I was pleasantly surprised to see the advent of Spring in my neighborhood. It came quite suddenly. On Wednesday, we had a huge snowstorm. On Saturday, it rained heartily and melted the accumulation of snow. On Sunday, it was Spring.

Immediately, on that first day of Spring weather, there were weeds in my garden to pull. And that’s really the crux of the matter: maintaining your house – not even improving it, just maintaining it – takes a lot of work. I don’t claim to be perfect at these maintenance tasks but every year we get a little better. By the time we’re retired, we’ll be home maintenance pros.

Much like your home, your business likely requires near constant maintenance. Without just keeping things up, they can quickly deteriorate, becoming ineffective or completely defective. Here are some online marketing elements to make sure you’re regularly maintaining.

1. Website Plugins We see it all the time: you started a WordPress site (hooray!) and then you never touched it again. Eventually, the plugins that you chose for your site will need to be updated. Your WordPress theme, too. This is a simple task that helps to ensure that your security, among other things, is up to date. Not regularly updating your plugins or site means features on your site may break. It may also leave you vulnerable to hackers.

2. Website Content Did you move? Add a new service? Start a new promotion? Start a new social media profile? Your website should reflect all of these changes. Regularly reviewing your the content on your webpages (as well as your navigation bar) and making any necessary tweaks should help keep your online presence well maintained.

3. Profiles and Bios Regularly checking in on your online profiles and bios can help to ensure that all of your recent achievements are acknowledged. It can also be a great time to update your education, re-position yourself in the market, add hashtags as appropriate, and more.

4. Location and Contact Information Even if you’re regularly updating your website, when you move or add a new phone line, it can be easy to forget all the many places your contact information resides. Keep a checklist that includes your business cards, flyers, Google+ listings, Facebook page (etc.), and the task will be much easier going forward. That way, people will always know where to find you no matter how they first came in contact with you.

What marketing maintenance tasks do you regularly perform for your business?