Drupal website maintenance

Congratulations! You have a beautiful, shiny new website that has many bells and quite a few whistles. It got launched on time and under budget! Phew, thankfully that is over and done with…

Er, not really.

You could let it sit on the world wide web and do its thing. “Build it and they will come” and all that – but seriously, your shiny new website does need to be maintained. It needs to be polished; it needs to be updated; it needs to be managed to ensure you are getting the best possible return on your investment.

Your business is not a static environment and neither should your website be.

There are several areas on which you should focus when considering website maintenance:

• Security
• Content
• Search Engine Optimization
• Realignment
• Hosting
• Analytics
• Goal Reporting

Knowing how your site is working (or not) is one of the most important yet overlooked metrics of your online presence.

In this article we will address each of the above topics.

Security

It is imperative your website is secure. Your site is the digital face of your company and if a customer visits your site and is greeted by an error page, no page or a hacked page then it does not instill confidence. With more and more websites being built on a content management system it becomes even more important to ensure it is kept up to date. Ensuring all staff working on the website follow online security best practices is also imperative to maintaining a secure environment.

Content

Your business is not a static environment and neither should your website be. In order to keep customers coming back for more it is important to refresh your content regularly. Having a content strategy plan goes a long way to enriching a website with valuable, relevant and informative content.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be an ongoing concern. Read our article on SEO for more info.

Realignment

New technologies and opportunities come along all the time and realigning your current website to take advantage of them is a cost effective way of staying ahead of your competition. Rather than redeveloping your current site, talk to us about our realignment services.

Hosting

Hosting is often thought of as simply a matter of choosing a host and paying your monthly bill. The reality is as your website changes then so may the requirements to optimize the performance of your website. An example could be as your website generates more content and site visitors you may need to upgrade your hosting environment to enhance the user experience.

Analytics

Knowing how your site is working (or not) is one of the most important yet overlooked metrics of your online presence. If you are not regularly monitoring your analytics then you can not know how visitors are using your site, as well as not know where to improve your site in order to make it more appealing and (hence) more successful in capturing your intended audience/customers.

Goal Reporting

Measuring success requires data and focus. The success of your site (or lack thereof) can only be known by setting concrete goals for your site and then following the data to determine if those intended goals are being achieved. Thinkbean's proven methods of both initial site development and subsequent re-alignment make certain your site has not only set the proper goals but is actually achieving them!