Websites are one of the most important assets for businesses, they are your online storefront, your virtual office, and often the first point of contact for potential customers. However, websites require upkeep and maintenance to ensure they remain functional and effective. Many businesses make the mistake of thinking that once their website is up and running, they can just leave it and focus on running their business. This couldn’t be further from the truth, in fact, maintaining your website is much cheaper than having to fix it once it’s broken. Don’t neglect website maintenance – it’s essential for your site’s success and significantly impacts our search engine optimization (SEO).
How Website Maintenance Impacts SEO
- Website Security
Search engines are increasingly prioritizing security and are giving preferential treatment to secure sites. Google has even gone so far as to label sites that are not secure as “not secure” in their search results, which can be a major turn-off for users. - Website Speed
Another critical factor that impacts your SEO is your site’s speed. If your site takes too long to load, users are more likely to leave and search engines will penalize you for it. Google has made site website speed a priority in their search algorithm and even provides a tool, PageSpeed Insights, to help you improve your site’s load times. - Mobile-Friendliness
More and more users are accessing the internet through their mobile devices, which means having a mobile-friendly site is essential for your SEO. If your site is not optimized for mobile devices, users will have a hard time viewing and navigating your site, which can lead to a high bounce rate and lower rankings in search results. Google has also made mobile-friendliness a priority in their search algorithm and even provides a tool, the Mobile-Friendly Test, to help you evaluate your site’s mobile-friendliness. By ensuring your site is mobile-friendly and responsive, you can improve your SEO and provide a better user experience for your mobile visitors. - Content Freshness
Search engines prioritize fresh and relevant content in their search results, which means that website maintenance can impact your SEO by keeping your site’s content up-to-date and relevant. Regularly updating your site with fresh content can also help improve your site’s rankings for specific keywords and demonstrate to search engines that your site is active and relevant. - Broken Links
Broken links, or links that no longer work, can negatively impact your SEO by providing a poor user experience and causing search engines to penalize your site. Regularly checking for broken links and fixing them can help improve your site’s user experience and prevent search engines from penalizing your site.
Let’s Talk?
Do you have questions about maintaining your website or SEO? Hammersmith Support is here to help explain it in a way that makes its easy to understand. Schedule a complimentary consultation and we will talk through all of your questions.