You have just had your website launch and congratulate yourself on job well done, because it was bloody hard work.
It’s finally time to relax about the website and start doing business for real. Right?
…Yes, take a well-deserved break from the techy stuff… But not a sabbatical!
Because your website is like a relationship – it needs some care and attention to make sure it still gives you the good stuff.
You want to avoid that your website suddenly:
- Disappears overnight
- Stops performing as lovingly as it used to
- Redirects to some dubious sex site
Not great for your professional online image. And you may not notice until someone tells you. Like… months later :O
Why would ever terrible things happen to your website?
Because a website that is not kept up to date will be vulnerable to hack-attacks, certain functions may suddenly stop working (and maybe you don’t even notice), losing potential clients as you go.
How to avoid trouble after website launch?
It’s easy!
Set your website as your homepage or one of the tabs in your browser that opens automatically
Why? Because you will be the first to know if your website is down and can fix it quickly (because you have a back-up with your hosting and also a back-up plugin, right? Don’t even go to the next step before you have this sorted ;).
Then, once every one or two weeks, log in to your website and:
Update your plugins
Why? It will keep your site safe and stable, resistant to hack-attacks.
Send a message to yourself via your contact form and sign up to your blog
Why? If your contact form and sign up box is not working you lose clients. 99% of the time, visitors are not going to take the time to tell you that it’s not working.
Check that your links are working
Why? A broken link gives a bad impression, and make you lose potential clients.
Easy as that 🙂 It can take less than 5 minutes, and save you from losing your website.
You think only bigger sites with lots of traffic get hacked? Not true. Maintaining your website is not a lot of work, but it requires you to be consistent. Set a reminder in your calendar, or if you know you will be hopeless at it, hire someone to do it for you.
Need help? Give me a shout.
Have a website hack story to tell, or something else on your heart? Share in the comments!
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