The best website is one that is easy to maintain. Do you spend too much time maintaining your website? Maybe you have the wrong system or your system can be set up more user friendly.
An easy to maintain website
For the reliability of a website it is important to keep it up to date, both in terms of software and content.
Content maintenance
Administrator interface
Is your website user-friendly for administrators? Can you easily find everything? Or do you have too many choices when it comes to management?
A good Content Management System (CMS) can be customised for administrators:
- Place hyperlinks to frequently used options on the admin dashboard.
- Disable menu options you do not use
- Organize your content into categories in a logical way
- Organise your menu items in a structured way
- Give your photos meaningful names and organise them into folders so that they are easy to find
Content management
Can you easily create or change articles on your website? A good CMS provides an editor with which you can easily add articles and upload images.
Can several people work on the website at the same time? Does your CMS support the creation of user groups that have certain rights to parts of your website. This way, you can keep track of your website with multiple people at the same time.
Wrong links
A good website is dynamic. If your page URLs change, external links to those pages may no longer work properly. Regularly check the "404 errors" (= http status code for a non-existent link) to see which links are incorrect. A good CMS has an option to redirect incorrect links to other working pages.
Software maintenance
Website software
Do you have a dynamic website? A dynamic website works on CMS software. Software needs maintenance and you need to keep it up to date. Make sure your website is secure:
- Make regular backups and keep them off-site
- Update the website software regularly
Server software
A CMS runs on a web server with a PHP + SQL database. Make sure that the software is up-to-date. Usually this is done by a hosting company. But keep an eye on it yourself.