4 things that can go wrong with your website
One of the problems I come across is businesses that have a website built that is never touched again once it goes live.
This is a mistake as things can go wrong.
Here are 4 things to look out for that can go wrong when a website is 'left for dead':
Hosting or domain name is not renewed:
If your hosting and domain name is not set to ‘auto re-new’ and for some reason you missed the invoice from your hosting provider, the site will be taken down.
To avoid this – make sure you set both your hosting and domain to auto re-new and make sure the email address you provide is one you use and check regularly.
Hosting Server Changes:
Sometimes hosting companies move things around and change servers or setting. They usually will let you know in advance if your site will be affected but in case they don’t or your missed and email your site will don’t display properly – might show a 404.
To avoid this – don’t ignore important emails from your hosting company and forward to your web developer to see if any action required.
Website Virus attacks:
Unfortunately, this can happen to anyone. Your website can be hacked (via your hosting) and files added, code added or changed.
In some cases, your will not see the virus as it is placed in the back end of the site as hidden code.
To minimise the risk, only sign up with hosting companies with good reputation, change your FTP password regularly (and make it a ‘strong’ password).
You can also sign up for Google Console (aka webmaster tools) where you will most likely receive alerts from Google if a virus is detected by Google spiders.
Your web developer might already register your website on Google Console and receive these alerts from Google when the spiders identify a virus. (as I do for my clients).
Your Online Enquiry Form is not working:
Your online form might be affected by added security measures (anti-spam) by your hosting company or changes to settings. There is also the use of third party tools such as Google Captia where the code might change, and your form will not work.
To avoid this send yourself a test form on a regular basis or ask family and friends to help (I ask my daughter to send me funny requests). This way if the form is not received or you get an error you can ask your developer to fix the issue before loosing important enquiries.
In conclusion, make sure your give some attention to your site even after launch - set your website as your browser home page screen this way you will see it each time you turn on your computer.
