As we all know, the world of web development is complex. Finding a reliable developer to build websites is difficult enough and now you need to do monthly updates, host the site, and tweak a few things at your client’s request. 

This workload is why we have agencies tell us every day, “I stopped offering website builds because it’s a huge headache.” 

Below we’ve written a few points on what hosting and maintenance is and why it matters to your agency! 

Hosting and maintenance overview

Every website is stored on a server. Hosting (or web hosting) is the term used to describe the act of storing a website on a server. Finding the right hosting vendor can be difficult, but it’s important that you select the right vendor because hosting keeps your site running smoothly. 

Side note: Take the time to look up “server farm” to get an idea of how the operations work. 

Maintenance refers to the service of maintaining your websites. This can be as simple as running standard monthly updates or as complex as adding new products to an e-commerce site. Either way, maintenance is important! 

When utilizing white label services you can maintain your sites in a few different ways. 

Option 1 – Let the client do it

The easiest being you let your client make the updates or changes on their own. The caveat is that the site needs to have an easy-to-use dashboard for clients to make changes themselves. 

For instance, if the site is all custom coded (hard coded), then the client probably won’t be able to make changes themselves. 

Option 2 – Have a team member make the changes

You can assign someone in your agency (maybe a project manager) to do updates if they’re necessary, or add a few things at the client’s request.

Option 3 – Have a white label partner make the changes

This is usually the simplest option for agencies, because it allows you to offer expert services without bogging your team down.

By the way, Syzmic now offers maintenance packages for this reason and it can all be done within your agency portal! 

Adapting websites to ad campaigns

Let me preface this by saying your client’s website doesn’t need any major changes for every ad campaign. We build websites that are made to last but a website is extremely useful to capture metrics on the efficacy of your campaign.

For example, landing page creation is a real-time, foolproof metric that captures leads for your client. However, creating new pages often, and getting the functionality out of them, is difficult to do on your own.

This leads back to why maintenance is important! As businesses evolve, websites should also. 

Unforeseen issues 

Always plan for the unexpected. Development is complicated, that’s why having an experienced developer you can reach in minutes is paramount! Every week our team experiences new bugs or problems that arise but we get them resolved and learn from the process.

Imagine having to solve these problems with no development experience. It can be headache enough to throw in the towel altogether. This is why Syzmic created an easy ticketing system that agencies can access in minutes! 

Website security

Let me say this, hacking is very real. This isn’t an issue that exists only in movies. Just this week, we had a customer come to us with a link that wouldn’t work and it turned out that his website was hacked and had many unsecured .txt files embedded on their website.

This isn’t always a complete site shut down. It can be as simple as link re-route that causes the website to become unsecure.

That’s why it’s important to be careful who you give access to and have a professional make updates and maintain the integrity of the website. 

Website speed

You can have a beautiful, functional, and mobile-friendly website but if it’s slow to load you can compromise your client’s ability to convert that lead.

There are many sites out there to test your page speed. We recommend: PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.

If one of your client’s website is loading slowly, consider a consultation with us and make sure you’re hosting the site with someone you trust is making the necessary updates every month. 

Needless to say, there are many things to consider when choosing a hosting vendor. This is a widespread issue and why Syzmic is rolling out new hosting and maintenance options for marketing agencies!

Contact our sales team today to hear about our hosting and maintenance Q4 offering.