How Can Your Web Application Maintenance Help Grow Your Business?
Before delving into web application maintenance, we should all understand what a web app is.
A web app is like a mobile app but lives on a web server. As a result, you must ensure your app performs without issues and fulfills your desired objectives.
What separates a good web app from a bad one? Well, we know improving the app over time is crucial. With future improvements come application maintenance. Web application maintenance is a must to keep your web app in top-notch condition. You cannot drop your responsibilities after the web application development phase.
You must perform maintenance services to keep offering excellent user experiences.
Let’s explore the process and steps involved in web application maintenance. We will also discuss how web application maintenance helps you grow your business.
First, let’s share a few words on application maintenance.
What is Web App Maintenance?
Web app maintenance is the process of upgrading an application to keep it productive or cost-effective (McKeen & Smith, 2012). It includes several aspects, such as:
Modifications to rectify faults
Optimizations to improve site performance
Tuning the app to new operating environments
However, adding new features is not a part of app maintenance. You also cannot consider processes like checking log files or taking backups as maintenance tasks.
The goal of web app maintenance is to boost performance, security, and user experience. It involves technical and non-technical activities to adapt to changing demands and technological trends. In addition, you need to check your website maintenance cost as well.
How Does Web Application Maintenance Work?
Web applications need a systematic maintenance approach. It helps the business identify, address, and prevent issues hindering the app’s efficiency.
Below is a detailed breakdown of how web app maintenance works:
Regular Monitoring
Proactive monitoring lays the foundation for effective website maintenance. It includes several aspects, like performance monitoring and uptime monitoring. Maintenance teams continuously track key performance indicators (KPIs) to detect potential issues and take preventive measures when it comes to web application maintenance.
Some crucial areas to monitor include:
Server performance
: Monitoring server resources like CPU usage, RAM, and disk space to ensure applications have sufficient resources.
Web traffic
: Analyzing website traffic patterns, including peak usage times and user demographics. The insights help you scale resources to accommodate increasing demand.
Response Time
: Keeping an eye on page load times and server response times. Slow load times can lead to high bounce rates and unhappy users.
Software Updates
Software updates are necessary to keep your app up-to-date. It also ensures compatibility, facilitates bug fixes, and boosts security.
Below are a few areas to always keep updated:
Operating system
: Updating your OS to ensure it’s up-to-date. Otherwise, you will not benefit from the latest security patches and improvements.
Web server
: Maintenance tasks include updating web server software like Apache or Nginx. It ensures your web application runs smoothly and securely.
Third-party libraries
: Third-party API updates are necessary to keep your application running. Maintenance involves updating third-party services and frameworks to avoid vulnerabilities.
Bug Fixing
Glitches and bugs can mean doom for your web application and profits. It can frustrate users and affect your app’s user experience.
As a result, bug fixing is a top priority for website maintenance tasks and necessary for web application maintenance. Developer and design teams focus their bug-fixing efforts based on severity and user feedback.
Moreover, they maintain a clear communication channel for users to report issues. It is also necessary to ensure the development team fixes bugs promptly.
Security Maintenance
Security maintenance is imperative for a secure website. It involves several aspects, such as:
Security Audits
: Regular security audit processes identify vulnerabilities and loopholes in your systems. It allows you to address issues before malicious actors can exploit them.
Patching vulnerabilities
: Installing all security updates and patches to avoid potential security vulnerabilities. It saves your app from cyber threats and data breaches.
Intrusion detection
: Implementing firewalls and intrusion detection systems to safeguard against unauthorized access. Moreover, teams check if all security elements, like TLS and HTTP, are secure.
Optimizations
Web application maintenance implies optimizing your web app’s performance to maintain optimal performance. Additionally, it involves SEO to boost rankings on search engines. Website maintenance cost may be a bit high, but it will be worth the money.
Below are a few aspects that receive regular maintenance and optimization:
Code optimization
: Regularly reviewing and optimizing web app’s code to ensure the best user experience. Moreover, optimizations ensure your application follows all best practices.
Database optimization
: Optimizing database queries and indexes to reduce response times and improve overall performance. It keeps your app fast and responsive.
Web app design
: Tweaking and refining the app’s design to stay relevant and maintain appeal. It allows you to capitalize on the latest UI/UX trends.
Caching
: Implementing app caching to store data that is accessed frequently. It is an excellent way to reduce load on your servers.
Content delivery network (CDN)
: Using CDNs to distribute your content across multiple servers. It reduces latency and improves load times for users worldwide.
Technology or Platform Changes
You may need to change the platform that drives your web applications. You might need to upgrade to a new technology to foster innovation and growth.
It is the site maintenance team’s task to stay on top of such necessities. Additionally, they implement code changes to adapt to the new ways of doing things.
Therefore, website maintenance services include making changes to the base code of the app. However, you may not have such liberties if you used a web app builder to develop your application.
Scaling
Your application is likely to experience resource issues once it starts to grow. Routines in your code that could support 5,000 transactions daily may not support 50,000 transactions.
Your maintenance process will monitor the application to identify scaling requirements. Moreover, they take action when the monitoring systems issue alerts to optimize resources.
Essential Steps to Web App Maintenance
Web app maintenance is a structured process. It involves several essential steps to ensure your application remains secure, robust, and user-friendly.
Here is a look at the steps you must include in your website maintenance plan:
Assessment
You need a complete understanding of your web app’s current state before you dive into website maintenance. Your assessment should include:
Functional analysis
: Review all application features and functionalities to identify areas of improvement.
Performance evaluation
: Analyze your application’s performance metrics, such as response times, load times, and server uptime.
Security assessment
: Conduct a security assessment to identify vulnerabilities and potential entry points for cyberattacks.
User feedback
: Gather user feedback and reviews to gain insights into pain points and areas of improvement.
Prioritization
Not all maintenance tasks are urgent. Therefore, prioritize your tasks based on their impact on user experience, security, and your business goals.
Assign different levels of priority to issues, such as critical, high, medium, and low. Prioritization helps you allocate resources effectively and address the most pressing concerns.
Planning
Use your prioritization list to create a detailed web application maintenance plan. Below are a few tips to help you out:
Breakdown tasks
: Break down each task into smaller, actionable steps. It allows you to stay on track and prevent missing out on crucial aspects.
Set a timeline
: Set a deadline for each maintenance task. Create your timeline after accounting for complexity, resource availability, and potential impact on users.
Allocate resources
: Identify the team members responsible for each task. Next, allocate necessary resources such as developers, designers, and testers.
Establish clear communication
: Maintain clear communication among all stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page. Open communication fosters collaboration and teamwork.
Execution
This step is all about executing your maintenance plans. Your workflow may look like this:
Updating software, OS, database, web app design, and third-party APIs
Testing and implementing bug fixes
Downloading and installing security updates
Reviewing and performing code optimizations
Cleaning up the database and refining query performance
Testing
Testing is essential to ensure all your tasks have the intended results. It also makes way for a smooth user experience.
Below are a few types of tests you might need to run:
Unit Tests
: Developers conduct unit tests to verify the functionality of individual code components.
Integration tests
: This test helps you evaluate how the different components of your app are working together. It is excellent for identifying potential conflicts.
User acceptance testing (UAT)
: Run UATs involving end-users to determine if your application meets their expectations and requirements.
Performance testing
: Assess your app’s performance in different settings to identify bottlenecks. It also helps you optimize load times.
Monitoring
Continuous monitoring is vital to identify issues and take action immediately. Below are a few tips to ensure optimum monitoring:
Implement real-time monitoring
: Use tools that provide real-time insights into application performance, uptime, and user behavior.
Set up alerts
: Alerts notify your team of critical issues and anomalies for instant response.
Arrange review meetings
: Regular check-ins allow you to discuss ongoing maintenance efforts. You can also review progress and refine your plan.
Documentation
The last step is maintaining comprehensive documentation of your activities. Aim to record the following in your documentation:
Document each update, including the version and changes made
Record all steps in identifying and fixing bugs
Document all security upgrades and patches
Maintain a list of lessons learned from your activities
How Web Application Maintenance Improves Your Business
Maintaining your web application brings a host of benefits that boost your business processes. You can enjoy several advantages, such as:
Enhanced User Experience
Regular upkeep ensures your application keeps delivering seamless experiences. Users can enjoy quick loading, minimal downtime, and a bug-free interface.
You must aim to deliver excellent experiences, as 84% of customers consider them as important as your offerings.
Flawless Security
Website maintenance helps you prevent evolving cyber threats. You can promptly address vulnerabilities and create trust among your users.
Heightened security attracts more users and boosts your retention rates.
Scalability
The load on your web application increases as your demand grows. Ongoing upkeep optimizes your app’s performance, ensuring it can handle increased loads.
You can keep serving countless users with ease and perfection.
Data-Driven Insights
Maintenance provides valuable insights into user behavior, pain points, and preferences. The data can help you make informed strategic decisions and improvements for more profitability.
Competitive Edge
A well-maintained app sets you apart from competitors with outdated or unreliable platforms. It reflects your commitment to staying current and delighting your users.
Most businesses are not active in website maintenance. You can seize the opportunity to surge ahead.
Customer Engagement
A top-notch web application attracts and engages customers. They love to spend time on your app and don’t think about your competitors.
Most importantly, engaged customers bring more profits. Organizations that invest in engaging customers report up to 70% increase in revenues.
Cost Efficiency
You can avoid major problems that need costly fixes with regular maintenance. The ability to manage issues proactively is an excellent way to save money. Implement Your Web Application Maintenance Today
What’s the next step for your web application maintenance plan? We just outlined what it is, how it works, each maintenance step and how it benefits your business. It requires a thorough assessment of your current position and careful planning. Additionally, you must allocate resources and break your workflows into smaller tasks. Conduct testing and maintain comprehensive documentation to guide future efforts.
You can also read about the steps of conversion optimization to further boost your app’s conversions and performance. It will help you take your business to the next level.
Our company offers professional website maintenance services for businesses. You can join hands with us and forget worrying about ongoing upkeep. Our experts will take care of everything, from planning to execution.
Call us today to learn more.