Currently to update templates on our production site, we are taking the site offline, changing the template, uninstalling the template, reinstalling it, changing the template settings back, and then putting the site back online. I generally am not a fan of taking the site down for any reason and this process allows for errors especially with templates used only for a few pages. Components and such can be updated easily, but it seems this same functionality is omitted for templates.
Is there a better methodology for handling template updates that eliminates taking the site offline?