5 Website Maintenance Practices for Historical Museums

Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future: Why Website Maintenance Matters for Historical Museums

Historical museums are more than just repositories of artifacts; they are portals to the past, connecting us to the stories, people, and events that shaped our present. In today’s digital age, a museum’s website is often the first point of contact for potential visitors, researchers, and donors. A well-maintained website acts as a virtual extension of the museum itself, offering a glimpse into its collections, exhibits, and educational programs. But like any historical artifact, a website requires consistent care and attention to ensure its longevity and relevance. Neglecting website maintenance can lead to broken links, outdated information, security vulnerabilities, and a poor user experience, ultimately diminishing the museum’s online presence and hindering its mission to engage and educate the public. Just imagine a meticulously curated exhibit, slowly gathering dust and cobwebs. That’s precisely what happens to a neglected website.

This article explores five essential website maintenance practices specifically tailored for historical museums. By implementing these strategies, museums can ensure their online presence remains a valuable asset, driving visitation, fostering engagement, and preserving the past for future generations. Think of these practices as the digital conservation efforts for your museum’s most public-facing exhibit.

1. Content is King (and Needs Regular Polishing): Content Audits and Updates

A historical museum’s website is a treasure trove of information, from exhibit details and event calendars to research resources and online collections. However, information decays rapidly online. What was accurate and relevant yesterday may be outdated or incomplete today. Regular content audits are essential to ensure the website remains a trusted source of information and a compelling destination for visitors.

What is a Content Audit, and Why is it Vital?

A content audit is a comprehensive review of all the content on your website, including text, images, videos, and downloadable documents. It involves assessing the accuracy, relevance, and effectiveness of each piece of content, identifying areas for improvement, and developing a plan for updates and revisions. Think of it as a deep cleaning and inventory of your entire digital collection.

Benefits of Regular Content Audits:

• Improved Accuracy: Historical information can be nuanced and subject to ongoing research. Regular audits ensure that the information presented on your website is up-to-date and reflects the latest scholarship. Imagine someone planning a visit based on incorrect information – a disastrous first impression!
• Enhanced User Experience: Outdated or irrelevant content can frustrate visitors and make it difficult for them to find the information they need. Content audits identify areas where content can be improved for clarity, readability, and accessibility. Think of content audits as improving the pathway through your digital museum, making it easier for visitors to navigate and enjoy the exhibits.
• Boosted SEO Performance: Search engines prioritize websites with fresh, relevant, and accurate content. Regular content updates can improve your website’s search engine ranking, making it easier for potential visitors to find your museum online. Google loves a website that is constantly improving and providing value to its users.
• Strengthened Brand Reputation: A well-maintained website reflects positively on the museum’s reputation and reinforces its commitment to accuracy and excellence. A website riddled with errors and outdated information can damage your credibility and make your museum appear unprofessional.
• Compliance with Accessibility Standards: Accessibility standards are constantly evolving. Content audits ensure that your website meets the latest accessibility guidelines, making it usable for people with disabilities. Accessibility is not just a legal requirement; it’s a moral imperative.

How to Conduct a Content Audit: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Inventory Your Content: Create a spreadsheet or use a content audit tool to list every page, document, image, and video on your website. Include key information such as the page title, URL, content type, author, publication date, and last updated date.
2. Assess Accuracy and Relevance: Evaluate each piece of content for accuracy, relevance, and clarity. Ask yourself:
   • Is the information still accurate?
   • Is the content relevant to the museum’s mission and target audience?
   • Is the content clear, concise, and easy to understand?
   • Does the content meet accessibility standards?
   • Are there any broken links or outdated resources?
3. Identify Areas for Improvement: Based on your assessment, identify areas where content can be improved, updated, or removed. Prioritize content that is outdated, inaccurate, or poorly written.
4. Develop a Content Update Plan: Create a plan for updating or revising your content. Assign responsibility for each task and set deadlines for completion.
5. Implement the Plan: Begin updating or revising your content according to the plan. Ensure that all changes are reviewed and approved before being published.
6. Establish a Content Governance Policy: Implement a policy for ongoing content maintenance and updates. This policy should define roles and responsibilities, set standards for content quality, and establish a schedule for regular content audits.

Examples of Content Updates for Historical Museums

• Updating Exhibit Information: Add new photos or videos of exhibits, revise descriptions to reflect new research, and update information on opening hours and admission fees.
• Refreshing Event Calendars: Regularly update the event calendar with upcoming events, workshops, and lectures. Remove outdated events promptly.
• Improving Blog Posts: Add new information or perspectives to existing blog posts, update links to relevant resources, and ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date.
• Reviewing Collections Databases: Verify the accuracy of object descriptions and provenance information. Add new images or multimedia content to enhance the visitor experience.
• Updating Contact Information: Ensure that contact information for staff members and departments is accurate and up-to-date.

By consistently auditing and updating your website’s content, you can ensure that it remains a valuable resource for visitors, researchers, and donors, and that it accurately reflects the museum’s mission and values. Remember, a well-maintained website is a living document, constantly evolving to meet the needs of its audience.

2. Security is Non-Negotiable: Protecting Sensitive Data and Preventing Cyberattacks

Historical museums often hold a wealth of sensitive information, including donor data, membership lists, and intellectual property. In today’s digital landscape, websites are vulnerable to cyberattacks that can compromise this data, disrupt operations, and damage the museum’s reputation. Implementing robust security measures is essential to protect your website from these threats. Think of your website as a vault containing invaluable historical artifacts – it needs to be protected from theft and damage.

Why Website Security is Critical for Historical Museums

• Protecting Sensitive Data: Cyberattacks can expose sensitive data, such as donor information, membership details, and financial records. This can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and reputational damage.
• Preventing Website Defacement: Hackers can deface websites by replacing the content with malicious or inappropriate material. This can damage the museum’s reputation and alienate visitors.
• Ensuring Website Availability: Cyberattacks can disrupt website operations, making it unavailable to visitors. This can hinder the museum’s ability to communicate with the public and deliver its educational programs.
• Maintaining Public Trust: A security breach can erode public trust in the museum and its ability to protect sensitive information.
• Complying with Regulations: Many jurisdictions have regulations that require organizations to protect sensitive data. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines and legal action.

Key Security Practices for Historical Museum Websites

1. Use a Strong Password Policy: Enforce a strong password policy that requires users to create complex passwords and change them regularly. Educate staff members about the importance of password security and the risks of using weak or reused passwords.
2. Install Security Updates Promptly: Security updates often contain patches for vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Install security updates for your website’s content management system (CMS), plugins, and themes as soon as they are released. Think of security updates as patching up holes in your museum’s defenses.
3. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF): A WAF acts as a barrier between your website and the internet, filtering out malicious traffic and preventing attacks.
4. Implement HTTPS: HTTPS encrypts the communication between your website and visitors’ browsers, protecting sensitive data from interception. Make sure your website has a valid SSL certificate and that all pages are served over HTTPS. Look for the padlock icon in the browser’s address bar to verify that HTTPS is enabled.
5. Regularly Back Up Your Website:Back up your website regularly to protect against data loss in the event of a cyberattack or hardware failure. Store backups in a secure location, separate from your website server.
6. Monitor Website Activity: Monitor your website’s activity logs for suspicious behavior, such as unusual login attempts, file modifications, or error messages. Use a security monitoring tool to automate this process.
7. Conduct Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your website’s security posture. Engage a security professional to conduct a penetration test to simulate a real-world attack.
8. Train Staff Members on Security Best Practices: Educate staff members about the importance of website security and the risks of phishing scams, malware, and social engineering attacks.
9. Implement a Security Incident Response Plan: Develop a plan for responding to security incidents, such as data breaches or website defacements. The plan should outline roles and responsibilities, procedures for containing the incident, and steps for notifying affected parties.
10. Limit Access to Sensitive Data: Restrict access to sensitive data to only those staff members who need it to perform their duties. Use role-based access control to assign different levels of access to different users.

Choosing a Secure Web Hosting Provider

Your web hosting provider plays a critical role in your website’s security. Choose a hosting provider that offers robust security features, such as:

• Firewall Protection: Protection against unauthorized access to your server.
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems: Monitoring for suspicious activity and automatically blocking attacks.
• Regular Security Audits: Independent audits to identify and address security vulnerabilities.
• Data Encryption: Encryption of data at rest and in transit.
• Physical Security: Secure data centers with restricted access.

By implementing these security practices, historical museums can protect their websites from cyberattacks and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their data. Remember, website security is an ongoing process, not a one-time fix. It requires constant vigilance and a commitment to staying ahead of the evolving threat landscape.

3. User Experience (UX) is Key: Ensuring Accessibility, Mobile-Friendliness, and Intuitive Navigation

A historical museum’s website should be a welcoming and engaging destination for all visitors, regardless of their technical skills or abilities. User experience (UX) encompasses all aspects of a visitor’s interaction with the website, from its visual design and navigation to its content and functionality. A positive UX can encourage visitors to explore the website, learn more about the museum, and ultimately plan a visit. A negative UX can drive visitors away, leaving them with a poor impression of the museum.

Why UX Matters for Historical Museums

• Increased Engagement: A well-designed website that is easy to use and navigate will encourage visitors to spend more time exploring the museum’s collections, exhibits, and educational programs.
• Improved Accessibility: Ensuring that your website is accessible to people with disabilities is not only a legal requirement but also a moral imperative. An accessible website can reach a wider audience and promote inclusivity.
• Enhanced Mobile Experience: With the majority of internet users accessing websites on their mobile devices, it is essential to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and provides a seamless experience on smartphones and tablets.
• Higher Conversion Rates: A positive UX can lead to higher conversion rates, such as increased ticket sales, membership sign-ups, and donations.
• Strengthened Brand Reputation: A well-designed and user-friendly website reflects positively on the museum’s reputation and reinforces its commitment to excellence.

Key UX Practices for Historical Museum Websites

1. Intuitive Navigation: Design a clear and intuitive navigation structure that makes it easy for visitors to find the information they need. Use descriptive menu labels and avoid jargon. Implement a search function that allows visitors to quickly find specific content. Think of your website’s navigation as a well-organized museum map, guiding visitors to the exhibits they want to see.
2. Mobile-First Design: Design your website with mobile devices in mind. Use a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes. Ensure that all content is easily readable and accessible on mobile devices. Test your website on different mobile devices to ensure a seamless experience.
3. Accessibility: Design your website to be accessible to people with disabilities. Follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that your website is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Use semantic HTML, provide alternative text for images, and ensure that your website is keyboard-navigable.
4. Clear and Concise Content: Write clear and concise content that is easy to understand. Avoid jargon and technical terms. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up long blocks of text. Use images and videos to illustrate your content.
5. Fast Loading Speed: Optimize your website for fast loading speed. Slow loading speeds can frustrate visitors and lead to them abandoning your website. Optimize images, minimize HTTP requests, and use a content delivery network (CDN) to improve loading speed.
6. Consistent Branding: Maintain consistent branding throughout your website. Use the same colors, fonts, and logos on all pages. Ensure that your website reflects the museum’s brand identity.
7. Call to Actions: Use clear and concise call to actions to encourage visitors to take desired actions, such as purchasing tickets, signing up for a newsletter, or making a donation. Make your call to actions prominent and easy to find.
8. User Testing: Conduct user testing to gather feedback on your website’s UX. Ask users to complete specific tasks and observe their behavior. Use the feedback to identify areas for improvement.
9. Analytics: Track your website’s analytics to monitor user behavior. Use analytics data to identify areas where visitors are struggling or abandoning your website. Use the data to inform your UX design decisions.
10. Visual Appeal: Use high-quality images and videos to enhance the visual appeal of your website. Choose images that are relevant to your content and that are optimized for the web. Use a visually appealing color palette and typography. Ensure that your website is visually engaging and reflects the museum’s brand identity.

By prioritizing UX, historical museums can create websites that are engaging, accessible, and user-friendly, ultimately driving visitation, fostering engagement, and preserving the past for future generations. Remember, your website is often the first impression visitors have of your museum, so make it a good one.

4. Technical SEO: Helping Search Engines (and People) Find Your Museum

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). By optimizing your website for search engines, you can make it easier for potential visitors to find your museum online. Technical SEO focuses on the technical aspects of your website that affect its ability to be crawled and indexed by search engines. Think of SEO as building a clear and well-maintained road leading to your museum’s front door, making it easy for visitors to find you.

Why Technical SEO Matters for Historical Museums

• Increased Visibility: By improving your website’s ranking in search engine results pages, you can increase its visibility to potential visitors.
• Targeted Traffic: SEO can help you attract targeted traffic to your website from people who are actively searching for information about historical museums or specific historical topics.
• Cost-Effective Marketing: SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy compared to paid advertising. Once your website is optimized, it can continue to generate traffic for months or even years.
• Improved User Experience: Many technical SEO best practices also improve the user experience of your website, making it more engaging and user-friendly.
• Competitive Advantage: By optimizing your website for search engines, you can gain a competitive advantage over other historical museums that have not invested in SEO.

Key Technical SEO Practices for Historical Museum Websites

1. Website Speed Optimization: Ensure that your website loads quickly. Page speed is a major ranking factor for search engines. Optimize images, minimize HTTP requests, and use a content delivery network (CDN) to improve loading speed. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to identify areas for improvement.
2. Mobile-Friendliness: Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. Google uses mobile-first indexing, which means that it primarily crawls and indexes the mobile version of your website. Use a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes.
3. XML Sitemap: Create an XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console. An XML sitemap helps search engines discover and crawl all the pages on your website.
4. Robots.txt File: Create a robots.txt file to tell search engines which pages on your website they should not crawl. This can help prevent search engines from crawling duplicate content or sensitive information.
5. Structured Data Markup: Use structured data markup to provide search engines with more information about the content on your website. This can help search engines understand the context of your content and display it more effectively in search results. Use schema.org vocabulary to add structured data markup to your website.
6. Canonical Tags: Use canonical tags to tell search engines which version of a page is the preferred version. This can help prevent duplicate content issues.
7. HTTPS: Ensure that your website uses HTTPS. HTTPS is a secure protocol that encrypts the communication between your website and visitors’ browsers. Google uses HTTPS as a ranking signal.
8. Broken Link Audits: Regularly audit your website for broken links. Broken links can negatively impact your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. Use a broken link checker to identify and fix broken links.
9. URL Structure: Use a clear and logical URL structure. Use keywords in your URLs and avoid using long or complicated URLs.
10. Internal Linking: Use internal links to link to other relevant pages on your website. Internal linking helps search engines understand the structure of your website and can improve the ranking of your pages.

By implementing these technical SEO practices, historical museums can improve their website’s visibility in search engine results pages and attract more targeted traffic to their website. Remember, SEO is an ongoing process, not a one-time fix. It requires constant monitoring and adjustment to stay ahead of the evolving search engine landscape.

5. Regular Backups: A Safety Net for Your Digital History

Imagine losing years of research, meticulously curated exhibit information, and valuable donor data in a single catastrophic event. Website disasters, whether caused by cyberattacks, human error, or technical glitches, can have devastating consequences. Regular backups are essential to protect your website from data loss and ensure that you can quickly restore your website to its previous state. Think of backups as preserving a duplicate of your museum’s entire collection, safely stored offsite in case of a disaster.

Why Regular Backups are Crucial for Historical Museums

• Data Protection: Backups protect your website from data loss caused by cyberattacks, hardware failures, human error, and natural disasters.
• Disaster Recovery: Backups enable you to quickly restore your website to its previous state in the event of a disaster.
• Peace of Mind: Knowing that you have regular backups provides peace of mind and reduces the stress associated with managing a website.
• Compliance: Many regulations require organizations to maintain backups of their data.
• Time Savings: Restoring a website from a backup is much faster and easier than rebuilding it from scratch.

Backup Strategies for Historical Museum Websites

1. Frequency: Back up your website regularly. The frequency of backups will depend on how often your website is updated. For websites that are updated frequently, daily backups are recommended. For websites that are updated less frequently, weekly or monthly backups may be sufficient.
2. Backup Types: Use a combination of different backup types, such as:
   • Full Backups: A full backup copies all the files and databases on your website.
   • Incremental Backups: An incremental backup copies only the files that have changed since the last full backup.
   • Differential Backups: A differential backup copies all the files that have changed since the last full backup.
3. Storage Location: Store backups in a secure location, separate from your website server. Consider using a cloud-based backup service that offers secure and reliable storage.
4. Testing: Regularly test your backups to ensure that they are working properly. Restore your website from a backup to verify that all the files and databases are intact.
5. Automation: Automate the backup process to ensure that backups are performed consistently and reliably. Use a backup plugin or a backup service to automate the backup process.

Backup Best Practices for Historical Museums

• Document Your Backup Process: Create a document that outlines your backup process, including the frequency of backups, the types of backups used, the storage location, and the testing procedures.
• Assign Responsibility: Assign responsibility for managing the backup process to a specific staff member or department.
• Monitor Backups: Monitor your backups to ensure that they are being performed successfully.
• Store Multiple Backups: Store multiple backups to protect against data loss caused by corrupted backups.
• Secure Your Backups: Encrypt your backups to protect against unauthorized access.

By implementing these backup practices, historical museums can protect their websites from data loss and ensure that they can quickly recover from any disaster. Remember, a robust backup strategy is an essential part of any website maintenance plan. It’s your safety net in the digital world.

Active Website Management: Your Partner in Preserving Digital Heritage

Maintaining a website for a historical museum is an ongoing and complex task. It requires a combination of technical expertise, content management skills, and a commitment to providing a positive user experience. While many museums have dedicated staff members who are responsible for website maintenance, others may benefit from partnering with a professional website management service. Active Website Management offers a range of services to help historical museums maintain their websites, including content updates, security monitoring, SEO optimization, and backup management.

By partnering with Active Website Management, museums can focus on their core mission of preserving and sharing history, while leaving the technical details of website maintenance to the experts. This can save time and resources, and ensure that the museum’s website remains a valuable asset for years to come.