In addition to producing world-class websites, microsites, branding and videos for our clientele, a key offering is website maintenance. This is the ongoing work of hosting, updating and protecting clients’ websites.
Last year, our team spent hundreds of hours on “back end maintenance” for our clients. Here are the five main categories of maintenance work we performed for our clients in 2016.
1. Site Speed Modifications — Improving a website’s load speed improves its Google ranking. This is what we spent the most time on in 2016.
2. Replacing Plug-ins — As better software tools become available that can optimize a web site’s performance and functionality, we swap out the old for the new.
3. Adding Security Patches — Building-in additional protection for client sites.
4. Hack Clean-ups — Fixing and restoring client sites after a breach.
5. Monitoring Server Health — The server is where websites actually live. Making sure that it always updated and protected against threats ensures your site is always available when people are looking for you.
About 95% of the dental practices who hire us to create new websites for them opt into the Maintenance Package, and for good reason. Here’s what they get with it:
- Unlimited content changes per month
- Secure hosting for website
- 24/7 Website Editor Access
- Browser Compatibility Updates
- Website Routinely Monitored
- Stay Current With Software Updates
- Site back-up
- Up to four additional optimized site pages per year (great for SEO)
- A free website re-design every three years (“FREE every THREE”)
But for many busy dentists and practice administrators, just knowing that someone is always paying attention to their website might be the biggest benefit of our website maintenance offering.
A Sad Website Maintenance Story
Recently, a client who made her own arrangements for website hosting and maintenance ran into some trouble. She ignored repeated emails about the practice’s web address expiring soon, and failed to renew it. The very moment her dental practice’s web address expired, someone else bought it.
The new owner of that url offered to sell it back to the practice for an exorbitant sum. Ultimately, the dentist found it cheaper to buy a new web address and build a new website, rather than pay the “ransom” for the previous url. However, all previous momentum, search engine rankings, etc. were lost when that url went away.
It was a frustrating experience for her, to be sure. And, one that might have been avoided if another set of eyes were on her site.