A healthy website is a good website.

Websites might not get sick like people do. But while they might not get the sniffles or a stomach bug, they can absolutely run into problems. Broken links, server errors, and viruses are among the many ailments a website can encounter.

To prevent these minor problems for your website from becoming major problems for your whole business, you need website maintenance. Here’s why.

User Experience

A frustrated visitor to your website is not a visitor that is likely to give you their money.

Imagine clicking a link on a website and waiting. And waiting. The only thing you see is the dreaded Spinning Wheel of Death.

You give up and try another website.

This new website shows some more promise. There’s an informative blog, and you find a product that you want to buy.

You put the item in your cart, check out, click “confirm purchase,” and… uh-oh! The website crashed.

Both of these businesses missed out on potential sales because website maintenance wasn’t a priority. Their lack of oversight led to a poor user experience.

Bad UX often has a direct correlation to high bounce rates, low traffic, and poor sales. But so many of those UX problems can be fixed with some maintenance by Webbyra i vasteras or another web design agency.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is an important part of bringing visitors to your website. But a bad website puts up tons of red flags for search engine algorithms.

Several of the most important factors for appearing in high position on search rankings relate to how well your website runs.

If your website doesn’t load within about three seconds, your ranking will be hurt.

If your website contains broken links and 404 errors, your ranking will be hurt.

If your website isn’t optimized for mobile browsers through responsive design, your ranking will be hurt.

An unmaintained website is a good way to ruin your SEO. Your site will get knocked way down in the rankings and you’ll have little chance of ever earning any organic traffic.

Website maintenance is an essential part of search engine optimization. If you keep your website running smoothly, you start to see more and more traffic from search engines.

Brand Reputation

Imagine walking into a store and realizing the place is a mess.

There’s trash all over the place, all the items on the shelves are thrown around haphazardly, and there’s a bad smell.

There’s a good chance you turn around, walk out the store, and never come back.

You’ll always remember that store as the place that was messed up and needed some help. That brand will always have a poor connotation in your mind.

The same can be said for a broken website. If a web surfer visits your site and sees or experiences a lot of problems, they’ll leave and be sure to avoid your domain in the future.

Your website is the digital face of your brand. It’s the first impression many people have of your business. If your website leaves a bad impression, you will have a damaged brand reputation that will impact your company far beyond web traffic.

Website Maintenance is Key for Your Company

Without website maintenance, your website could accumulate more and more problems over time, causing major issues for your business. To be successful, make sure you’re giving your site frequent check-ups.

For more tips about website optimization, check out our blog.