Not all website support services provide a clear return on investment. Some services might include updating bulky plugins that are actually slowing your website down. The real question is, what kind of support does your website really need to thrive?
You’ve put an enormous amount of time, money, and effort into creating a website you’re proud to call your own. Now, with companies relying on digital more than ever – not just to showcase their brands, but to run their businesses – it’s time to ensure your website keeps running smoothly and facilitates revenue growth.
Here are 7 critical website support and maintenance services you should be looking into right now.
1. Improve your website speed
You know from your own experience how frustrating it can be waiting for a website to load. Your customers will feel that same frustration if your site lags, and may even decide to go to one of your competitors if they can’t find the information they need quickly. Achieving a “good” score on Google’s Core Web Vitals often requires your website’s main content to load very quickly (e.g., Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds).
Google also considers page load speed (including mobile speed) a significant ranking factor – so website speed is now also a crucial component of good SEO. Did you know pages with a slower load time tend to have higher bounce rates and lower average time on page than faster ones? Both these factors can negatively impact your rankings in search engines.
2. Audit your site with Google Lighthouse
Lighthouse is a free, open-source tool provided by Google that helps developers and website owners identify opportunities and diagnostics to improve the user experience of their web pages. As part of the Page Experience signals, Google considers factors assessed by Lighthouse (like performance, accessibility, best practices) in its ranking algorithm. A competent website support services team will audit your site using tools like Lighthouse and execute the needed code changes to optimize pages.
Lighthouse checks a number of factors during an audit, including:
- Performance (metrics like LCP, FID/INP, CLS)
- Accessibility (how usable the site is for people with disabilities)
- Best Practices (modern web development standards)
- SEO (basic technical SEO checks)
- Progressive Web App / PWA (checks if the site meets PWA criteria)
In addition to pointing out areas for improvement, your Lighthouse report often provides actionable advice. Beyond page speed performance, this report provides website support developers with steps to improve your site for indexing, ranking, and ultimately customer conversion results.
You can typically run Lighthouse directly from the Chrome DevTools (usually by pressing F12).
3. Check Design Consistency Across Browsers & Devices
Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari release quality and security updates often. Sometimes these updates can affect how your site displays on the latest version of the browser your visitor is using. This is where responsive web design and ongoing testing become crucial, especially if your site is several years old.
Over time, small bugs in your original coding or conflicts between updates can cause visual errors on your site, or worse, make entire sections unusable. If you suspect this might be happening, it’s time to invest in professional website maintenance services to bring your site up to date and ensure cross-browser compatibility.
It’s also vital that your site renders well on mobile devices – remember that Google’s mobile-first indexing means that Google primarily uses the mobile version of the webpage for indexing and ranking purposes. Read more about mobile-first indexing.
4. Fix HTML errors
HTML errors are mistakes in a website’s underlying code (markup) that can cause things to behave unexpectedly. Common user-facing errors like ‘404 Not Found’ (page doesn’t exist) or ‘403 Forbidden’ (permission denied) might stem from server configuration or linking issues, but errors within the HTML structure itself can also cause problems.
Even minor coding mistakes (like unclosed tags or improper nesting) can make pages display incorrectly in certain browsers, or make content inaccessible to users or search engines. Google prefers sites that adhere to web standards and provide a good user experience; numerous HTML validation errors can sometimes hinder crawling or interpretation.
Finding validation errors is one thing; actually fixing them correctly is another. If in doubt, utilize a professional website support service rather than attempting to fix complex coding on your own, as you could inadvertently create new problems.
5. Update your website software
An average website built on a CMS like WordPress can easily have 20-30 plugins installed, plus the core CMS software and theme – each requiring regular updates to optimize performance and patch security vulnerabilities. While it might be tempting to set everything to update automatically, not every update interacts seamlessly with existing software or customizations.
Why does this matter? Software updates, particularly security patches, address vulnerabilities that could leave your site open to hacking and bot attacks, potentially putting your customers at risk. Outdated plugins and themes are common entry points for attackers.
Around 30,000 websites are reportedly attacked every single day – many belonging to small businesses. While some hosting providers offer “managed services,” automatic updates included in low-cost plans can sometimes break themes and plugins if conflicts arise, requiring manual intervention anyway.
Like finding a trustworthy mechanic, having regular, careful website support maintenance for updates can save hours of unnecessary website headaches and keep your focus on growing your business.
6. Back up your website files
Imagine if all those hundreds of hours of work you put into designing and building your website just… disappeared. Servers can fail, human error happens during updates, or security breaches can corrupt files. Without proper backups, you could face rebuilding significant parts of your website from scratch.
While most reputable hosting providers perform some level of automated backups, relying solely on them can be risky. They might not be frequent enough, might not retain copies for long enough, or might be difficult/slow to restore from. Just as you back up crucial work documents, implementing a regular, independent backup strategy for your website files and database is critical. This is a step too many businesses overlook. A reliable support services team will ensure robust backups are in place and regularly tested.
7. Add Key Website Integrations
Consumers expect more from websites these days than just static information; online often means interactive and immediate. Adding features like chat functionality or online appointment setting offers the immediacy customers appreciate. Email, coupon, and newsletter sign-ups capture valuable first-party data and enable direct communication.
Implemented correctly, these website integrations can make your site a much richer, more engaging, and more efficient experience for your potential customers.
Some popular integrations include:
- Chat widgets: Allow prospects to engage with you in real-time without picking up the phone.
- Email sign-up integrations: Collect valuable first-party data (with consent) to enhance your marketing efforts.
- Payment platforms: Enable customers to securely pay for products or services directly on your site.
- Automated scheduling/bookings: Free up time for both you and your customers (and reduce admin costs) by allowing clients to book appointments or services online easily.
In addition to keeping your website fast, secure, and up to date, incorporating strategic integrations can improve your customer experience and help keep you ahead of the competition. Remember, your website is often the face of your company, and first impressions matter.
Ready to put your best digital foot forward?
Upward Engine offers timely website support and maintenance services for service-based, B2B, and ecommerce brands that want to deliver a superior online experience and impress potential customers. Investing in ongoing website support services often provides one of the highest returns, protecting and enhancing the initial investment made in building your website. Contact us to learn more.