Web maintenance should be part of your evolving marketing strategy. It's not about just having a website, it's about managing a website marketing strategy. The guys who are beating the local competition are monitoring their web analytics weekly if not daily. They are changing and updating their websites at least weekly. I know, you don't have time for that... but if you don't do it, your website risks falling into oblivion.
Businesses ask us for website redesign quite frequently. Very often their current website still says copyright 200x. The site hasn't been touched in years! The sites are already in a Google sink hole and just getting a new website will not get them out of it. Today's businesses must have a living, breathing, ever changing website.
What is Website Maintenance and Management?
50Bubbles website maintenance and management allows the small business to execute simple requests and ideas. Our clients simply email us the request and it gets done. There is no up-charge for doing this. Our hosting cost (which are still competitive) covers the cost of your edit requests. Our clients also have access to their own websites and they can execute simple edits very easily. We provide all the training necessary for this but even so, most of our clients find it easier just to have us do it.
Here is how we approach website maintenance on a mass scale
Same Platform, Same Server
Our clients are all using the same platform. When we apply a security update, we do it across the board. Having all clients on the same server means that we can login to the server without having to login to each website and apply global software updates as needed. This allows us to make sure security updates are applied in an efficient manner. Not updating your website software is one of the leading reasons why a website gets hacked. Hackers don't have to know your login passwords. They're looking for sites with old software that they can exploit. Many of the clients that we have gotten had been hacked. Typically, their platform was WordPress and nobody was maintaining the integrity of the software driving the website. WordPress is able to self-update however that doesn't mean ALL of the software on the platform gets updated. It generally doesn't.
We also deploy Norton Security on our servers. You'll find that most hosting companies do not do this. The simple reason is that using anti-virus software on the server consumes bandwidth. We think it's an acceptable trade-off.
Website Backup and Restore
It is not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN. All 50Bubbles websites have a backup and restore plan. There's the major backup and the daily offsite backups. Backups are saved offline so if something happens to the server, your website is safe. The daily backups are a rolling two week backup. Any of our clients can tell us to restore the website to how it was any day within that two week period and it gets done. If a website should ever get hacked and the client doesn't notice it, it is possible that the website will backup the hacked website throughout the rolling two week period. At that point, in order to restore the website, we go to the major clean backup that exists for just such an occasion.
50Bubbles Support Layers
Our hosting techs are intimately familiar with the platform we use for websites and the hosting system is optimized to run on that platform. This offers our clients several layers of support. 50Bubbles is the first layer (obviously). If we run into a technical issue we rely on our hosting techs if the problem seems to be server related or our development techs and editors if the problem seems to be application related. Since everyone is intimately familiar with the same platform and software, this provides a very effect support system.
Controlled Software Environment
One of the biggest reasons that websites will get hacked is the proliferation of free software used (especially as it relates to WordPress). 50Bubbles has a well vetted short list of software suppliers. Not only does that prevent system intrusions, it also adds another layer of support. Because we have a well established relationship with our software developers, we can use them as part of the support structure.
Marketing Platform Software
50Bubbles is a marketing company... hence the tagline: "Google-able Web Design". Websites offered by 50bubbles have integrated marketing software you're not likely to see in a typical website. With all 50Bubbles clients on the same platform, we can offer deeper integration and tested solutions. Marketing strategies that are effective with one client are bound to be effective on another clients' website. 50Bubbles integrated marketing software includes email marketing systems, blog system integration and publishing (to social media), lead capture solutions, integrated forms and autoresponders and more. The use of the software is dependent upon the client needs ... but once our clients start using the software features, they often wonder how they ever got along without it!