Short cuts can lead to long delays

My dad used to have a saying: “Short cuts lead to long delays.”

He wasn’t talking about taking the shortest route when you were driving. He meant that the easiest option isn’t always the best option – particularly when you’re making decisions that have consequences further down the track.

That applies surprisingly well to websites.

It’s easy to take the short-cut. Leave that WordPress update for another day. Ignore the warning. Put off the back-up. Keep using an old plugin because it still seems to work. Leave that out-dated information on the website because nobody has complained about it yet.

Each decision might seem harmless.

The problem is that websites don’t always give you immediate feedback when something is being neglected. A website can continue to look perfectly fine while small issues are accumulating behind the scenes.

Eventually, those small issues can become a much bigger job.

It’s a bit like ignoring a small warning light in your car because everything still seems to be running normaly. You might get away with it for a while. But if that warning is telling you something needs attention, ignoring it doesn’t make the problem disappear.

Good website care is about making the sensible choice rather than simply the easiest choice.

Keep things updated. Back things up. Monitor for problems. Keep information current. Deal with small issues before they become big ones.

It might take a little more attention today, but it can save a lot more time, money and frustration tomorrow.

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