How To Keep Your Website Running With Professional Website Administration Services

A lot of hard work and time goes into building a website that functions, attracts and retains visitors. However, the work does not stop after the website’s launch, and one could say that it only begins. For instance, website administration is a continuous task. Undeniably, professional web administration is vital, especially for businesses that rely on their sites to promote services and generate sales.

The role of a website administrator encompasses many different aspects of keeping a website up and running. Website administration, web development and website maintenance can all be part of the job description. A web admin might not only keep up with the maintenance of the site but also contribute to design and development. Needless to say, with a high level of responsibility comes a higher price tag. But is there a way for you to keep your website up and running at lower costs?

Continue reading this post to explore web administration and how it can make or break your website. Also, learn how to cut costs on website administration and optimize the expenditure of your small or medium enterprise (SME).

Key highlights

• A professional website administrator may need to take on the responsibility of overseeing web design, web development and web maintenance tasks.
• Website owners should demand a high-quality website administration to ensure that the website remains online and is functioning properly. 
• With 43% of cyberattacks targeting SMEs, maintaining a website’s security might be one of the most significant tasks for website administrators.

What is website administration?

In short, website administration is the upkeep of a website that includes regular maintenance to keep the website running efficiently and safely. In many cases, web administration is the responsibility of a dedicated website administrator. Perhaps someone with a computer science bachelor’s degree. However, website owners can also outsource administration services.

In most cases, SMEs have one website administrator, if that. And they are responsible for much more than just security. Let’s address the many duties of website administrators.

• Coding websites: Web developers are not the only ones who can code websites. A web administrator can also write code using such programming languages as HTML and JavaScript. 
• Programming websites: Web administrators can program websites and web applications or collaborate with computer programming experts (e.g., a web developer) to support the website’s technical side. 
• Setting up security protocols: Website administrators are also responsible for implementing security protocols on your website and maintaining security on a daily basis.
• Performing analysis and reports: Web administrators continuously monitor your website’s performance and traffic. For example, they can inform that traffic is growing and that you need more resources to handle it and accommodate new visitors.
• Handling administrative duties: A website administrator may be responsible for handling hosting, email addresses, website logs and more. 

Website administration and security 

While keeping the site running is the primary task for a web admin, it is undeniable that maintaining website security is just as crucial. This is especially true for small business owners. Why? According to TechTarget, 43% of all cyberattacks target small and medium businesses, but only 14% of them are ready to face attacks. In short, cybercriminals see SMEs as easy targets, and SMEs themselves often underestimate the risks of cybercrime.

If you operate a business website, you have to think not only about your own security but also the security of your visitors and customers. In 2022, the average cost of a data breach was around $4.35 million. Obviously, if a website is not secure and is breached, the business might not recover financially. And even if it does, customers might lose trust, and the business might suffer anyway.

In bigger companies, website security is a joint effort of web administrators, developers, computer programmers and other technical professionals with extensive knowledge relating to security. SMEs, on the other hand, might not have the resources needed to hire a website administrator, additional computer systems administrators and developers to manage the security of one website. That, however, does not mean that SMEs are doomed.

How a website administrator ensures website security

With proper website security measures, your website administrator ensures that each website user is safe while browsing your site. This is the easiest way to maintain brand reputation and make your visitors and customers trust you.

Here are some of the measures a web administrator can employ to secure a website:

• Employ SSL certificates to secure your website
• Add a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to your server
• Utilize security scanners for your website and server
• Perform frequent updates on computers, servers, software and apps used in your work environment
• Create backups and prepare a plan for a recovery process
• Set in place antimalware software and antivirus software
• Secure the website content management system

Consequences of poor website management

Maintaining website security is essential for every website because it is vital to keep cybersecurity threats at bay and mitigate cyberattacks. If appropriate measures are not taken, small businesses can face devastating consequences. In fact, it is estimated that around 60% of small businesses go bankrupt within 6 months after a successful cyberattack.

Even big organizations can face significant losses due to digital security issues. Let’s take Meta (formerly, Facebook) as an example. The company has faced several major security incidents over the years. Perhaps most famously, the company was fined $1.3 billion by the EU after it was found breaching users’ privacy. The effects of that go beyond fines. The declining numbers of Facebook users speak for themselves.

Needless to say, most companies do not have millions of dollars at their disposal to settle lawsuits and pay fines. Instead, they file for bankruptcy and shut down their operations. So, as you can see, an organization can be greatly impacted by poor website management from the security standpoint. 

That said, we should not focus on security alone. Even broken links, missing media files, unexplained maintenance downtime or lagging can set your visitors running to competitors. If you want to avoid that, it is crucial to ensure that your web administrator can handle website management appropriately. From security to functionality.

Who is responsible for website maintenance?

Website maintenance may require thorough knowledge of technical aspects and experience in administrative tasks that not all owners can handle themselves. Most website administrators, however, are trained to handle website maintenance. The right website administrator should be able to take on the responsibility of the following tasks:

• Ensuring daily, weekly or monthly backups
• Monitoring uptime
• Testing web browsers
• Performing website analytics
• Updating the content management system, plugins, themes and servers
• Optimizing your web pages and website for SEO (search engine optimization)
• Improving and optimizing your website’s speed
• Managing your website hosting and databases
• Securing plugins, CMS, servers, information technology, etc.

How much does it cost to hire a professional website administrator?

Website administrators help companies maintain websites and improve any organization’s online presence. Most website administrators are computer programming professionals with the skills that can help handle certain web design and both front-end and back-end web development tasks.

However, it is crucial to note that a website administrator should not carry the responsibilities of a web designer or web developer. Instead of replacing them, a web admin should simply support them. Nonetheless, sometimes web admins wear more than one hat. This is usually the case when they support small companies that cannot hire multiple professionals.

Unsurprisingly, because a website administrator must assume great responsibility, hiring a true professional may cost a pretty penny. The average salary of an in-house website administrator depends on their geographical location. For example, at the time of research, a website administrator working in the US could earn around $105 thousand per year on average.

Outsourcing a website administrator is not cheap either. In fact, you may spend several hundred euros per hour just to receive basic web administration services a couple of hours per week. The greatest downside to such a service is that you may not receive immediate help if something goes wrong because a part-time website administrator does not equal a dedicated professional.

Self-maintenance vs. website administrators

Are you thinking about maintaining your website yourself to cut down on costs? Or are you leaning more toward hiring a website administrator to provide you with professional services? Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of both options. 

Both options come with unique advantages and disadvantages, but neither of them provides the middle-ground that so many small and medium enterprises require. Luckily, there is one other option that SMEs can consider, and this option provides a great mix of the benefits you’d get from both performing self-maintenance and hiring a technical professional. 

WAcademy Web Services: Website Administration

The WAcademy internship program is based on a simple ideology: We want to make education accessible across the globe. And we believe professional training that is accessible to anyone interested, regardless of their background and geographical location, is the way of the future.

We partner with SMEs that need professional business websites and trust our interns to custom-build websites for them. Our web design services are always free, but since the real life of a website starts after it is launched, we understand the importance of offering additional web services that can help any business website scale further. Whether you want to integrate Google Analytics, install live chat, add a GDPR cookie banner, under construction page or pop-ups, embed Meta Pixel, set up automated invoicing or embed a social media feed, we’ve got you covered.

The WAcademy team can also help you take care of website administration. Our professional web administration services include the following:

• WordPress system updates
• WordPress website maintenance consultations
• Regular module/plugin updates
• Appropriate website security protocols

With WAcademy, you can receive professional web administration services from a team of experts without spending a small fortune on hiring a dedicated website administrator. We take care of your website, so you can focus on the rest. 

Curious about our free web design services? Contact sales@wacademy.io today, and we will explain the process of matching you with a web designer in training. If you are ready to initiate the process without further ado, click the button below!