Tech
The Complete Guide on How to Manage a Website
Did you know 85% of consumers check a business online before purchasing something? Even 75% of those who plan to buy in-store do the same.
That doesn’t mean customers will flock to you just because you have a website.
Visitors will unlikely want to keep engaging with your site if it isn’t attractive enough. According to statistics, this applies to 38% of people.
Beyond aesthetics, your site’s speed and content also affect its attractiveness. So if it’s slow or outdated, expect visitors to leave pronto.
For those reasons, learning how to manage a website should be at the top of your priorities. Proper site management ensures your site is appealing, professional, up-to-date, and functional.
If you’re at a loss, don’t worry. We’ll teach you the basics of website management, so keep reading.
Track Your Site Speed
Website speed is the length of time it takes for a website to load. Ideally, it should be one second or less. A good enough reason is that almost half of site visitors expect sites to load in under two seconds.
One of the factors that can make your website load longer is its multimedia content. These include numerous high-resolution photos and videos.
Let’s say you bought the domain for Newest Today for your store that carries the latest gadgets. With its intended use as an e-commerce site, it’ll likely have loads of photos and videos. After all, you must showcase each product from various angles and how users can operate them.
Each photo or video you add to your website can reduce its speed. This can lead to slow, even non-loading sections of your site. Visitors don’t like that and will likely leave your site if it takes forever to give them what they want.
That makes regular speed tests crucial to managing and running a website. Fortunately, many site testing tools exist, including Google PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom, and GTMetrix.
Use one or more of those tools to test your site speed monthly or whenever you add many photos and videos.
Verify Page Speed
Properly managing a website also involves testing individual page speeds.
Page speed differs from site speed because it pertains to the speed of a specific page on your site. But like a slow-loading website, a slow-loading page can make visitors leave.
You must run page speed tests, as you can have a fast site overall but have slow pages. This is because a factor that influences site speed is the average of numerous page speeds.
Suppose you have 75% fast-loading pages, with the rest being slow. Because there are more quick-loading pages, their average may come out passable. So if you only measure your site speed, it may seem like all your pages are okay.
That can give you a false sense of security that your entire site is fast. The problem is if your site visitors land on a specific page that takes forever to load.
So, use the same tools above to test the speed of individual pages. Do this whenever you add new pages, especially if they contain multimedia.
Assess Your Hosting Needs
Most problems with slow site and page speeds are on the website’s side. However, there are times wherein the web host is the cause. A perfect example is when a host’s server performance drops.
Poor server performance often stems from a lack of resources. This is common in shared servers, as each website on that server shares space and resources. So if one site hogs the resources, the others suffer.
Shared servers are okay for small sites but not those needing hefty resources (e.g., an online store). Thus, if you have an e-commerce site, it would be best hosted by a VPS or a dedicated server.
To assess your hosting needs, consider the growth of your website. It may have been okay on a shared server when it started with only a few pages. But if it has grown considerably since then, it may be time to switch to a VPS or dedicated server.
Create Backups
Website backups can be a lifesaver if you accidentally make changes you don’t want. An example is if you deleted several pages without intending to do so. A backup lets you revert those modifications.
Another way backups can save your website is if the storage medium holding its files crashes. For instance, the computer hard drive that contains the site database breaks down.
You can create website backups by manually downloading its files and database. You can also use a backup plugin or a backup service your site’s host provides.
Regardless of your chosen method, you should abide by the 3-2-1 backup strategy.
The “3” refers to always having three copies, one being the original and two being backups. The “2” means using two different storage media for the backups (e.g., the cloud and a hard drive). The “1” pertains to having one of the backups in an off-site location.
You should also create backups whenever you’re about to revise or update your website. Do the same when you’ve finished modifying your site.
Monitor Your Site
Open each web page on your site to confirm they’re working as they should. If they load slowly, optimize their content, such as resizing or reformatting images. You can also have your videos hosted on another platform and then embedded on your page.
Update any outdated information on your site, such as old to new contact info or addresses. Do the same with blog posts; you may want to put them down if they’re no longer relevant. If they’re still helpful, update them with new information or recent statistics.
Never delay updating plugins, either, since these can make parts of your website fail. Outdated plugins can also be security risks, as they can provide cybercriminals loopholes.
You should also look at the website styles used by your competitors. This can give you insights on what to do with yours to make it more appealing to visitors.
That’s How to Manage a Website Like a Pro
When you know how to manage a website, you’ll find it easier to spot issues that make it less appealing to visitors. This allows you to make the necessary changes to address them immediately. You don’t have to wait for someone else to fix them because, to site visitors, every second counts.
For more website-related guides and ideas like this, browse our site’s Tech category!
Queuing software and traditional queues both serve the purpose of managing & organizing customers in a sequential manner, but they have distinct advantages & disadvantages. However, the choice between smart queuing and traditional queues depends on specific needs and circumstances. So to make an informed decision, you should consider the efficiency, customer experience, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and adaptability to various industries and scenarios.
In this write-up, you will get deep insights about the traditional queuing approach and the modern smart queuing solution. Let’s start the comparison guide and figure out which one is effective for you.
Comparative Guide on Traditional Queues vs. Advanced Queuing Solutions
The following are the differences between traditional and smart queuing software.
Traditional Queues
Traditionally, when a customer wants to avail of any product or service, he/she must stand in a queue and take a physical token. This token indicates the queue number when it is the customer’s turn. The staff member verbally calls the customer with the assigned token number. After the customer has waited a long time, he/she goes to the counter and uses the service. Here are some pointers given below on the traditional queuing process:
Simple and Familiar Method
People are generally familiar with the concept of forming a queue line and waiting for their turn to avail of services. It is simple to implement and widely understood by customers, whether they are going in a large or small organization. The queuing process remains the same and is widely followed.
Physical Presence Required
Traditional queues involve people physically waiting in line, whether it’s at a retail store, a bank, or a hospital. This can be effective in situations where in-person interactions are necessary but at the same time, it’s a very time-consuming and hectic task.
Resource Allocation
Staff allocation in traditional queues can be a challenging task. The business owner has to allocate staff or resources in consideration of changing customer demand and footballs manually. This leads to double booking and customer dissatisfaction.
Scalability
Traditional queues struggle to handle fluctuations in customer traffic. This leads to customer dissatisfaction.
Limited Efficiency
Traditional queues can be less efficient at managing wait times, and even physical customer queue lines are improperly organized. Customers or tasks are served on a first-come, first-served basis, which may not always match with task priorities or customer urgency. This leads to customer dissatisfaction with the business services.
Queuing Software
In the advanced technology era, almost every business process gets automated but sometimes customers still have to wait to avail of the services. However, with the help of a smart queuing solution, this problem can be solved. This software allows customers to remotely join the queue lineups and get a real-time update on the queue status. Here are some pointers given below on the smart queuing process:
Digital Automation
Cloud-based queuing software automates the queuing process, which allows customers to join a virtual queue without physically waiting in line. This can be done through websites, mobile apps, or self-service kiosks. The software automatically sends real-time notifications to the customers when their turn arrives.
Remote Access
Customers can secure their spot in the queue remotely, which reduces the need to be physically present on the business premises. This is especially beneficial in situations where social distancing or remote access is preferred, such as during a COVID-19 pandemic.
Resource Optimization
A robust waiting queue system enables better resource allocation. It can dynamically assign staff or resources based on real-time demand data, which boosts staff productivity as well as business image.
Elevate Efficiency
An all-in-one queuing solution elevates your overall business productivity and efficiency. For example, it facilitates virtual queuing, which gives extra time to staff to do other crucial tasks instead of managing the customer queue lines. This improves staff productivity and builds a greater experience for customers.
Fully Secured Database
The system has the ability to record customer data in its secured database in a single place. It provides access control and multi-level authentication for securely managing the data. So, there is no stealing of any information, which can impact the business’s reputation and customer experience.
Scalability
Queuing software can easily adapt to changing demand. Whether it’s a sudden rush or a slow day, the system can efficiently adjust the customer’s flow and ensure that resources are optimally utilized.
Pros of Integrating the Queue Management Software into the Business Premises
In this section, we will see and know the advantages of using robust queue management software.
Shorten Customer Waiting Time
Most customers drop the idea of purchasing the products when they see the long queue lines in the business premises. However, with the integration of queue management software, customers no longer have to wait for long hours. It automatically notifies the customers about their average waiting time and updates real-time queue status information. This reduces customer frustration and perception of long waiting times on the premises.
Increase Staff Efficiency
The queue management software offers a glance view of the dashboard, where staff can manage customer services. This reduces all the guesswork that happens due to unorganized queues. The system provides in-advance or real-time information to the staff as well as customers, which enhances efficiency and satisfaction.
Gain Customer Insights
The waiting line system helps you to drill down the data and understand the trends at the specific customer and overall business level. The reports generated by the system provide multiple insights and help you to make sound decisions. This improves the overall business efficiency and bottom line.
Improve Accessibility to Services
The queuing software improves access to customer services through:
- QR codes.
- Online appointment scheduling through a mobile app.
- Third-party integration.
Significantly, this provides convenience to customers and makes the entire experience far better.
Concluding Remarks
In conclusion, as you can see and observe the difference between both, which one is the more effective and efficient method for your business. Of course, a smart queuing solution is an effective option for managing crowded queue lines rather than using a traditional approach. This saves a lot of time, effort, and resources for the business as well as customers.
Author Bio:
Allen Daniel is a passionate writer associated with Qwaiting since 2018. She provides technology and software-related content which is very informative and knowledgeable. With the help of her content, you can grow your business.
Military Life and Personal Finances
Best Places to Vacation in Indiana
