You’ve just launched your new website, and it looks amazing and runs smoothly. But just like a shiny new car, keeping it beautiful for your organization and your users requires tender, loving care. Enter website maintenance! Working with a partner to build and launch a new website is a considerable amount of effort for most organizations. The combination of being thrilled to have your new site launched along with the understanding that your new site will need maintenance and nurturing can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Remember, It’s Just the Beginning

The fact of the matter is that designing and building a new website is only the start of your digital journey. Your website is the main portal for your brand; it communicates your value proposition and engages your users. Your website should give your users the information they are looking for and encourage them to interact, donate, or take some other action.

Keep the Momentum Going

So, how do you keep the momentum rolling weeks and months after your new website is launched? Ideally, as part of your redesign, you’ve mapped out KPIs and goals that you can measure against, post-launch. You’ll want to take a step back and evaluate how your website is performing and make adjustments to content, features and functionality in order to drive measured successful outcomes. It’s also likely that you have other wants and wishes that didn’t make it into the redesign project. This is the right time to create a backlog of improvements and refinements and to plan to make iterative improvements to your new site. Taking stock of what performed really well and what didn’t meet your expectations lays a really solid groundwork for ways to improve your website.

Put a Plan in Place

This is where having a plan in place for post-launch support is most useful. A combination of website improvements and regular security maintenance will keep your website fresh, secure and actively working hard to help your organization achieve your digital goals and continue to extend your influence. Below is a list of activities that we suggest you include in your post-launch website maintenance and improvements plan:

• Content strategy and SEO: having a content strategy that is focused on generating and updating your site with quality content with appropriate keywords will improve your search engine ranking. Establishing an editorial calendar will be a key support tool for you.
• Website analytics: starting with benchmarks and goals, a continued analysis of how users are engaging with your site will help inform you on what’s working and what isn’t. This information will guide your decisions around refinements and website improvements.
• Website improvements: based on your analytics and user behavior, what is working well for your users? What needs improvement? What additional features should you add? Build and define a meaningful list of improvements to apply to your site.
• Security patching: think of this as your website insurance. Conducting regular core and module patching ensures that you’re taking the appropriate measures to minimize the risk of attack on your site.
• Email marketing: email marketing is a low-cost way to reach targeted audiences, to communicate your message, and to continually increase brand awareness.