Exterior signage is incredibly important for businesses. When you have an eye-popping sign, you’re making your business more visible and attractive to potential customers and passersby. But just like with any piece of property, you need to take care of your business sign to increase its shelf life and your ROI.

Your signage company should be able to provide repair services in case of serious damages, and should also walk you through a list of sign maintenance do’s and don’ts. If your signage company cannot repair your business sign or hasn’t gone over the basic requirements of sign maintenance, you can use these 5 tips as a quick and dirty guide to take care of your sign:

1. Get your electrical signage cleaned up

Contact your signage company or sign maintenance company to come and have a look at your electrical signage. They will probably open up the body of your sign and see what’s inside. Insects, debris, and dirt can cause damage to the equipment by covering the holes made for water drainage. Standing water and dirt can easily shot out your electrical sign. It is always a good idea to have these inspections done on a regular basis.

2. Change burned-out lights

Ensure all the lighting in your exterior business signs is working, especially with digital signs for businesses. This could mean replacing burned out lights above a sign or changing the lighting within the electrical sign.

3. Have a shade over your business sign:

A shade over your business sign elongates the life of your sign by protecting it from rain and other harsh weather conditions (consider it as a roof for your sign). It may seem like a bit more money upfront, but it’s an investment that will pay off in the long run.

4. Protect the foundation

Always check for dirt and standing water near the foundation of your signage. Make sure the drainage near the business sign works. Water should always shed away from the sign and never puddle up near it. An easy solution is to add a trench near the sign which will help direct water away from it.

5. Use high-quality materials

If you’re into DIY signs (and you can do these if you’re a small business), just make sure you use high quality materials for your project. For example, using exterior grade latex, oil-based, or polyurethane paints for your sign panel and solid color stains for your posts is a good idea. These materials are developed by chemists that keep harsh weather conditions in mind. Doing due diligence can save you problems in the future. A good signage company will already know this and take care of the painting requirements themselves. Some examples of sign materials that are considered poor in quality for outdoor business signs are:

  • Gator board
  • Foam board
  • Ultra board
  • Artist’s acrylic paint (Outdoor acrylics are the right choice)

Just an afterthought- it’s always better to keep an eye on the condition of your business sign and contact your signage company as soon as you see any degradation in the condition of your signs.