Please note this is Linked From our Main Article – 7 Things Clients Should Know When Building A Website
1 of 7 – For Account Managers, Owners, Marketing Managers and Clients – Does my Website or Software Need Maintenance?
Similar to anything software or IT related, websites require maintenance. The intention of all sites we build is to add as much value as commercially possible, to be as robust as possible from the outset and require a minimal amount of support post launch. The core of this is arming you with the ability to update as much of the site as possible internally, make sure you consider your team’s capabilities when determining how much of a site you can maintain. This also extends to the backbone of a site, we build in stable and popular architectures that have been tested by the market and have performed well over time.
However, all websites at some point will require additional work outside the scope of your team’s capabilities, as parts of the site grow or are used frequently they undergo additional strain. A very simple example of this is the amount of space allocated for a website on a server or part of a server. If you outgrow it, the site can fail or start doing odd things. Typically we build sites on servers that have the capacity to grow significantly before this is a factor. It does illustrate that even a basic element like space; an often-minor aspect of a development will require attention at some stage.
Something more complex is the idea of your database growing, similar to the space issue, the database and how we reference it is considered in the planning phase. We plan as much flexibility into software as commercially viable. Unfortunately this will not last forever and over time, issues will arise which mean elements of the site start performing incorrectly.
Structure a maintenance budget to keeping your digital ecosystem running ship-shape, including weekly or monthly UAT (User Acceptance Testing) of key functions. Where possible bundle together other time efficient tasks like minor updates, conversion KPIs and meetings with your digital agency to ensure you are across prime opportunities.