Introduction - What's Involved in Site Maintenance
There are two aspects to maintaining a site. The first is making sure the software running the site is up to date and that backups are kept current. The second is keeping content up to date, which may entail adding new content, deleting old content, or editing existing content. It may also entail additional backups. Each of these is addressed below.
Maintaining Site Software
There are three components to the software that runs the site: WordPress core files, themes, and plugins. Each of these receives updates. The updates address both functionality and security. Because of the security aspects, it is important to keep a website’s software up to date. As part of correctly done updates, a backup of the entire site should be done first. This will protect against the rare instance of an update’s breaking the site. If the site is static, that is, the content does not change or only changes a little, then the backups done as part of the updating process will generally be sufficient for overall site maintenance.
Maintaining Site Content
This is the second aspect of maintaining a site. The importance, and the amount of work or time it takes, depends strongly on the frequency, significance, and magnitude of site content changes. If a site, once built, does not change over time, then this aspect of site maintenance is moot.
Who Maintains the Site?
The three sources of site maintenance are the owner, the site builder, or a third party.
The owner can do all of it, possibly with some initial training. The owner can certainly maintain the site’s content, particularly since they are usually the source of additional content. However, the owner may prefer to have some or all of the maintenance done by someone else, permitting them to concentrate on their business, goals, or other activities.
In many instances the site’s builder will be willing to maintain the site. This will cover both the site software and site content. The owner would be expected to provide the content to the builder for incorporation into the site.
The owner and builder may prefer to have a third party do the maintenance.
Websites by KTS is glad to discuss maintenance of sites for owners, whether built by us or by others.
Have a site that needs maintenance? Want one? Contact us!