5 Website Maintenance Tips for DIY Web Hosts
DIY websites are a recent trend. They generate income, offer a platform for sharing expertise or discussion, and can be used for commerce purposes too. Whatever the intention of the site, it will require some upkeep to remain relevant and functional. There are do-it-yourself options and outsourcing ones too. What you choose is dictated by your level of personal expertise and knowledge about website building and maintenance. If you’re wondering how to keep your website relevant, here are some tips for DIY hosts.
Backing Up Your Website
Backing up virtual data is essential. If your site crashes completely or malfunctions, having a backup will help to rectify this. Specifically, it is essential to understand how to access that backup once it’s completed. Ideally, backups should take place every time an update happens, or new content is loaded to the platform. This would protect every piece of information stored online and provide recovery options if the worst were to happen.
Keep Up with Updates
Similarly, all plug-ins, especially those hosted on WordPress, need to be the most recent version to ensure functions run smoothly. Plug-ins are updated by the provider on a regular basis, sometimes weekly. You are tasked with staying alert and responsive to any and all that come along. If you don’t, the site is at risk of performing poorly and breaking down completely.
Old plugins are a direct route for hackers, which you want to avoid at all costs. Other key influencers and platforms include Drupal, Magneto, and Joomla. If you use any of their functions, they have to be the most recent version to avoid security breaches and general malfunctions.
Clean It Up and Declutter
If you don’t use a plug-in anymore, delete it! It is taking up valuable data space that could be better used elsewhere. Anything that has been deactivated can go as long as you are absolutely sure it’s not needed to help the site work. Any out-of-date user profiles can go as well.
Again, these are a direct line for hackers, which is less than ideal. Just under 40% of the top-ranking websites are powered by WordPress. It is a key player in this area. So, it’s a safe assumption that your site is as well. WordPress plug-ins go out of date frequently. You have to be savvy about this in order to keep your site optimized at all times.
Monitoring SEO Functions
SEO strategies are the most direct route to generating profit and monitoring performance. Everyone who owns a website should get to know more about SEO. Standing for search engine optimization, the core focus is on making your website attractive in the eyes of the search engine. This could look like embedding buzz phrases and keywords into blog posts or a wider multi-media content strategy.
By following a comprehensive SEO strategy, you will enhance and improve user engagement on the site across the board.
What Are Strong SEO Practices?
A strong SEO approach focuses on six core areas:
- Meta tags and descriptions
- Internal links
- Using keywords
- Tracking user experience analytics
- Quality content
- Good title tags
Monitoring Tips
You can monitor your SEO functions in different ways. Firstly, through your site host data analysis tool, which should have the option to provide an overview. Secondly, you can monitor and discover how things are going directly through Google. Focus on:
- Tracking conversions
- Bounce rates
- User time dedication across the pages
- How your keywords are shaping up in the rankings
Outsourcing the Maintenance
For those struggling to stay on top of basic maintenance (understandable), there are outsourcing options to consider. Certain website maintenance packages do the hard work on your behalf and ensure the site remains running smoothly. This frees you up to do more exciting jobs like adding content and engaging with the users or even working on your advertising and marketing strategy. So, what can these services offer?
- Checking on plug-ins
- Performing essential updates
- Optimization tips for superior SEO performance
- Link auditing
- Page speed optimization
The Benefits of Outsourcing
To help you decide whether to outsource or remain in the driving seat, here is a list of benefits.
Time Considerations
A large part of hosting a website is adding relevant content and bringing people to your platform. With all the maintenance taken care of, there will be much more space for the actual content side of website ownership. If your site is commerce focused, you will have more space to focus on product promotion and engagement. If your site makes its money through affiliate links or similar channels, the same theory applies!
Optimizing Functions
Conversion speeds, plug-ins, refresh rates and beyond are all relevant terms for site maintenance. Outsourcing these means that they are always performing optimally against competitors.
Enhanced Site Security
Professional site engineers are up to date with all the current security update requirements for website protocols. Updating essential plug-ins and maintaining security features is a preventative approach to deterring cybercrime against your site. Outsourcing means there is a dedicated service monitoring security factors so the site remains protected.
The Cost Advantage
The majority of people set up a site to earn passive income, which might even eventually lead to active income. However, this is a slow process if you are learning on the job. Regular maintenance packages probably cost less than you think. They are also extremely supportive of generating more money from the site generally.
Therefore, there is a clear cost advantage to acknowledge. You won’t have to spend money learning how to do essential tasks or lose money from poorly functioning applications and similar.
Conclusion
For DIY hosts figuring it out as you go, website maintenance might be overwhelming at first. There are lots of functions to stay vigilant about, and if any single one of them slips, the site is at risk of negative performance. This will cost you time, money, and resources.
If you choose to do it yourself, get to know all the aspects and learn how to stay in the loop effectively, empowered by the correct knowledge and toolset. If you decide outsourcing is better for your site model, that’s fine too and comes with many benefits.
