A monthly website check for busy owners

Why monthly

Websites don’t usually break all at once. They drift. A price changes and the site doesn’t. A holiday comes and the hours stay the same. A form stops sending after an update. None of these is dramatic, and each one costs you a customer here and there.

A short monthly check catches drift before customers do. Pick a day that is already routine, like the day you do invoicing or the first Monday of the month, and give it fifteen minutes.

Check the facts

Start with the things customers rely on:

• Phone number, hours and service area. Do they still match reality and your Google Business Profile?
• Prices or price ranges. Are they still what you charge?
• Services. Did you add or drop anything this month?
• Upcoming closures. Google lets you set special hours on your profile ahead of time. Add holidays and vacations before they happen, and put a note on the site.

Here, plan for storm season too. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30. Have a plan for how you will tell customers about storm closures and reopening, and update your profile and website the same day.

Test the contact path

Send yourself a test inquiry through your own form and make sure it arrives. Tap the phone number on your site from your cell. This is the most important two minutes of the whole check. Forms can stop working after software updates, email changes or a full inbox, and nobody tells you when they do.

Look at what Google sees

If you have Google Search Console set up, log in and look at two things. First, the Pages report: are there errors or pages Google couldn’t reach? Second, the Performance report: which searches are bringing people to your site? It is free, and over a few months it tells you a lot about what customers are actually looking for.

If a search keeps showing up that you don’t have a good page for, that is your next piece of content.

Add one useful piece of work

Each month, add one thing that shows you are active: a before-and-after from a recent job, a new review (with the customer’s permission), an answer to a question customers keep asking. Small, real additions keep the site current and give returning visitors something new.

Add the same photo to your Google Business Profile. Google’s tips for business photos recommend adding real, current images of your work.

Reply to reviews

Read any new reviews on Google, Facebook and Yelp and reply to each one. Thank the good ones specifically. Answer the bad ones calmly and offer to talk directly. My note on asking for reviews has more on this.

Warning signs worth a closer look

Some problems announce themselves if you know what to watch for:

• Inquiries suddenly stop. A quiet week happens, but zero form submissions for two weeks usually means something broke. Send a test.
• Calls drop off after a site change. Check that the phone number on every page is still right and still tappable.
• An email from Search Console about a problem. Read it the same week. They are usually specific and fixable.
• A renewal notice from a company you don’t recognize. Letters and emails that look like domain renewals sometimes come from other companies hoping you will pay them by mistake. Check with your actual registrar before paying anything.

Once a year

A few things only need a yearly look, but they are the ones that cause the biggest problems when forgotten:

• Domain renewal date, and the card on file at the registrar.
• Hosting renewal and what it costs.
• Who has access to your website, domain and Google profile. Remove anyone who no longer needs it.
• Your license and insurance details on the site, if those renew.

If you would rather not do any of this, that is reasonable. Ask whoever hosts your site what they check each month and what they leave to you.

A fifteen-minute order

If you want a set routine, this order works:

• Minutes 1 to 3: send a test inquiry and tap the phone number.
• Minutes 3 to 6: check hours, prices and service area against reality.
• Minutes 6 to 9: add special hours for anything coming up.
• Minutes 9 to 12: glance at Search Console for errors and new searches.
• Minutes 12 to 15: add one photo or answer, and reply to new reviews.

Keep a one-line note of what you changed each month. When something shifts later, you will know why.