The site is live, it looks good, everyone is happy. And then nobody touches it for months.
It is a very common mistake. A website isn't a poster you put up and forget, it is more like a car: it runs well only if someone looks after it.
Why launching isn't enough
A website sits on several parts: the platform it is built on, plugins, a server, a security certificate, a domain. All of them change over time, even if you change nothing.
Browsers get updated. New security issues appear. The services your site is connected to change their rules.
What worked perfectly on launch day may not work a year later.
What website maintenance actually means
Looking after a website is nothing mysterious. It is a list of things done regularly, by someone who knows what to look for:
- Updates for the platform and plugins, tested first
- Security: checks, passwords, a valid certificate
- Automatic backups, stored somewhere other than the site itself
- Content kept current: opening hours, offers, contact details
- Monitoring: the site is online and the forms work
None of it is spectacular. Together, they are the difference between a site you can rely on and one that fails at the worst possible moment.
Maintenance is the kind of work you only notice when it is missing.
What happens to an abandoned site
At first, nothing visible. That is why it is so easy to put off.
Then the small signs show up. A page loads more slowly, an image no longer appears, a button stops doing anything.
The contact form breaks in silence. Customers write to you, you receive nothing, and you have no way of knowing.
The content ages as well. Old opening hours or an expired offer tell the visitor that nobody is looking after this business anymore.
The worst scenario is the security one. A site that isn't updated is an easy target, and if it gets hacked and you have no backup, you can lose everything you built.
Repairing afterwards always costs more than caring beforehand.
What do I do after the launch?
The right question isn't "whether", it is "who". Someone has to be clearly responsible for the site.
You can do part of it yourself, especially keeping the content up to date. The technical side is better left with someone who does it regularly and knows what to check.
How much attention a site needs depends on a few things: how complex it is, whether it has an online shop or payments, how often the content changes, how much the business depends on it.
A simple presentation site needs little. An online shop that your daily orders depend on needs a lot more.
A looked-after site works for you
You invested in the site so it would bring you customers. Maintenance is what lets it keep doing that next year, not just in the month it launched.
If you don't know what state your website is in right now, write to us. We'll take a look and tell you honestly what it needs and what can wait.