Why is Website
Maintenance Important?
Updates and Maintenance
for WordPress Sites
Here’s a reality check— a good website is never truly finished. It’s may look complete, but it’s always a work in progress.
A website is more like an ongoing project. Simply having a well-built site isn’t enough. Your site is not infallible, and it certainly isn’t permanent. It requires maintenance to run at its fullest capacity. If you turn a blind eye to regular updates and maintenance, your website is as good as gone.
The truth is, websites are extremely dynamic and very fragile. They require frequent upkeep. Without website maintenance, they can break. Fixing a broken site is costly. More often than not, you’re looking at a complete rebuild. Fees can add up, and you can be looking at thousands of dollars worth of work. We recommend staying ahead of the game with a monthly website maintenance program.
My Website Is Not Working
Often times, it’s easiest to compare websites to a physical structure like a house.
All homes require some basic maintenance like changing light bulbs, shampooing the carpets, or replacing the broken doorbell. If you ignore these tasks, your to-do list will keep growing and your home will become unkempt. Things keep piling up, and it’s easier to ignore them than address them.
Before you know it, your entire house is in disrepair. These situations really sneak up on you. Your home now requires a lot of time, energy, and money. It’s a shame. All it really needed was a little bit of upkeep from the beginning.
The same is true for your website. It needs upkeep, just like your home. Website maintenance ensures your site is functioning at its best. The longer you wait to update, the more likely you will encounter a problem. It’s easier to update little by little instead of all at once. This is where you can run into problems.
The truth of the matter is websites break.
Everything on your website is made up of code—HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. If something in that code becomes obsolete or breaks, it could take your entire website down. Programmers that create web applications and plugins publish improved versions of their work. These updates not only affect functionality, but they also ensure your website is compatible with the latest web standards.
Can My Website be Hacked?
Web security is a major concern that can ultimately affect your customers. Major companies like Equifax and Marriott have recently fallen victim to hacking. These data breaches made international headlines, and rightfully so. Over 600 million accounts were compromised between these two website data breaches.
Let’s put this figure into perspective.
The number of compromised accounts is higher than the entire population of North America. Needless to say, these scandals were huge. What’s more troubling is that these breaches were entirely preventable. Had Equifax and Marriott properly maintained their websites and addressed their web-application vulnerability, they wouldn’t have experienced these data disasters.
Here are the result of the breaches:
Equifax
- Second-quarterer income down 12%
- 50+ Class-Action lawsuits in under two months
- Customers filing lawsuits in small-claims court
- Nearly $100 million increase in yearly operating costs
Marriott
- Stocks fell nearly 6% in 10 days
- Class-action lawsuits seeking billions in damages from Marriott’s hotel line
- Regulatory fines and litigation costs upwards of $1 billion
- Facings probes from multiple government bodies
Why are Security Updates Important?
The truth of the matter is, this could have happened to anyone.
You may not be operating a billion-dollar enterprise, but your website is still at risk. Here’s the reality of it. Most hackers around the world are looking for easy targets. 60 percent of small businesses get hacked each year. Why? Because many small businesses have a “set it and forget it” attitude when it comes to their website.
Here lies the problem—old websites are prone to data breaches. The more outdated the site is, the more vulnerable it becomes. In other words, if a company fails to maintain their website, they fail to keep up with their security too.
That’s the reason why your CMS keeps publishing updates. Gaps in security are patched with every new version of WordPress or whichever CMS you use. Website maintenance is required to ensure your CMS is running its most current version and each of your modules are up to date.
Your Website Maintenance Plan
Pesola Media Group offers a monthly website maintenance package to ensure your website is functioning at its best. Each month, our team will update website essentials for a low, flat fee. This package includes:
- Updates to text and photos to keep your site’s look fresh
- WordPress updates for up-to-date security
- Theme updates to prevent broken sites
- Plugin updates for improved functionality