Creating and maintaining a website is often one of the most important parts of running a successful business. Without a website, customers will have a hard time discovering and purchasing your products or services, so it’s key to ensure your website is up and functioning properly. When you’re a solopreneur, however, and all of the work falls on your shoulders, it can be all too easy to let website maintenance fall by the wayside.
To help offer some direction, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some of the best practices solopreneurs should focus on when maintaining their websites and the impact this will have overall.
Young Entrepreneur Council members recommend following these website maintenance practices.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Determine When To Outsource
One thing solopreneurs should keep in mind when it comes to maintaining their website (and running their business in general) is knowing when to outsource. Just because you are a solo act doesn’t mean you can’t bring in outside help from time to time. Learn the art of delegating and automating—not everything needs to be done by hand, and not everything needs to be done by you! – Diana Goodwin, MarketBox
2. Make Time For Blogging
Blogging is not only great for SEO, but it also presents you as an authority in your field. Additionally, it helps your clients understand what you offer and that you have an interest in providing them free information on what matters to them. Blogging is an essential communication tool that too many solopreneurs feel they don’t have time to maintain on their websites. – Matthew Capala, Alphametic
3. Check Your Analytics
One best practice is to keep an eye on website analytics. Analytics will give you a good idea of which pages need to be optimized to help you achieve core KPIs. Always look at your website from the user’s perspective. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are excellent tools that I have been using for my websites for years. They allow me to prioritize data and gather approachable insights. – Brian David Crane, Spread Great Ideas
4. Work On SEO
The most important thing is to ensure your website is properly optimized for your target keyword. This will ensure that the search engines can find your website. The search engines will be the biggest source of traffic for most people, so it’s important to optimize your website for search engines. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
5. Regularly Update Content
One best practice for solopreneurs when it comes to maintaining their website is to keep it updated. This means regularly adding new content, updating your contact information and keeping your products or services up to date. This will show your customers that you are still active and that you care about your business. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
6. Improve Cybersecurity Measures
Cyberattacks and cybercrimes have become a major problem in recent times, and it is the duty of the website owner to ensure the security of their users’ information stored on their website. So every business, whether it’s a solopreneur or an established company, should focus on improving its cybersecurity. – Josh Kohlbach, Wholesale Suite
7. Keep Software Up To Date
A best practice is to make sure your website is secure. This means having a strong password for your login information and keeping your software up to date. This will help protect your website from hackers and keep your customers’ information safe. Make sure you use the best plugins to help or hire an in-house security expert to keep your data safe. – Blair Williams, MemberPress
8. Leverage Automation
Automating features of your website can save money and time and make maintenance more effective and professional. For example, you can automate content updates with a program called IFTTT (If This Then That). You could also have an AI-based contact form so many FAQs are already answered before coming to your email inbox. Automation can save important time and streamline communication. – Shu Saito, All Filters
