Website Maintenance Costs

Website maintenance costs

are an important factor in running a successful website. Like any tangible product, be it a car, building or electrical item, a website needs regular maintenance if it is to perform to its full potential.

Many businesses that have a website fail to realise the importance of updating their website on a regular basis. Perhaps because their website isn’t something they can touch or feel, they often let their website languish online and forget about it once the excitement of its launch has faded.

But this is perhaps the biggest mistake any website owner can make. By failing to maintain the content of their website once a week or even once a month, they are missing out on new traffic courtesy of the search engines organic traffic. Traffic which is free.

So, how much does website maintenance cost? Is it actually a cost, or an investment? Think about your car or works van for a second. You probably paid a few thousand pounds for it or are paying for it each month on finance or through a leasing company. It’s clean, reliable, looks good and you’re probably hoping it’s retaining some kind of value so when it comes to trading it in for a newer model it hasn’t depreciated too much.

As part of your regular maintenance you will check the oil, tyre pressures, water and obviously fuel. And once it reaches a certain level of miles you’ll probably book it in for a service. Because a good service history means the vehicle is going to show it’s been well looked after and will increase its resale value when the time comes.

All that money you spend on your vehicle is actually an investment in the future so you probably don’t look at it as a cost. The same can be said of website maintenance.

Okay, you may not be thinking of selling your website in 2 or 3 years but by spending a little each month on keeping your website content updated with fresh, relevant content actually helps your website in a number of ways.

Firstly, the search engines will place a website that is updated regularly higher in its search engine results pages (SERP’s) than a website that rarely changes. This means customers that are looking for what you sell or what you do will be able to find your website much more easily as it won’t be hidden on page 489. Statistics have shown that most people rarely venture beyond page two of SERP’s so it makes sense to ensure you’re giving your website the love and care it needs to flourish online. After all, it’s a dog eat dog world out there!

Secondly, your customers will be more likely to contact you via your website if they can see that the content on it is up to date. It builds trust and provides them with up to date information on what you’re doing as a business. That offer you had in 2005 may have been popular back then but how many people are asking about it now?

And thirdly, if your website is out of date code wise, it could be vulnerable to hackers. Many web designers (ourselves included!) use popular platforms such as WordPress or Joomla to build feature rich websites for clients. These open source platforms are easy to use and are also pretty easy to hack, especially if the system is out of date. Think of the time and hassle, not to mention the cost, involved in trying to recover your website from the clutches of a hacker, especially if it hasn’t been backed-up for 6 months or more.

At The Updaters our Website Maintenance Costs are a drop in the ocean compared to hiring a full, or even part time member of staff and, because we’re experts in web design and maintenance services, we ensure that your content is presented correctly every time we update your website for you.

Take a look at our website maintenance packages and then contact us once you’ve found the best solution for your business. Remember, website maintenance costs aren’t a luxury. They’re essential.