A website isn’t something you build once and forget. Prices change, services evolve, staff come and go, and technology moves on. A site that hasn’t been touched in years quietly starts working against you.
That doesn’t mean you need to spend hours on it every week. Here’s a realistic schedule for a small business.
Straight away: whenever something changes
Some updates can’t wait. As soon as any of these change, update your site (and your Google listing):
- Phone number, email or address
- Opening hours, including holiday closures
- Prices, if you publish them
- Services you’ve added or stopped offering
Wrong information is worse than none. A customer who turns up to a closed shop or calls a disconnected number isn’t coming back.
Monthly: a quick health check
Once a month, spend ten minutes on the basics:
- Send a test message through your contact form
- Check the site loads properly on your phone
- Make sure software updates and backups have run (if you manage these yourself)
- Add any great new reviews or photos of recent work
Fresh photos help: adding pictures of recent jobs or products is one of the easiest ways to keep a site feeling active, and it shows visitors you’re busy and trusted.
Every few months: review your content
Read through your main pages as if you were a new customer. Is everything still accurate? Is anything missing, like a service people keep asking about, or a question you answer on the phone every week? Those are perfect additions to your site.
Updates included every month
Send us your changes and we’ll make them. Monthly updates come with every plan, along with hosting and maintenance, for $49.99 a month.
See what’s included →Yearly: the bigger picture
Once a year, take a step back:
- Does the site still reflect where your business is now, and where it’s heading?
- Are your best services and strongest selling points front and centre?
- Does it look dated next to your competitors?
- Is the copyright year in the footer current?
Every few years: consider a refresh
Design trends and technology change. If your site is more than a few years old, isn’t comfortable to use on a phone, or simply doesn’t represent your business well anymore, a refresh is usually worth it.
The bottom line
Update the essentials immediately, do a quick check monthly, review your content every few months and step back once a year. It takes very little time, and it keeps your website working as hard as you do.