The hidden workload: managing website maintenance, updates & technical debt

Many businesses invest significantly in launching a new website, but the work doesn't stop once it goes live. In fact, a website requires continuous upkeep to function correctly, remain secure, and deliver a positive user experience. This "hidden workload" is crucial for protecting your investment and ensuring your site remains a valuable business asset.

Beyond launch day: the never-ending to-do list

The initial website build is just the beginning. Consistent, ongoing maintenance is essential. This isn't a once-in-a-while task; it’s a continuous process that includes:

• Regular health checks: Checking for and fixing broken links.

• Software currency: Updating core website software, the CMS itself, themes, and any plugins or extensions.

• Security vigilance: Applying security patches promptly to protect against new threats.

• Performance monitoring: Keeping an eye on site speed and overall performance.

• Data safety: Performing regular data backups to prevent loss in case of an issue.

• Content freshness: While tied to your CMS, ensuring content remains current and accurate is part of general website hygiene.

These tasks are often time-consuming and demand specific technical expertise. As the research highlights, neglecting them can lead to website degradation, a poor user experience for your visitors, and, critically, increased vulnerability to security threats. Small businesses, in particular, often report struggling to allocate the necessary time, budget, or skilled personnel for this consistent upkeep.

The update tightrope: balancing progress with stability

Keeping your website's underlying technology stack up-to-date is vital. This includes the CMS core, themes, plugins, and even server software. Updates are critical for:

• Security: Patching known vulnerabilities.

• New features: Accessing improved functionality and capabilities.

However, applying updates isn't always straightforward. The research notes that updates can sometimes:

• Introduce compatibility issues with other parts of your site.

• Break existing functionality unexpectedly.

• Require extensive testing before deployment to ensure everything still works as it should.

Conversely, failing to update is even riskier. It leaves your site vulnerable to known exploits and can lead to performance degradation due to outdated or inefficient code and plugins. It’s a constant balancing act.

The perils of "we'll do it later": accumulating technical debt

When resource constraints – time, budget, or skills – come into play, maintenance tasks are often deferred, and updates get skipped. This is especially common for small and medium-sized businesses. While this might seem like a way to save resources in the short term, it leads to what's known as technical debt.

Technical debt is the implied cost of rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer. In terms of maintenance, every skipped update or deferred fix adds to this debt. Over time, this accumulation can lead to:

• Increased security risks.

• More significant and costly problems down the line.

• A website that becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to manage or improve.

Chaos vs. control: the importance of procedures & documentation

The research points out another common challenge: the absence of well-defined, documented procedures for routine maintenance tasks and update processes. This lack of standardization often leads to:

• Inconsistent execution: Tasks are done differently each time, or by different people, without a clear standard.

• Increased risk of errors: Leading to more problems and downtime.

• Significant difficulties when troubleshooting: If something goes wrong, it’s harder to figure out why without clear records or procedures.

Furthermore, poor or non-existent documentation makes it challenging for new team members or external vendors (like a new agency partner) to understand the system, hindering future development and maintenance efforts.

The true cost of ownership: beyond the initial build

It's crucial to understand that website maintenance and updates are not discrete, one-off activities. They are continuous operational processes demanding ongoing investment and attention.

The research underscores that these recurring costs and complexities are frequently underestimated during the initial website planning and development phases. The need for ongoing support (perhaps through support contracts), regular security patching, performance monitoring, and managing updates represents a significant portion of a website's true total cost of ownership, extending far beyond that upfront build cost.

Proactive management: keeping your digital investment healthy

Ignoring website maintenance is like never changing the oil in your car – things might seem fine for a while, but eventually, you’ll face much bigger, more expensive problems. A proactive approach to maintenance, regular updates, and clear documentation is essential for protecting your digital investment, ensuring its security, and maintaining optimal performance. It's not an afterthought but an integral part of responsibly managing a key business asset.

Is your website's 'hidden workload' becoming overwhelming, or are you worried about accumulating technical debt? Don't let maintenance lapses lead to bigger issues for your business.

Born Digital offers tailored website maintenance and support plans designed to keep your site secure, up-to-date, and performing optimally. Contact us to learn more about how we can help manage this crucial workload for you.

Next up, we'll tackle another complex back-end challenge: the intricacies of website integrations.

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