Your website health checklist: how to keep your site performing at its best

Congratulations – you’ve just launched your new website, complete with eye-catching visuals, engaging content and SEO optimisation. Getting a new website up and running can feel like a huge achievement, but too many businesses make the mistake of stopping there.

Your website is a bit like your car. Without a regular service, things start to creak, slow down and eventually break. But with ongoing attention, you can keep everything running smoothly and performing well.

Regular maintenance and updates are often the difference between a website that simply exists online and one that actually pushes your business forward. So, what should you be looking at when it comes to maintaining your site? Let’s run through your website checklist.

The stats to track

Platforms like Google Analytics provide website stats in almost endless detail, but focusing on a few key metrics can give you a quick and meaningful insight into your site’s performance without drowning you in data. These can include:

Traffic trends

Check your overall sessions and unique visitors. If these are trending up each month, it’s a great sign your site is performing well.

Bounce rate and engagement time

High bounce rates could mean people aren’t finding what they expected, while low time spent on a page suggests your content may need a refresh.

Conversion rate

Whether it’s forms filled out, brochures downloaded or purchases being made, conversions show you if your site is actually working for your business goals.

Top performing pages

See which content is pulling in the most traffic and leads. This helps you understand what resonates with your audience, and what to focus on going forward.

Page speed

A website that loads slowly makes visitors turn away in droves. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to ensure your site performs well across desktop and mobile.

Keyword rankings

Use Google Keyword Planner to track how your site is ranking for your targeted keywords.

The updates to make

Whether it’s content, security or SEO, regular updates help to keep your website fresh, secure and relevant. Here’s what to keep on top of:

New and refreshed content

Add new blogs, case studies or product/service pages, or update existing ones with new information, stats or imagery. Websites that are regularly updated with fresh content receive a huge boost in Google’s E-A-T algorithm.

Software and plugin updates

If your site runs on WordPress or another CMS, keep themes, plugins and core files updated to keep your site looking fresh and avoid security risks.

Check forms and CTAs

Test contact forms, enquiry forms, and any calls to action to make sure they still work properly – there’s nothing worse than losing out on leads without even knowing it.

SEO adjustments

Use tools like Semrush to check for any SEO errors like broken links, and review keywords, meta descriptions, and headings to ensure they still align with your current goals.

What to ignore

Avoid getting bogged down by maintenance – save time by only giving the most important aspects your attention. Here are some areas you may want to ignore:

Daily traffic fluctuations

It’s normal for traffic to ebb and flow day by day. Look at longer-term trends before making any conclusions.

Obscure analytics metrics

Stats like “average session duration by browser type” are probably useful to someone out there, but they rarely provide any meaningful insights for most businesses.

Minor aesthetic tweaks

It’s always tempting to tinker with the visuals of your site, but this can also cause websites to become visually inconsistent across pages. Save visual updates for less frequent site-wide reviews.

Final thoughts

Regular website maintenance is non-negotiable. By tracking your key stats, keeping content fresh, and making regular updates, you can ensure your site continues to deliver real results for your business.

Is your business in need of a new website, or is your current site ready for a refresh? At Embrace, we don’t disappear once your site goes live. We offer ongoing maintenance and free training, so you can manage your site with confidence, or leave it to us to keep it performing at its best. Email hello@weareembrace.com for an initial chat.

This latest thinking article was written by: