Guides on keeping a website current
Everything that keeps your website from looking older than it is.
In short
The DustOff guides explain how website upkeep works in practice: which content needs checking at which rhythm, how a short content audit runs, what outdated details cost, and how to keep years and seasonal content right for good.
Where to start
If the site has been sitting untouched for a while, start here. Three reads, and you'll know what needs your attention.
- Website maintenance checklist: what actually needs doingAn honest website maintenance checklist: what to check monthly, quarterly, and yearly — content, not just uptime and backups.
- Finding outdated content on your own websiteWhere outdated content usually hides, how to track it down systematically, and the search tricks that find it fastest.
- A content audit in 30 minutes — the short versionA content audit doesn't need a 400-row spreadsheet. This short version finds the content that actually causes problems in half an hour.
Rhythm and ownership
Upkeep rarely fails because of skill. It fails because nobody feels responsible for it.
- How often should you update a website?Not every page needs the same schedule. Which content needs monthly checks, which can wait a year, and how to tell you're falling behind.
- Who actually looks after the website?Website upkeep rarely fails for lack of skill. It fails because nobody is named responsible. Here's how to set ownership and a rhythm that holds.
The spots that gather dust every time
The usual suspects: years, seasons, hours, prices, people, events — and whatever a relaunch leaves behind.
- Old years in the footer and legal pagesWhy "© 2023" in 2026 costs more trust than owners realise — and how to keep footer, heading and legal-page years correct for good.
- Seasonal content that doesn't disappear after the seasonA holiday offer in February, a summer sale in November: how to plan seasonal content so it ends by itself instead of lingering.
- Keeping opening hours, holidays and vacations currentWrong opening hours cost more than any typo: someone shows up at a locked door. Here's how to keep hours, holidays and vacations reliably correct.
- Changing prices without missing a spotPrices almost never live in just one place. This guide shows where they hide and how to make a price change actually complete.
- Team and contact pages: when someone leavesA name on the team page that no longer works there is the most awkward kind of outdated content. Here's how to keep the page reliably current.
- After the event: what happens to the event pageThe event is over, the announcement is still live. Here's how to handle past events without throwing away the visibility they built.
- After the relaunch: what is left over from the old websiteA relaunch swaps the look, not the words. This checklist shows which old content usually rides along — and how to find it before visitors do.
What it's worth, what it costs
Two reads for the moment someone asks why this even matters.
- What website maintenance actually costsRealistic pricing for ongoing website maintenance — agency retainer, hourly, or DIY — plus the hidden cost almost nobody counts.
- What Google actually does with outdated contentFreshness isn't a single ranking factor, but it works through several channels. What Google really does with stale pages, and what's just a myth.
Where to start when nobody has checked in a while
The first instinct is usually the wrong one: go through everything at once. That eats an afternoon, produces a long list, and then nothing happens.
A smaller pass works better. Take the five pages people actually visit — home, services, pricing, contact, the one subpage everyone clicks. Read them the way someone who's never met you would. Anything that's no longer true goes on a note. That's enough for a start.
Two kinds of dust
Technical dust is the familiar kind: updates, backups, load time, broken links. There are contracts, tools, and people for that.
Content dust sits unnoticed because nobody inside the company sees it — only visitors do. An offer that ended in spring. An announcement for something that already happened. A team member who left two years ago. None of it is broken. It's just no longer true.
- Technical dust announces itself. Content dust doesn't.
- Fixing it takes two minutes. Noticing it is the actual work.
- Check in briefly and often, and you'll never need the big cleanup.
A rhythm you can actually keep
A quick pass once a month beats a thorough one once a year. The reason is unglamorous: a short round finds two spots and takes ten minutes. A yearly round finds thirty, takes half a day, and so it gets postponed.
If you'd rather not keep the date in your head, let something else remember it. That's exactly what DustOff does — a reminder by email, with the spots it's about.
Common questions about website upkeep
- How often should I check my website's content?
- For most sites, a short monthly pass plus a closer look every quarter is enough. If you run offers, events, or prices, check every two weeks instead.
- Which pages go stale the fastest?
- Home, offers, events, prices, team, and hours. Anything with a date, a number, or a name ages faster than plain explanatory text.
- Is website upkeep the same as website maintenance?
- No. Maintenance means technical work: updates, backups, uptime. Upkeep means content — whether what's written is still true today. Maintenance contracts almost never cover the second part.
- Where do I start if the site has been untouched for years?
- With the five most-visited pages and a notepad. A full pass over every subpage is only worth it after that.
- Do I need an agency for this?
- Rarely for the fixing — that usually takes two minutes in your own system. Help is more useful for the finding, because you stop noticing your own website's blind spots.
Keep reading
Shall we take a quick look?
Enter your address, wait a minute. Then you'll know what's still right on your website — and what isn't.
No account, no credit card. Takes a minute.