Ignoring the regular maintenance of your WordPress website is like ignoring the health of your business—it will cost you both time and money. WordPress is a user-friendly platform that gets more intuitive every year, which means there’s no excuse for neglecting basic maintenance. Even if you’re not “tech-savvy” (as many of my clients say), skipping these essential tasks can lead to stress, financial loss, and missed sales opportunities.
Maintaining your website, whether by handling it yourself or hiring a professional, can prevent major headaches down the line. It saves time, protects your revenue, and ensures your website runs smoothly, especially if it’s crucial for generating leads or making sales. Over the years, I’ve seen many business owners overlook their website’s needs, only to face significant issues that hurt their operations.
Case Study: A Costly E-commerce Mistake
I recently had a former client reach out about a shipping problem on their e-commerce site. After a quick review, it became clear that the site hadn’t received proper maintenance since it was built. Worse yet, the updates that were made were sporadic and reactive—only done when something went wrong.
As a result, the site was outdated by at least six months, which is risky for any website, especially an e-commerce platform. Outdated sites often have compatibility issues with newer technology, and the site in question wasn’t performing key tasks like shipping calculations.
E-commerce websites, in particular, require more frequent updates and maintenance to keep databases optimized, prevent downtime, and ensure a seamless shopping experience. Updating a site that has fallen this far behind can lead to crashes, data loss, and an overall poor user experience—issues that no online business can afford.
I provided a quote to move this client onto one of Define Marketing’s WordPress Care Plans, which includes regular updates, optimizations, and ongoing support. I also recommended switching their hosting to our servers because their current provider doesn’t offer backups unless paid for separately—a dangerous situation for a business relying on online sales.
Without proper backups, any updates made could have caused data loss, leaving the business in an even worse position. Despite these warnings, the client didn’t move forward with the necessary steps, unsure of the importance of proactive maintenance.
The Outcome: Two Paths, One Decision
This client faces two possible outcomes:
- They continue running their outdated site, risking further failures and lost sales as issues pile up.
- They attempt a quick fix without following proper procedures, which could either restore functionality or result in a complete site crash.
The sad reality is that many business owners don’t fully understand the risks they take by neglecting website maintenance, often realizing the consequences only when it’s too late.
