{"id":9086,"date":"2023-03-11T21:49:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T19:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/?p=9086"},"modified":"2025-03-02T22:21:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T20:21:23","slug":"4-main-reasons-a-wordpress-website-needs-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/4-main-reasons-a-wordpress-website-needs-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"4 main reasons why WordPress websites need maintenance."},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

This article looks at the 4 main reasons why WordPress websites need maintenance.<\/p>\r\n

<\/iframe><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/span>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/4-main-reasons-a-wordpress-website-needs-maintenance\/#1_Minimise_website_downtime\" >1. Minimise website downtime.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/4-main-reasons-a-wordpress-website-needs-maintenance\/#2_Keep_it_functioning_correctly\" >2. Keep it functioning correctly.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/4-main-reasons-a-wordpress-website-needs-maintenance\/#3_Keep_the_site_loading_fast\" >3. Keep the site loading fast.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/4-main-reasons-a-wordpress-website-needs-maintenance\/#4_Keep_the_website_more_secure\" >4. Keep the website more secure.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\r\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/w3techs.com\/technologies\/details\/cm-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"underline\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">W3Techs<\/span><\/a>, 43% of all websites are built with the WordPress CMS framework, and so, if you’re reading this, your website probably is too.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an agency, we work exclusively with WordPress for the following reasons:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 30px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The ‘pros’ of WordPress websites.<\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><strong>Cost-effective<\/strong> to build with.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>It’s <strong>highly scalable<\/strong>:<br \/>We can easily add extended functionality through the vast premium and free third-party plugins.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>It’s fast and simple to <strong>make edits<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Great <strong>blogging<\/strong> capability.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li><strong>Clients can easily learn to maintain<\/strong> afterward, even for non-technical people.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Highly <strong>versatile <\/strong>– you can create a diverse range of website types.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Highly <strong>customisable<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>SEO & Google friendly.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 30px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, some of WordPress’s biggest pros, also expose some of its disadvantages.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">These ‘cons’ are:<\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>More vulnerable to <strong>being hacked<\/strong> if you don’t have good systems and processes in place. Here is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/why-and-how-websites-get-hacked\/\">why (and how) websites get hacked<\/a><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li><strong>WordPress websites require 10-50 different plugins<\/strong> to achieve a desired business requirement. These plugins are made by different developers and don’t necessarily account for each other. This can cause conflicts that break the website. These plugins and themes often get updated for important reasons, which can cause a website to go down without warning.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u00a0<\/h5>\r\n<h5><strong>For these reasons, it’s necessary to regularly maintain your website to <\/strong><\/h5>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><strong>Minimise<\/strong> website downtime.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Keep it <strong>functioning <\/strong>correctly.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Keep the site <strong>loading fast<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Keep the website more <strong>secure<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 30px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, to help you make sense of it all, let’s start with<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Minimise_website_downtime\"><\/span>1. Minimise website downtime.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many reasons why a website can go down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You need to ask this question:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What impact on my business would my website down have?”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Loss of leads?<br \/>Loss of sales?<br \/>Tarnishing of brand reputation?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wouldn’t it be great to have the peace of mind to know that you had a team who was regularly maintaining the website to try and minimise this unexpected disaster? Or if you had a team on hand to get your website back up?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/l2JIlnyZUpduiAn6M\" width=\"340\" height=\"336\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> \r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 30px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Keep_it_functioning_correctly\"><\/span>2. Keep it functioning correctly.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over 10 years of developing and maintaining WordPress websites, we’ve experienced many instances of an important functionality randomly (and inconveniently) stop working.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, we’ve seen:<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>Contact forms stop working<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Online payments stop going through<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Site load time slow down<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>SSL certificates expire<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Content go missing<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 30px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Keep_the_site_loading_fast\"><\/span>3. Keep the site loading fast.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, we’ve found that when clients try to manage and maintain their website with new content, the site tends to slow down.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is usually because images and videos haven’t been optimised for web correctly. Having someone that knows the ins and outs of websites is helpful to keep the site fast. Google loves to rank fast sites and doesn’t love slow ones.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wouldn’t you hate to lose a potential customer because they didn’t want to wait 10 seconds for your site to load?<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/26his5i9YJTqsqCyY\" width=\"480\" height=\"330\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> \r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 70px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Keep_the_website_more_secure\"><\/span>4. Keep the website more secure.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To prevent malware infections and reinfections, our first recommendation is to use a premium Malware removal and prevention service called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.malcare.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span class=\"underline\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Malcare<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For step-by-step instructions, check out our <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/wordpress-website-malware-removal-prevention\/\"><span class=\"underline\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">quick guide for WordPress website malware removal & prevention.<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 30px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m here to chat if you have any questions,<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stay safe,<br \/>Dan \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 4 main reasons why it\u2019s necessary to regularly maintain your website are; 1. to minimise website downtime. 2. Keep it functioning correctly. 3. Keep the site loading fast. 4. Keep the website more secure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,116,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-web","category-website-maintenance","category-website-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9086"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16153,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9086\/revisions\/16153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weaverbird.co.za\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}