1. Check Every Single Link

In our opinion, it is extremely beneficial to spend 10–15 minutes every so often checking through all the internal links on your website.

This is just standard web design practice, right? Apparently not. After making any major changes to a site there is absolutely no excuse for not doing so. Obviously, links can become redundant from time to time both internally and externally, so it is imperative to run through and make sure you don’t get any nasty 404 error’s popping up.

2. Content Update 101

Content is like fashion, right? Trends change quicker than you can click “update”. The way I like to view content is that it is a true reflection of the brand you are, the services you offer and the fees you charge.

Time and time again I have been searching for information, only to have Google’s top results be way out of date, and when I say way out of date I’m talking 3 to 5 years!

Educate the Visitors of your site with relevant information as to the services you offer, place yourself in the market as the go-to for the best services across the board, and this isn’t just visual web design, I’m talking the full package!

Here at Big Atom we highly recommend offering useful information, tutorials and one of my favourites — open source designs to your visitors. You might even want to share other businesses publications, this way they will share yours, adding another backlink to your site.

3. Testing, Testing

When a new browser comes out, test your site. If a new phone or tablet comes out? Source one for 10 minutes so you can test your site. A new version of Javascript comes out? Test your site with it. Get a new TV that can browse the web? You get the gist of things!

4. JavaScript — Check, Check, Check

The biggest one of all. Nearly all sites now rely on JavaScript for basic functionality. Large quantities of content, and even entire websites will stop working if their JavaScript stops working for any reason. Be sure to check everything, twice over.

5. Keep on top of Your Plugins

Browsers get updates, market saturation changes, and CSS gets updated, too. When you hear of any big alterations to browsers that might affect your site — you should check to see if any of your plugins are now outdated. Why is this so important? Visitors to your site will experience huge delays in loading time, they will slow your site down — so be sure to keep everything in tip-top shape.

6. Be Sure to Have a Backup Plan

Not just a few ideas thrown together in the instance of a disaster, I mean in a literal sense, a solid action plan for when things go Pete Tong. Back up your entire website. Any credible website host should be taking care of backups for you, for the most part. Moreover, smaller sites it is definitely worth it to perform regular backups yourself.

That’s that. Systematic testing and significant preparation are the steps it takes to assure you are certainly not shamed by a site that fails to perform.