Things move VERY fast online – Yikes!
In an online world whereby technology changes daily – and coding standards move at a headlong rate, predicting the future is complicated. In the past, many types of websites became obsolete, weren’t supported and fell apart.
But now, the current gold standard platform for site builders is WordPress. It is solid, works well and, most importantly, it is “open source.” Open source means that all kinds of developers have access to it so they can come up with plug-ins, add-ons, and apps. Those “extras” make WordPress more robust, secure and most importantly not likely to become obsolete.
Anyone who wants to invest their hard earned money into a new website build, or keeping an existing one relevant, needs to take a few minutes to think about how to “future proof” their investment. That means that when you want to do updates, changes, additions or add new features you won’t have a tear-and rebuild issue or won’t need to buy a completely new site.
The good news is that “future proofing” a WordPress site is, happily, not that difficult. So, since the platform itself is so much more stable then what it was 2 years ago, what else should you be thinking about?
A few other key website “Future Proof” considerations are:
- Use an experienced and knowledgeable designer/developer who utilizes licensed plug-ins for things such as security, SEO, backup, SSL, sliders and professional plugins that are optimized and integrated with your Google Plus and Google Analytics account is a must. You want to be found, right?
- Own your own hosting account, domain name and email accounts. Register all the services that you will need with your own email account – have all the login username-password credentials in your hands. Keep a list of all of these in a safe secure place. If you decide to change providers or designers then you can remove the access you have given them. Never let the website designer hold the key to your “assets”. Your website is one of the most valuable assets to your company.
- Insist on regular website reviews to refresh and update content and insure that all account linkage to the outside services integrated into your website are still working and are reporting correct.
- Make sure that you have a good hosting provider for your site – don’t go on the cheap. Selecting a plan that has daily backup, built in caching and high-speed hardware is worth the few extra bucks a month.
- Find and, if necessary change, hosting companies to insure that you meet visitor and WordPress platform and load time requirements (i.e. Google now uses website load speed as a ranking key!)
- Make sure your website is using a theme and child-theme that is “responsive” and is correctly optimized for mobile and most devices, as well as for speed.
At Ultradata, we make it EASY to “future proof” your website. If you want content changes, add-ons or plug-ins installed, whatever – they can be accommodated. You WON’T lose your existing investment. We can maintain your website or assist you, so that it’s easier to maintain, so you CAN avoid costly and time-consuming problems.