The idea
Context
Creating transparency about something usually hidden.
A website needs work every month. Clients rarely see it.
Every month there's something: security updates, a speed check, making sure the cookies are still in order, testing a new version of a third-party integration. Plenty of work gets done each month to maintain a website. Clients pay for it through a service agreement. When everything goes well, nothing visibly happens.
If a client wants to know how their website is doing, they end up in a pile of different tools and websites. I had the same problem. Visitors in one place, search results, speed, security, updates each somewhere else. Checking a single website took a lot of tabs.
So I built one place for both sides. Clients see what's been done and how their website is doing. I see the same for every website I look after. Included with every Gijsworks website under the standard service agreement.
Is my website okay?
The client portal
The first thing the portal answers.
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A quick answer in your dashboard as to how your site is doing. Whether everything is working as intended or whether something needs a look. All communicated in plain words.
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The portal keeps an eye on your most important pages, like your homepage, a contact form or a shop. If one stops working, I get a message. Usually before you notice.
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Every day the portal checks your website from the outside, the way anyone else would see it. You get a score out of ten and a list of what's in order.
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We check latency multiple times per day, and once a week Google tests your homepage on a phone. You get a score out of ten, and a note when it changes.
Uptime
Watched day and night
8,640Checks per month
When a website is down, the client loses enquiries and often hears about it too late or from a customer. With this many checks, I hear about it before they do.
- A message when the site goes down, and another when it's back
- The last thirty days in your portal, one bar per day
Everything else, at a glance
Also in the portal
Who visits, how fast it loads and how safe it is.
place to look for everything about your website.
Updates
What I've been up to
WordPress and its plugins get new versions almost every week. Most fix small things, some close a security gap, some implement changes that require thorough testing. I make sure everything installed is safe-to-use, and the portal keeps a list of what changed and when.
- I install updates one at a time. If one causes trouble, it's clear which
- After each update the site gets checked. If it doesn't answer normally, the old version goes straight back
Monthly report
A report, every 4th
On the 4th of every month you get an email with a short PDF about the month before: how the site did, what I updated, how many people visited and how they found you. It takes a couple of minutes to read and is easy to share with other parties.
| Sent | The 4th of every month, at 09:00 |
|---|---|
| Contains | Updates, uptime, speed, visitors and searches in Google |
| Language | Dutch or English |
One place for all of it
For clients
Everything on one dashboard.
Every site,
one screen
Careful by design
My side
The screen I start my day on.
Only signed requests
Every request from the portal carries a signature, and your website checks it before it does anything. A request without one gets the same answer as a page that doesn't exist.
One update at a time
I can run updates for every website I look after in one go. Each update still goes in on its own: WordPress first, then themes, then plugins. When one goes wrong, the old version goes back and I get a message. I look into it before it becomes your problem.
Outbox
Automatic, with a human touch
The reports are ready on the 1st and wait in an outbox until the 4th. That gives me a few days to read them. Sometimes I add a line where a number needs explaining. When a client asks me to wait, I pause theirs.
- I read every report before it goes out
- A personal note when the numbers need some context
- Pause a report, or send it right away