Web Design & Development FAQ

Website Maintenance FAQ

Why do websites need maintenance?

Technology changes rapidly. What works now will not work forever.

Software Updates

Just like your mobile device and computer, your website needs software and security updates regularly. These updates not only improve performance, but they help guard against the hackers and malicious programs that attempt to compromise it on a daily basis.

Malicious Traffic

Up to 80% of website traffic can be bots and crawlers, many of which are malicious. They scan for vulnerabilities, and it’s a matter of time before they find one on an unmaintained site and inject malware that can be difficult to find and clean.

Resource Usage & Downtime

You need to know that your website team is going to respond immediately to a crash or malware incident. We also monitor for resource usage, making sure that everything is running as light as fast as possible.

Super Fast Speed!

More speed = more clicks = more business. We are website speed experts, and can make even a database-driven website load virtually instantly.

What are the most common risks for unmaintained websites?

  • Outdated Software – The software used to build your site will start to fall out of date within a month or two. This opens security holes, causes things to slow, and can cause features to break.
  • Malware and Hacking – Security holes opened by outdated software often result in malware injections or hacking.

    Who would want to hack my website? Am I really a target?

    The answer is not “who”, but “what”. Up to 80% of your website traffic can be bots and crawlers, many of which are malicious. They scan for vulnerabilities, and it’s a matter of time before they find one on an unmaintained site. Their goal may be to inject links, spread a virus, steal data from you or your customers, or have control of your site in another way.

    Cleaning up after these events is not a quick process, and if Google notices they will block your site from their search, and from Chrome.

  • Broken Features – The outdated technology will also cause certain features on the site to stop working. At first, little things here and there will stop working, or display incorrectly, resulting in a sloppier feel.
  • Website Downtime – Another common issue is that an unmaintained website can go down for any number of reasons, without the owner knowing about it until a customer speaks up. This results in lost potential business.
  • Crashes and Corruption – Outdated websites can experience crashes and corruption that breaks them completely. If this happens, and your site is not properly backed up, it will be lost permanently.

What is “Full Coverage”?

When you are on a Gold or Silver level maintenance plan with us, we consider your website fully covered. That means that if any problem arises through no fault of your team, no matter what it is, we will fix it – even if it means exceeding your hours. No extra charge!

What if I do not plan to make frequent updates?

Having us take care of updates at your request is certainly a nice perk, but there are even more important ones:

  • Security is essential for protecting your website and data from malicious attacks.
  • Backups are key for recovering from unexpected issues and avoiding total loss.
  • Monitoring helps us detect and fix any issues before they turn into bigger problems.
  • Traffic analytics provides insights into how your website is performing and how to improve it.
  • Performance optimizations keep your site running quickly and smoothly.

When you’re on a maintenance plan, you can know that all of these important services are taken care of and your visitors are having the best possible user experience.