If you’re reading this chances are, you have a website. Some kind of space on the web with your own domain name.
Whether you’ve built your site yourself, or if someone else has designed it for you, there are a few essential things you need to be aware of, things you need to know about your website.
1. Your hosting details
The technical bits of your website can feel daunting or downright boring. You might feel it’s something best left for the professionals, or it might feel like it’s just too much to keep track of. But what happens the day your web developer is no longer available, your site is down and you don’t even know who to ask for help?
You need to know:
the login/registration details to your
- domain name host (such as Godaddy, Crazydomains etc)
- web host (such as WPEngine if you use WordPress, Digital Pacific etc)
- cpanel if your web host has one
- email account/s, these could be with your web host or hosted externally with G suite (Google) or similar
- Cloudflare if your website uses it
2. Backups
You need to make sure your website is backed up on a regular basis. If it’s not, you may actually lose everything if something goes wrong. Depending on how often you blog or update your website, a daily or weekly backup should be performed.
You need to know:
- where the backups are stored
- if your website can be restored from the backup only or if the website would need to be re-built using the files in the backup
- how often backups are made
- how to access the backups
3. Google Analytics
You should be able to access the Google Analytics for your website. You need to have all permissions so that you can take over the management of the account, or give full access to someone else should you ever need to change who is managing the account.
You need to know:
- Login to the admin Google Analytics account
4. How to make simple changes
You’ve got your site built and launched, it’s looking good and it’s being well received. You then realise you’ve made a few spelling mistakes that weren’t picked up by the proofreading. It’s very useful to learn how to make these simple changes yourself on your website, instead of relying on a web designer each time. It will not only save you money, but time and effort as well. In the time you write the first email to your web designer, the mistake could have been fixed.
It is also useful knowing how to add blog posts or news to your site, so the website is continually updated and looks fresh.
You need to know:
- How to log in to your site
- How to make simple text changes
- How to add blog posts or news articles
5. Platform, theme and updates
Websites can be built in many different ways. A couple of popular Content Management Systems are WordPress and Joomla. Your site might be built using Squarespace, Wix or Shopify. Whatever it is, you need to be aware of the platforms special requirements.
You need to know:
- What platform or CMS your website is built on or using
- If and when it needs to be updated
- How to update it
- If it it built using a theme or template, what it’s called
If you had your website built by an agency, they normally provide this information.
