What happens to a website nobody maintains
A website is not finished on launch day. Without updates, checks and backups it gradually becomes slower, less secure and less visible.
Once a new website is live, it is easy to conclude that the job is done. A website, however, runs on software that keeps changing: the content management system, plugins, the server, browsers. What is not maintained breaks over time, only slowly and unnoticed.
What happens without maintenance
- Security holes. Outdated systems and plugins are the most common way attackers get into websites. The attack is usually not aimed at you but at everyone running the same old version.
- Gradual slowdown. Images, plugins and data accumulate and the website loads more and more slowly.
- Broken parts. A form that no longer sends inquiries or a map that does not display can go unnoticed for months.
- Loss of visibility. Search engines rank slow websites, websites with errors and those not adapted to mobile lower.
- Expensive recovery. When something breaks after three years without updates, the repair is often a bigger job than regular maintenance over that whole period.
What regular maintenance includes
- Updates of the system and plugins, with a check that everything works afterwards.
- Backups and an occasional check that the website can be restored from them.
- Uptime monitoring, so you learn about an outage before your clients do.
- Checks of forms, links and loading speed.
- Renewal of the domain and security certificate on time.
How to know it is time
Three quick signs that a website needs attention: you do not remember when it was last updated, you do not know who has access to the admin, and you are not sure whether inquiries from the form arrive. If the answer to any of these is "I don't know", a review is worthwhile.
We continue to maintain the websites we build. More on the Web Development page.
