Relief for the Small Biz Chief Cook and Bottle Washer – Website Maintenance Part 2

In a 2013 Verisign study of small business online presence, respondents cited a universal concern regarding on-going maintenance of the company website. The same study indicated something that you probably already know: more than half of the small businesses surveyed lacked dedicated staff to support digital marketing efforts such as SEO, website maintenance and online advertising. If you are a member of the majority, this website maintenance series is for you. In the first installment, Darnell Smith, web and technology expert, paid a visit to LGK’s The Marketing Mojo Show to discuss website maintenance musts for small businesses. His company, Business in the Black, builds small business websites and provides instruction for in-house maintenance. You can listen to his entire interview here. In this post, the website maintenance checklist below will provide some much-needed relief to your operational workflow.

Maintain a list of related account permissions and expiration dates:
- Website Domain Name Registration Company Info
- Website Hosting Company Info
- Website Administration Access Info
- FTP Access Info
- Social Media Accounts Info
- Email / CRM Account Info
- Any 3rd Party Website Extension Info
Visit your site regularly and view it on different browsers and devices (tablet, mobile, desktop).
Annually update the copyright date in your footer.
Ensure your business information is correct (e.g., phone numbers, address, etc.).
Check links – yes, all of them, including your social media links and images. Correct or remove broken links.
Test your forms (e.g., subscription, contact, etc.).
Create a back up copy of your site. Most hosting companies will walk you through this.
Review page titles, tags and keywords.
Check text for typos, grammatical errors and outdated information.
Update the home (front) page. Try swapping out a photo, article or special offer.
Check your site’s dashboard for any site, theme or plugin updates or newer versions and install them. Updates provide improved features, strengthens site security and fixes software bugs.
Add new content, especially to your blog. Read this post for blogging tips from social media expert Kristi Hines.