As we find ourselves at the tail end of 2020, you may be thinking about some resolutions you’d like to take with you into the New Year.
Traditionally, the top promises we make to ourselves as we look to a brand-new year have to do with improving our health.
And as many of us know, regular exams such as dental cleanings and annual physicals are important to maintaining your overall health—and preventing issues from becoming big problems.
Did you know that this type of preventative maintenance is important for your website, too? Yessiree. And now’s a great time to start thinking about your website’s health goals for the New Year.
⇒ Get Stellar Monthly Maintenance
If your website is hosted with us, then you’re already familiar with the regular monthly maintenance we perform on your site, which includes:
- backing up your site daily
- running updates on themes, plugins and the core WordPress software that powers your site
- checking the site for errors
This is all well and good, and you totally get a gold star. (Good job, you!) ⭐️
But the question does remain: Is there more you could be doing? (Hint: The answer is “yes”!)
⇒ Beyond the Basics: Periodic Site Checks
From time to time, it’s a good idea to take a deeper look at your website for potential issues and possible improvements. Below are 3 key areas you might want to review.
#1 – Overall Site Size
Over time, your website can really pack on the pounds (metaphorically speaking). As you add images and other types of content to your website, you might find your site slowing down.
This can be due to something as simple as a single file that’s (much) larger than it should be, or as complex as many old, unused images and posts for a site that’s been around for a while.
🧡 Health benefit: Reviewing your site size from time to time and cleaning out content you don’t need anymore can help prevent these slowdowns before they become a problem.
#2 – Broken Links
Like cavities in your teeth, broken links can eventually erode your user’s confidence in your site. You may have moved content around in your own site or have links to external sites and blogs that may have disappeared.
Addressing these links is not only crucial for optimal user experience, but it’s also important for the search engines, which discount sites with too many “404: Page Not Found” errors.
🧡 Health benefit: It’s important to check for and fix broken links across your site so that your visitors can find the content they’re looking for. (And it makes those search engines happy.)
#3 – Security Checks
Hackers and bots are like germs just looking for a way into your website.
Luckily, for our clients’ sites we manage, we’re already doing a lot of things to keep their websites secure, but our clients play a role in this as well—and no website security system is foolproof.
From time to time, you should plan to review your site for any malicious files or code and review your own security procedures. (Use strong, unique passwords, please!)
🧡 Health benefit: A more secure website = a reduced chance of infection and a happier website owner.
⇒ Is It Time For Your Site’s Checkup?
You spend a lot of energy and effort getting visitors interested in your business and your website—and you should make sure it’s in its best shape!
Luckily, CodeGeek can help with a Website Spot Check. The Website Spot Check is like a checkup at the doctor’s office. It’s a chance to ask a few questions and get a high-level understanding of your website’s general health.
Our Website Spot Check report provides a health update on these five areas:
- Site speed check
- Broken link report
- Blocked list report & notifications
- Accessibility report
- Website security
Is your site ready to ring in the New Year with an annual checkup? If the answer is “yes!”, then give the Geeks a call! We’ll keep our stethoscopes at the ready.