As we mentioned in our previous article, your Singapore business website is an entity that will continue to represent your business online. You invested a sizable amount of money and time in a brand new site that is mobile responsive. Proper website maintenance will ensure that you continue to profit from the lucrative digital business industry in Singapore.
Here are nine website maintenance tasks that you need to do at least once every month in Singapore to ensure that your brand stays afloat.
Review Analytics
Analytics help tracks the performance of a website, pinpoint problems that need to be resolved as well as business opportunities. It is by reviewing analytics reports that you will know traffic trends and gauge the performance of your online marketing strategies. For example, a drop in organic traffic is a sign of SEO (search engine optimization) issues that need to be resolved before they get out of hand.
Pages that receive a huge chunk of traffic and record-high engagement will give you an idea of the type of product, services, and content the target audience is most interested in. Use the Google analytics report to make informed decisions. In fact, every decision that you make regarding your Singapore business website should be based on the analytics report.
Review Bing Webmaster Tools/Google Search Console
As a Singapore business owner who is committed to generating leads online through your website and other strategies such as social media marketing, you need to master how to use Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster tools.
The two tools will help you identify problems on your website before they hit and ruin your digital marketing efforts. If there is an issue on your website that is preventing Bing and Google bots from indexing the pages, they will pinpoint it. You will also be notified of any malicious actions on the site such as hacking attempts.
Automated Backup
Most of the website hosting companies in Singapore do not provide automated backups. This means if the site is hacked and wiped out, you will have to go start all over again. Even though you can manually backup your site, consider automating the process to save time. Here is a review of the top WordPress backup plugins in the market.
UpdraftPlus plugin can help you do this website maintenance task. There is a free version that you can use to test its functionality before upgrading to the paid version that has more features.
Update All WordPress Plugins
We come across outdated WordPress plugins and core all the time. One of the mistakes business owners make is thinking that updating their website is a one-time thing. It is not – you should make sure that all WordPress plugins are updated to protect your site from new threats.
A few years ago, the hackers used a WordPress plugin, Revolution Slider that was not updated to gain access to a website without raising an alarm. By login into the WordPress admin dashboard, you will be able to see all the plugins that need to be updated. It only takes 2-3 minutes to complete the process and will secure your Singapore WordPress site fully.
Look for Broken Links
Broken links frustrate potential customers and encourage them to visit your competitor’s website and shop. Unknown to most people is that such links have a significant negative impact on on-site organic ranking. This is based on the fact that if a search engine bot is unable to find pages; they automatically devalue the entire website.
Smart digital marketers in Singapore are always on the lookout for broken links from trusted/authorities sites and reach out to the site owners to encourage them to link to their pages instead. This means that you risk losing high-value backlinks if your site has broken links.
Scream Frog is one of the best WordPress plugins you can use for this website maintenance task. It will scan your entire Singapore business site for broken links. The free version can look for broken links in up to 500 pages. Go for the paid version if you have a larger site.
Check Page Speed
Page speed is another ranking factor used by Google and other search engines to rank websites. Maybe, your page speed was optimal after the last redesign, but along the way, you added new features that slowed it down. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check the current page load speed and make the necessary improvements to boost it if it is slow.
Test Checkout Process
Most of the Singapore e-commerce websites have advanced checkout processes that are secured by one or more security components. There are also integral plugins that make it possible for customers to checkout seamlessly. Run tests to be sure that every component is working optimally.
One of the surest ways of doing website maintenance is by setting the cart in test mode and use test credit card information to do a dummy transaction. Make sure that the money is transferred to the designated account. If left unattended, hackers can use it to divert payments to their accounts.
Test Functionality of All Forms
If you noticed a drop in client inquiries, chances are that the contact form is not updated. Check if the forms are updated and fully functional to be sure that clients are able to contact you. Update and check if the message is forwarded to your email or any other designated inbox.
Access your Website on Multiple Devices
As script libraries, plugins, and website browsers are updated, they sometimes change the manner in which a website is displayed. Take time to review how your website is displayed on multiple devices, desktop, phone, tablet, or laptop.
Finally, test the search function to be sure that potential customers are able to find information on your website quickly. Make sure that your contact information is accurate; otherwise, clients will not be able to contact you.
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Website Maintenance Tasks You Need to Do At least Once Every Month
Analyze Website Performance
Analyzing website performance should be on top of your checklist during website maintenance since it is one of the easiest ways to detect potential problems in your website. Furthermore, it will help you know if you are on the right track to achieving your desired outcome.
To better understand your website’s performance, you need to use tools such as Google Analytics. Ensure you concentrate on important pages like the contact pages, service pages, and product pages. This will help you in generating leads and sales for your company.
Here are essential things to check out when analyzing website performance.
- Abnormally high bounce rates
- Declining conversion rates
- Abnormal spikes on a page
If you notice that some pages have a high bounce rate or their conversion rates have dropped, you need to figure out the reason using Heatmaps tools. These tools will help you see how different people interact with your website and the exact points where they encounter problems.
If there are unusual spikes on your website, try to find out what triggered them and if you can use them to increase your website traffic.
Security Updates
Enhancing your website security is crucial. Leaving any gaps in your website security exposes you to cyber-attacks.
When it comes to enhancing website security, ensure you keep up with the latest updates since data and privacy laws keep changing. Moreover, updating your website’s security measures ensures restricted access to your website and that no previous workers can access it.
After you’ve completed the security updating process, double-check if your website is still operational. This is especially true if you are using WordPress.
WordPress updates may occasionally bring about compatibility issues with the plugin you use, resulting in functionality problems. While the thought of losing functionality may be scary, don’t let it deter you from taking this step.
Here are tips to help you improve your website security.
- Use strong passwords and change them regularly
- Update your software regularly
- Regularly back up important files
- Scan your website regularly for any possible threats
- Hire a reliable security expert
- Make your admin path unique
- Use SSL encryptions for eCommerce websites
- Ensure your website is always clean
- Choose a reputable web hosting company
- Don’t use a single server to host several websites
- Ensure you only use essential apps and plugins
- Control the number of employees who have access to sensitive files on the website
Website Speed
Website speed should be among your top monthly routine checks. Website loading time is essential for the performance of your website since website visitors cannot wait for a page that takes a long time to load. According to research, your website visitors expect to see results within two seconds.
A fast-loading website improves the user experience by enabling visitors to navigate between pages easily. This helps in reducing bounce rates and increase the rate of conversion.
It is important to keep in mind that bouncing rate is a ranking factor in search engines. The lower the bounce rates, the higher your website ranks.
To test the speed of your website, use free tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights and Pingdom.
You can also use the following tips to improve the speed of your website.
- Upgrade your web hosting service
- Reduce and optimize landing page redirects
- Minimize HTTP requests
- Enable Gzip compression
- Turn on browser caching
- Utilize high-quality CDNs
- Update your website scripts
- Purge your plugins
- Reduce and optimize the size of your images
Check Links
Getting many quality backlinks will help you in improving the credibility of your website. However, as the website evolves, the URLs also change. This means that you could be having links on your website that are no longer functional. Having such links in your website hurts user experience and may lower your rankings on search engines.
Conducting monthly checks will help you spot and fix such URLs. Consider using tools such as Bing and Google webmaster to assist you in the process.
Broken links can be a result of various factors, as stated below.
- Including links to websites that no longer exists
- If you deleted or deactivated a plugin that left a link on your website content
- Uploading a wrong picture on your website with a different file name
- If you wrongly typed the URL
- If you removed a page from your website due to URL problems but forgot to check for other pages still linked to the original address.
Backups
Your website contains a lot of information, and losing any of it would be disastrous. Therefore, it is advisable to back up your data regularly. You also need to ensure the backup services are functioning properly.
Most reputable website hosting companies provide automated backup services using WordPress plugins such as UpdraftPlus. You can log in and download a copy of your data whenever you need it.
However, don’t rely on the backup services of your hosting company completely since some people have complained of data loss. Therefore, you need to back up your data manually to be sure.
If you don’t prefer using the backup services of your web hosting company, consider investing in a reliable backup system such as CodeGuard.
This system monitors all modifications made to your website. It saves up on storage space by only storing the modified file. It also allows you to choose the amount of time it should store your backed-up data.
Test Contact Forms and Information
Most websites contain forms used to gather email addresses, leads, or other information. If the forms are broken, you may not know who is trying to contact you.
You need to test all forms thoroughly to ensure they work properly. During testing, try to purchase by filling in the forms through different browsers and devices. This will help you analyze user experience.
However, testing should not stop there. You also need to test your internal response process. Check whether the emails are being signed up for events or added to the email list and whether you get a welcome email or discount voucher.
You also need to make your contact information is correct, including your email address and phone number. Giving the wrong contact information on your website will confuse your customers, and they may start doubting your business’s credibility.
Test The Checkout Procedure
This is an essential maintenance tip if you own an eCommerce business. Offering your customers a seamless checkout process leads to an increase in conversion rates. Therefore, you should take time to review your checkout procedure and ensure your customers have a pleasant experience.
During the test, take note of any difficulties that you may encounter. These could be the same problems that your customers are experiencing.
Here are some of the things you can do to ensure your checkout process is seamless.
Reduce Surprise Costs
Extra costs can make customers leave your site. Such costs include shipping fees or taxes applicable for certain items.
To encourage customers to shop with you, be upfront about these additional charges. This ensures that customers are aware of what they are going to pay before they start shopping.
You can also offer your customers free shipping to encourage them to buy from you.
Use A Progress Indicator
Using a progress indicator is essential if your website uses a multi-step checkout procedure. This enables customers to know their position in the process. It also helps them evaluate the steps they’ve already taken and the tasks ahead of them.
This step is essential because it makes the checkout process easier. It also helps in reducing cart abandonment by reassuring customers that the process will be quick.
Minimize Distractions
Businesses spend a lot of money and effort to attract customers and encourage them to reach the payment stage. Therefore, once you’ve convinced your customers to buy your products, you need to ensure they convert by removing unnecessary distractions. Such distractions include menu buttons and adverts.
The best way to minimize distractions during the checkout process is by developing a simple website design. You also need to get rid of navigational options from your website.
Offer Guest Checkout
Although a business needs to get repeat customers, ensure you do not turn off one-time buyers by forcing them to create an account and register. In fact, according to a SaleCycle survey, 23% of customers abandon carts when websites force them to create accounts before making a purchase.
Therefore, it is essential to offer such customers a checkout option. It allows customers to input their email addresses and begin the checkout process.
Put Security Badges on Your Website
Security concerns are one of the leading causes of cart abandonment. The eCommerce sector has been heavily affected by massive data leaks in the recent past. As a result, customers are naturally apprehensive about giving out their personal information.
If you want to attract customers, you need to assure them that their information is secure. You can do this by using security seals and badges. Ensure you display them on every website page so your customers remain confident throughout the checkout process.
Offer Prompt Customer Service
Excellent customer service is essential if you are to succeed in creating a successful business online. Offering customer service at the time when your customer urgently needs assistance can reduce cart abandonment. It will also make the checkout process easier and enable customers to make the right decisions fast.
To make it easier for customers to access your customer service, offer multiple communication channels such as a live chat or a call center.
Update Website Content
Creating relevant content for your website is essential. Relevant content will help you boost your website traffic and increase conversion rates. However, your content becomes obsolete as time goes by, and it may no longer attract more visitors.
Other benefits for updating website content include.
More Keywords
Updating your content allows you to add new keywords that are trending in your industry. As you already know, consumers’ needs keep changing, and so do their searches. Therefore, you need to update your content to accommodate their needs.
Also, if you want to launch a new product, you would want people to know about it. Adding keywords to your content relating to that particular product will help in boosting your sales.
Build Domain Authority
Another benefit of updating your website content is that it helps in boosting domain authority. Giving your customers relevant and updated information will make them trust the credibility of your business. Therefore, when they are conducting specific searches, they will visit your website.
Keeps Your Audience Updated
Keeping your customers updated is another benefit of updating your website content, as it will help your customers remain loyal. It will also help you in attracting more clients.
You can use an RSS feed to notify your clients whenever you add fresh content to your website.
Update Deals and Promotions
Some businesses give special offers and discounts as a strategy to boost their sales. To ensure this strategy is effective, update the information on offers and discounts regularly.
Updating this information eliminates confusion among your customers. For instance, if you had an offer running from January to March, you should remove it from your website as soon as the time lapses. If you leave the information on your website up to May, a new visitor may think that the offer is still valid.
Also, if your coupons have an expiry date, remove them from your website as soon as the expiry date reaches. If customers try to enter the coupon codes later and find out they are not working, they will start doubting the credibility of your business. This may make you lose potential clients.
Additionally, leaving expired coupon dates on your website may make new customers think your website is not operational.
Another benefit of updating promotions on your website is that it encourages activities on your website. Your loyal customers will keep checking your websites to see if there are new offers. They may also refer their friends to your website to check out the offers, and you may gain new customers in the process.
