You've gone through the website build: refined your design, crafted some compelling content, devised a neat user experience. Time to crack the champagne and forget about the website right? You definitely have our permission on the champagne front - but the website work doesn't end there.

Websites need ongoing maintenance and love.

We're not just talking about adding content and making sure you keep refining your website to better engage with your users (although you should definitely be doing that too). We're talking about the behind the scenes software that powers your website. And no, you don't have to be a code genius to maintain your software. It's sort of like updating your operating system on your phone - but can require some oversight by a professional to make sure there isn't any downtime or adverse effect to your website.

What happens if I don't maintain my website?

Think about a car. You could run a car for years without ever taking it in for a service, or putting air in the tyres, or even cleaning it. But sure enough, one day, you're going to run into problems. It might be 6 months down the line, it might be 6 years down the line - but one day, something will stop working. It could only be a minor issue or it could be a fault that brings the whole thing to a grinding halt. Ignoring your website is quite similar - except you have the added vulnerabilities of becoming susceptible to hackers or starting to become out of date with other technology (for example new versions of browsers). So now imagine starting to leave the car unlocked and put the wrong petrol in it - and you're getting the picture of how important website maintenance is. So basically, you can ignore your website and do no maintenance work - but it'll come back to bite you, and it could bite hard. If your website is essential to your business then maintenance should be a key element of your agreement with your digital partner.

How do I go about maintaining my website?

Ok, so we've sufficiently scared you and you're ready to take your website maintenance seriously. You'll want to check your Content Management System (if you're on one) and associated modules, to make sure they're up to date. You might also want to check that your site performs as intended across all devices and browsers. Now could be a great time to do a nice big audit of your site, find any issues or bugs and get onto fixing them. If it sounds like a lot of hassle and something you can't be bothered to do, you're lucky you found us. It's something we can do, no sweat! Whether you want to chat to us or go it on your own - make sure your website is getting regular love. Love it and it will love you back!