As a small business owner in the UK, your website is your lifeline to attract new customers and retain existing ones. However, maintaining a website is not a set-it-and-forget-it task but requires constant upkeep and attention. In this blog post, we offer some tips on website maintenance that UK small businesses can follow to keep their websites up-to-date, secure, and functional.
- Regularly Check for Broken Links
Broken links can harm the user experience and negatively impact search engine rankings. As such, regularly checking and fixing broken links on your website is important. You can use a free online tool like Broken Link Checker to scan your website and identify any broken links. Once you identify them, you can remove them or redirect them to relevant content. - Update Your Content
Outdated content sends a message that your website is not being actively maintained, which does not give a good impression to users. Furthermore, search engines favour websites that are frequently updated with fresh and relevant content. Therefore, it is essential to update your website regularly, whether it’s by adding new products or services, creating blog posts, or updating your about us page. - Test Your Website’s Speed
Website speed is a crucial factor in user experience, and a slow website can result in higher bounce rates and lost sales. You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to evaluate your website’s speed. Based on the results, you can take necessary actions to optimize your website’s performance by using image compression, reducing HTTP requests, and caching. - Backup Your Website
Regular website backups are essential for protecting your website from potential risks or disasters like hacking, server crashes, or accidentally deleting important files. Therefore, it is crucial to back up your website regularly, preferably daily, and store them in different locations. You can also use a backup plugin like Jetpack or UpdraftPlus to schedule backups automatically. - Keep Your Website Secure
Website security is essential to protect your website visitors’ sensitive data and to prevent hackers from damaging your website’s reputation. Several website security measures can be implemented, like choosing a secure web hosting provider, using an SSL certificate, and updating your website’s themes and plugins regularly. You can also use a security plugin like iThemes Security or Wordfence to add extra layers of security to your website.
By following these website maintenance tips, UK small business owners can ensure that their website is up-to-date, secure, and functional, benefiting their customers, their search engine rankings and their business as a whole. By making regular website maintenance a part of your routine, you can avoid unexpected issues and downtimes, giving you more time and resources to focus on growing your business.