How to Prioritize Website Tasks: A Guide for Business Owners

As a business owner, managing your website can be overwhelming with countless tasks demanding your attention. From fixing urgent issues to enhancing user experience, knowing which tasks to prioritize is crucial. This guide will help you understand how to classify and tackle website tasks effectively, ensuring your site runs smoothly and your business thrives.

While I never recommend that you do these tasks yourself – you need to remain focused on your own Zone of Genius, which likely does not include websites and marketing – you still need a solid understanding of how critical some of these tasks are compared to others, so that you can mentally prioritize and understand what must be fixed today, and what may be able to leave for later. This helps you with budgeting your time and money. Every successful entrepreneur already knows how important it is to prioritize, but it can be hard to know how to do so with tasks outside of your zone.

Website maintenance and updates are essential for keeping your site functional, secure, and appealing to visitors. However, not all tasks have the same level of urgency. By categorizing tasks into different levels of priority, you can focus on what matters most, avoiding unnecessary stress and optimizing your time and resources.

This is the prioritization matrix that I use with my own client website projects, based upon over 25 years of website design:

Website Task Prioritization Level 4: Critical Urgency

All Hands on Deck!!!

Definition: These tasks are emergency issues that make the website inaccessible or severely impair its functionality, preventing users from making purchases or accessing essential content.

• Examples:
  • The website is down
  • Displaying a sitewide 404 error
  • 500 Internal Server Error
  • White screen of death
  • Entire site inaccessible
  • Severe security breaches or vulnerabilities that impact both the site and visitors
  • Critical site-wide pricing errors that could lead to significant financial losses
  • Payment processing or checkout functionality not working
  • One-time setup of functionality that will help long-term (such as site speed and optimizations, analytics integrations, etc)

Website Task Prioritization Level 3: High Urgency

ASAP – But We Can Sleep Tonight

Definition: These tasks directly impact the site’s security, performance, or important functionality. They need to be addressed promptly to prevent potential issues.

• Examples:
  • Order confirmation emails not being sent (especially if containing download links for virtual products)
  • Plugin, theme, or WordPress core updates (to address security vulnerabilities or compatibility issues)

• • Incorrect pricing displayed (significant loss potential)
  • Data integrity issues (corrupted product information, user data)
  • Fixing bugs that affect user transactions or overall site stability
  • Layout issues that prevent the user from completing important tasks (ie buttons that moved and are not clickable, critical information shifted to be off-screen)
  • Incorrect pricing displayed (significant loss potential)
  • Data integrity issues (corrupted product information, user data)
  • Important SEO tasks
  • Major site speed and optimization tasks
  • Feeds and integrations with other important platforms (merchant center, third-party email platform)
  • Regular planned content additions (ie blogs on a predetermined schedule)
  • Resolving critical indexing issues that prevent the site from appearing in search results.
  • Fixing broken links or critical SEO errors that impact site visibility and traffic.
  • Implementing high-priority schema markup to improve search engine understanding and visibility.
  • Correcting metadata issues on high-traffic pages (titles, descriptions).

Website Task Prioritization Level 2: Moderate Urgency

Website Equivalent of Decluttering

Definition: These tasks are important but do not critically affect the site’s core functionality or immediate user experience. They are beneficial but can wait if higher priority issues arise.

• Examples:

• • Cosmetic or layout issues that affect the overall user experience (e.g., sidebar width, color inconsistencies, minor layout issues)
  • Minor bugs or glitches that do not prevent users from completing actions
  • Basic SEO optimization tasks
  • Adjusting non-critical elements of the user interface.
  • Implementing new features that improve user experience but are not essential.
  • Non-critical plugin or theme updates.
  • Optimization tasks that can improve site performance or load times (ongoing)
  • Resolving critical indexing issues that prevent the site from appearing in search results.
  • Fixing broken links or critical SEO errors that impact site visibility and traffic.
  • Implementing high-priority schema markup to improve search engine understanding and visibility.
  • Updating and optimizing individual product descriptions to improve search rankings and sales.
  • Improving internal linking structure for better navigation and SEO.
  • Enhancing content with targeted keywords to improve organic search traffic.
  • Optimizing images and media for better load times and SEO.
  • Regularly revisiting and updating on-page SEO elements based on ongoing keyword research.

Website Task Prioritization Level 1: Low Urgency

The Land of the Website Wishlist

Definition: These tasks are enhancements or minor issues that do not impact the core functionality of the website or user experience.

• Examples:
  • Highly specific design customizations with minimal user impact
  • Adding new design elements or minor styling changes.
  • Adding functionality that is for the team only and a “nice to have” but not critical
  • Content updates or additions not related to critical information
  • Any tasks related to individual preferences that do not affect overall site performance.
  • Updating and optimizing individual product descriptions to improve search rankings and sales.
  • Improving internal linking structure for better navigation and SEO.
  • Enhancing content with targeted keywords to improve organic search traffic.
  • Implementing non-critical schema markup to improve search engine understanding.
  • Optimizing images and media for better load times and SEO.
  • Regularly revisiting and updating on-page SEO elements based on ongoing keyword research.

By understanding the urgency of different website tasks, you can make informed decisions and ensure that critical issues are addressed promptly while also planning for long-term improvements. This approach not only keeps your website in top shape but also enhances the overall user experience, leading to better customer satisfaction and potentially higher conversions.

Whether you’re handling your website tasks yourself or working with a professional, having a clear priority system in place can make a significant difference. It allows you to allocate your time and budget more effectively, ensuring that the most important tasks are never overlooked. As a result, your website remains a powerful tool for your business, driving traffic, engagement, and sales.

For more information on website design and maintenance services, feel free to contact us or explore our website design services.

By following these guidelines, you can keep your website running smoothly and efficiently, addressing the most critical issues promptly while managing expectations and workload effectively.