insights. It provides information about issues that slow down your site and offers actionable recommendations for improvement.
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- Check for broken links using tools like Dead Link Checker.
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4. Refresh your content
Google and other search engines prefer fresh, relevant content. If your website doesn’t feature updated material, it risks dropping in search rankings, making it harder for users to find.
Keeping your content up-to-date ensures that your website remains relevant to visitors and search engines. It boosts SEO by targeting current keywords and addressing user intent. It also attracts return visitors and informs search engines that your site is authoritative and active. This strengthens your site’s visibility in search results and keeps your brand competitive in your industry.
Best practices:
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- Update blog posts and product descriptions to reflect the latest trends, industry changes, or product modifications.
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- Remove outdated content to maintain a clean, focused site that offers the best value to users.
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5. Optimize for mobile devices and browsers
Mobile and browser compatibility makes sure your site displays or functions properly on various devices and browsers. Without it, you might encounter layout issues, broken functionality, or a completely unusable site on certain devices. This will ultimately discourage users from visiting again.
Optimize your website to avoid such problems. This maintenance task improves accessibility so your site is usable for a larger audience.
Apart from that, a website that works well on mobile devices boosts engagement and reduces bounce rates. It also builds trust with users since it looks professional. Additionally, this task contributes to better SEO rankings since your users stay longer on your site, telling search engines that it’s relevant and useful.
Best practice:
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- Use BrowserStack to test your website’s performance across various mobile devices and browsers. It gives a detailed view of how your site behaves in different environments.
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6. Update your SEO tactics
New SEO trends emerge as search engine algorithms constantly evolve. If you continue using outdated SEO tactics, you risk losing valuable rankings and missing out on organic traffic.
Update your SEO strategies regularly to keep your content optimized for relevant keywords. This also helps you create web content that’s aligned with the latest search engine algorithms.
Additionally, frequent SEO maintenance drives new customers to your site. This approach can lead to higher conversion rates and better overall performance for your business.
Best practices:
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- Update meta tags, headings, and keywords consistently to reflect current trends and SEO best practices. Make sure that your content matches users’ search intent, too.
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- Use tools like Yoast SEO (for WordPress) or SEMrush to monitor your site’s SEO health. These tools help identify issues like missing alt text or duplicate content and guide you in resolving them to maintain strong SEO performance.
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Website maintenance checklist
Regular website maintenance ensures your site remains competitive, trustworthy, and always ready to meet your visitors’ needs. Follow the checklist below to help you stay on top of maintenance tasks.
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- Check and apply security updates
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- Back up website data
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- Monitor website performance
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- Refresh website content
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- Test your site for mobile and browser compatibility
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- Update SEO techniques
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Why is website maintenance important?
Consistent site maintenance is not just a necessity—it’s an investment. Its main benefit is enhancing your site’s UX, but there’s more than that. It also:
Boosts user trust and engagement
When your website is well-maintained, users feel more confident navigating it. Frequent updates and a smooth, functional UX entice users to stay on your site longer and interact with your content more.
This leads to better retention, more engagement, and higher conversion rates. It also shows your audience that your business values its digital presence and cares about providing a great UX.
Keeps your website competitive
Website maintenance ensures your website is refined based on the latest trends and technologies. It helps you stay relevant by keeping your design, functionality, and content fresh and aligned with industry standards. Websites that adapt to changes in user behavior and search engine algorithms rank higher, attract new visitors, and retain loyal users.
Avoids expensive emergency fixes
Neglecting routine maintenance may seem like a time-saver in the short run. But when we’re talking long term, it can lead to costly repairs.
For instance, security vulnerabilities can be expensive to fix and might result in losing user trust. Similarly, if performance issues like slow load times or broken features go unchecked, the cost of recovery becomes more significant when users abandon your site.
Finally, if you neglect security maintenance and get your customers’ data breached, legal fines and compensation can be heavy on your finances.
Routine maintenance prevents these issues from becoming major problems, saving you time and money in the long run.
Enables your site to scale
As you scale your business, your website should grow with it, too. Regular maintenance ensures that your site remains scalable and flexible to accommodate new content, features, or a larger audience. This means your website can evolve with your business by adapting to future demands.
How often should you perform website maintenance?
The frequency of website maintenance largely depends on the size, complexity, and nature of your site. Smaller websites can usually manage with monthly maintenance. On the other hand, larger, more dynamic websites require weekly to bi-weekly checks.
Smaller websites (monthly)
Smaller websites usually don’t have frequent updates or dynamic content. So, tasks like content updates, performance checks, and security scans can be handled monthly. But it’s still important to perform these tasks every week:
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- Check for broken links
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- Update software and plugins
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- Test for performance issues
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- Back up your data
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Larger websites (weekly to bi-weekly)
Alternately, larger websites with high traffic and a complex setup require more attention. These websites should undergo maintenance on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to maintain performance, security, and content changes.
For these sites, you should perform maintenance tasks like:
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- Looking into performance issues and broken links weekly.
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- Executing security scans on a bi-weekly basis.
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- Updating content frequently.
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7 Reliable tools for website maintenance
1. Google Analytics
Google Analytics monitors how users interact with your website. It helps you gain information regarding where visitors find you, what they do on your site, and which pages you need to improve.
This data empowers you to make informed decisions about content updates, design changes, and marketing strategies.
2. Pingdom
Pingdom checks your site’s speed, uptime, and overall health. It provides insights into your website’s loading time, enabling you to identify performance issues and optimize your site.
3. SiteLock Security
SiteLock scans your website for malware, vulnerabilities, and other security threats. It provides real-time protection by detecting and removing malicious code and defending against hacking attempts.
SiteLock also includes Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection and website monitoring. It’s an excellent investment for sites that handle sensitive customer data or operate in competitive industries.
4. UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus prevents data loss in case of server issues or security breaches. It automates the process of backing up your website and storing the data in cloud storage.
5. Broken Link Checker
Broken Link Checker automatically scans your site and offers a detailed report of all broken links. This saves you time and allows you to quickly address issues without having to manually check each link.
6. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that guides you in improving your meta tags, keywords, and overall website structure. Yoast also provides real-time suggestions for improving content, readability, and SEO performance.
7. SEMrush
SEMrush is an all-in-one tool for SEO, performance monitoring, and competitive analysis. It helps you track your site’s search rankings, perform keyword research, and monitor competitors.
SEMrush also provides insights into backlinks, traffic sources, and other elements that can affect your website’s search engine visibility.
General website maintenance cost breakdown
Website maintenance costs are based on the site type, size, and how frequently it needs updates. Here are some general cost ranges for different types of websites:
Personal websites
For personal blogs or small portfolios, maintenance costs are typically low, ranging from $5 to $25 per month.
Essential maintenance tasks:
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- Basic hosting
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- Occasional updates
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- Minor adjustments
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Small business websites
For small business sites, maintenance costs range from $50 to $200 per month.
Essential maintenance tasks:
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- Hosting
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- Software updates
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- Security scans
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- Routine backups
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- Content updates
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- SEO management
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- Email marketing software
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- Analytics
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Large eCommerce websites
Larger eCommerce sites require much more intensive maintenance, and costs can range from $1,000 to $5,000 per month.
Essential maintenance tasks:
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- Inventory management
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- Product page updates
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- Performance checks
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- Secure payment tools
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- High traffic optimization
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DIY vs professional website maintenance
For small websites or personal projects, many maintenance tasks can be handled by the website owners themselves. This includes updating content, monitoring performance, and running security scans.
Tools like Google Analytics, UpdraftPlus, and Pingdom offer free or affordable options that enable DIY maintenance.
Meanwhile, professional website maintenance services can provide more advanced features that are beneficial for larger websites. They offer custom security measures, detailed performance optimizations, and ongoing content management.
Hiring an expert saves you time and ensures that tasks are completed correctly, but it will come with a higher cost.
| DIY website maintenance | Professional website maintenance |
| ✓ Cost-effective | ✓ Expertise |
| ✓ Full control | ✓ Time-saving |
| ✓ Learning opportunity | ✓ Advanced services |
| ✓ Flexibility | ✓ Consistent monitoring |
| ✓ Basic tasks | ✓ Focus on growth |
Keep your website performing at its best
Don’t deprive your website of its full potential. Keep it in top shape by enhancing its security, updating its content, or refining your SEO techniques.
As you start your website maintenance routine, switch to Domain.com today! We provide a range of tools and services that make maintaining your site a breeze. From strong website security features to mobile optimization, we’ll make sure your website succeeds online.
