Congratulations! Your new website is live and you’re feeling like a million bucks. Now what should you do? Having your website built is just the first step. There are still two pretty big buckets that need to be filled every month.
But before I get into that, a little story…
As I launch my new website, which has taken far longer than I want to admit, I also am dealing with life in COVID-19. I started my business in 2007 as a single mother who wanted to be home with my daughter and pay the bills. She is now 22 and life has shifted but my business has made it easy for me to shift with it. My mom is now having some health issues and I could easily take the time I needed to help her. I moved into her house to help her recover from the initial surgery (the Whipple procedure) but complications have kept her in the hospital for what’s going on 8 weeks now. Due to COVID restrictions, visitation has been limited and this has proven to be one of the most emotional times I’ve experienced. However, during this time, I’ve found a focus in the form of a hanging basket that was a gift to my mom from one of her friends before she left for surgery. When I was feeling overwhelmed, I would go outside and take care of this plant. Now, it’s become a mission. I want that plant to be alive and full and beautiful when Mom finally gets home.
What does all of this have to do with your website? Well, that plant needs to be maintained every day. It needs water and it needs the dead flowers removed. Without both of those things, it won’t flourish.
Your website needs things too. It needs maintenance and it needs content.
Without regular maintenance, your new site will eventually have problems. If you’re using WordPress, you need to have regular backups performed. If anything goes wrong, having a good backup makes it possible to restore your site quickly and easily. You need to make sure updates are being performed. Some updates are small bug fixes, and some updates fix major vulnerabilities and they need to be performed immediately. There’s also scanning for malware and broken links, as well as simply being reviewed on a regular basis for anything that might be “off”. You can grab a copy of 5 Essentials for Keeping Your Website Safe for a more detailed idea of what you need to do.
Content is and always will be king. It’s one of the key elements of your website and without updated content, your website runs the risk of becoming stale. There are so many ways to add content to a website it might surprise you — blog posts, podcasts, videos, and the list goes on and on. If you struggle with content you’re not alone. But it has to be done. If you need support in your content creation, my SEO Content Package might be just what you need to take the burden off.
If you do nothing else with your new website, spend some time to keep it maintained and fresh. Your business will thank you for it. And if you ever need help with any of it, I’d be thrilled to have a conversation about it.
