Why do websites need health checks?
Anne Castles
With so much activity in the online space, it is important to maintain the health and effectiveness of your website. This not only protects your organisation from unwanted bugs and security breaches but gives you peace of mind knowing the gateway to your business is functioning the way it’s supposed to.
Our detailed check ups involve a number of processes designed to keep your website performing effectively for your organisation. Going beyond keywords and search engine optimisation (SEO), our check ups examine the functionality of the site to make sure everything is working correctly.
Some of the important elements of a health check are:
1. Scanning for evidence of hacking
The unfortunate reality of the world we live in is that there are people out there who want to wreck your website. They want to find loop holes in your code, backdoors into your online store, or ways to corrupt your website. This doesn’t always happen in one foul swoop, but can happen incrementally over time. By regularly scanning for evidence of hacking or security breaches, the actions of imposters can be detected early and security measures tightened to stop them from getting any further.
2. Ensuring security features are up to date
In addition to scanning for evidence of hacking, it is important to regularly ensure that security features are up to date and working correctly. Prevention is better than cure, and tight security plays a big part in keeping the hackers out in the first place.
3. Loading speed & performance
Aside from dealing with and locking out hackers, the overall functionality of your website is just as important to it’s success. The speed of your website directly impacts users experience and in turn affects sales. Your site speed can also impact your search engine ranking and even impact on the cost of your hosting.
4. Hosting & plugin updates
If your website was built in WordPress it will likely have plugins that add extra functionality. With constant changes in technology, plugins often require updating to the latest version to ensure continued support and functionality. Old versions of a plugins can have security vulnerabilities and are more likely to break the site or stop working all together.
5. Checking for blacklisting
Blacklisted hosting will prevent emails sent from your website being delivered. If your hosting is blacklisted it is likely that any contact form on your website will stop being delivered to your inbox and will mean you can miss important leads. Blacklisted sites can also be prevented from showing up in search engine results.
Subscribe to our monthly, quarterly or yearly checks to ensure your website is consistently reaching its full potential. The more frequent your checks the more reliable your site will be.