“Keep your website updated” is advice every utility hears and almost no one gets specific about. Updated how often? Updated to do what? Without a real answer, the task slides to the bottom of the list, and the site drifts until something breaks or a member complains.
The truth is that “update” covers two different jobs on two different clocks. Separate them, and a practical schedule falls into place.
Two Different Questions Hiding in One
Content updates are what visitors see: rates, office hours, staff listings, program details, seasonal messaging. Maintenance updates are what visitors never notice unless it fails: software versions, security patches, broken links, form functionality. A utility can be diligent about one and still be dangerously behind on the other.
Content: As It Changes, Plus a Monthly Pass
Some content has to change the moment reality changes. Rates, outage information, and emergency messaging fall here, and delay has real consequences for members and trust. Beyond that, a monthly pass through the rest of the site catches the smaller drift: a staff member who left months ago still listed, a program that quietly ended, a phone number that changed. None of these are urgent alone. Left unchecked for a year, they add up to a site members stop trusting.
Maintenance: Quarterly, Not “When Something Breaks”
Platform updates, security patches, broken link checks, and form testing belong on a quarterly rhythm at minimum. Waiting for a visible failure means finding problems the same way your members do, and by then the cost is a scramble instead of routine maintenance. A utility website carries account information and payment tools. Treating its upkeep as optional is a bigger risk than it looks like from the front end.
Once a Year, Step Back
Annually, take a longer look than any monthly or quarterly pass allows. Check page load times, test the mobile experience on an actual phone, and check analytics to see what members are actually using the site to do. Compare that to what the site is built to make easy. A wide gap is the clearest sign that a fuller redesign, typically warranted every three to five years, is approaching rather than urgent.
The Sign You’re Behind
If the only time anyone touches your website is to fix something that already broke, you are behind, no matter how the site looks today. A simple standard works for most utilities: something changes at least monthly, a maintenance check happens at least quarterly, and a full review happens once a year. None of this requires a large team or big budget, just a calendar entry and someone accountable for keeping it.
Utilities that keep this rhythm rarely need a costly emergency rebuild. The site stays current in small steps instead of falling behind far enough that catching up becomes a project of its own.
Article provided by Donald Moore, President, Moore Tech Solutions, Inc. Moore Tech Solutions provides website design, SEO, and digital marketing services for utilities, including CSA and several member utilities.