One of the traps with websites is that they can sit there looking perfectly fine for months – sometimes years – without anyone really checking what’s happening behind the scenes.

Then one day something stops working.

Regular website maintenance isn’t about constantly tinkering with your site. It’s mostly about keeping an eye on things, dealing with small issues and reducing the chances of a nasty surprise later.

Here are seven highly annoying things that can happen when a website is left unattended.

1. Your contact form stops working

This is one of the more frustrating problems because you may have no idea it’s happening.

The website is online. The contact page looks fine. The form even appears to submit.

But the emails aren’t arriving.

Unless someone tells you, you could potentially be missing enquiries without knowing it.

That’s why important website forms are worth checking periodically rather than simply assuming they’re still working.

2. Your website gets hacked

WordPress itself is regularly updated, as are the plugins and themes used to build WordPress websites.

Some of those updates fix known security vulnerabilities.

Leave a website unattended for long enough and outdated software can start creating unnecessary security risks.

Keeping things updated doesn’t guarantee a website will never be compromised, but it’s one of the basic things you can do to reduce the risk.

3. An update breaks something

Occasionally, updating your website can cause problems too. Ironic – dont you think?!

Often this is caused when a plugin conflicts with another plugin or change the way something works.

That’s why website maintenance isn’t simply a matter of turning on automatic updates and forgetting about it.

Updates need to happen, but it’s also important to check the website afterwards and make sure everything still looks and behaves as expected.

4. Your website gradually gets slower

Websites have a habit of accumulating things.

More images. More pages. More plugins. More database information. More scripts.

You probably won’t notice your website suddenly becoming slow overnight. It’s more likely to happen gradually.

And because you probably don’t spend much time browsing your own website, your customers might notice before you do.

Regular performance checks can help pick up obvious deterioration before it becomes a bigger issue.

5. Your website starts looking neglected

Not every maintenance problem is technical.

Maybe an employee who left two years ago is still on your About page.

Your Christmas opening hours are still displayed in February.

A service you no longer offer is still prominently featured.

Or your latest news item proudly announces something that happened in 2022.

None of these things will break your website.

But they can certainly make it look like nobody is looking after it – which is not a good reflection on your business. A bit like old signage on your shop front.

6. Something stops working properly on mobile

Websites aren’t static.

Browsers change. Phones change. WordPress changes. Plugins change.

Something that worked perfectly when your website was launched isn’t guaranteed to behave exactly the same way forever.

A button might become difficult to tap. A heading might display strangely. A popup might cover half the screen.

Again, you might never notice if you’re always checking your website from the same computer.

That’s why it’s worth periodically checking the website on mobile as well as desktop.

7. You discover there’s a problem – and don’t have a good backup

This is probably the worst time to discover that nobody has been checking your backups.

Backups aren’t particularly exciting when everything is working.

They become considerably more interesting when something isn’t.

A reliable backup gives you somewhere to go if an update fails, something is accidentally deleted or a more serious problem occurs.

And importantly, it’s worth checking that backups are actually happening rather than simply assuming they are.

Most website maintenance is preventative

The interesting thing about good website maintenance is that you often don’t see the problems it prevents.

The updates happen.

Backups are taken.

Security is monitored.

Small issues are picked up.

And the website just keeps working.

That’s really the point.

What should regular website care actually check?

A good website care service should be a little like having your car serviced.

You don’t necessarily need every component pulled apart each time. But you do want someone to work through the important checks, carry out the routine maintenance and let you know if something needs attention.

For a typical WordPress website, that usually includes:

• WordPress, plugin and theme updates
• Backups
• Security checks
• Checking the website is loading correctly
• A quick visual check after updates
• Checking key pages and navigation
• Testing important enquiry forms
• Checking the mobile experience
• Monitoring SSL and website availability
• Periodic broken-link and performance checks
• Flagging obviously outdated content or information

The point isn’t to test every page, button and browser every month.

It’s to have a regular set of checks so that someone is actively looking after the website rather than simply assuming everything is fine.

And just like a car service, if something unusual turns up, it can then be investigated before it develops into a bigger problem.

Prefer someone else to keep an eye on it?

That’s exactly what our Website Care service is designed to do.

We take care of the routine WordPress maintenance and work through regular website health checks to help keep your site secure, up to date and functioning as it should.

And if we notice something that needs further attention, we’ll let you know.

[Learn about Website Care]