“Well, sorry, but I can manage to click on that update button once a month,” our client said. I explained to him why that wasn't enough. So yes, immediately a good topic for a blog, right? I convinced my client. Now it's your turn.
Website maintenance is just clicking a button, right?
Yes, WordPress makes updating websites easier. If you use a security plugin, you might sometimes get an email when there's a plugin update, a theme update, or a WordPress update. Many plugins also have an automatic update function!
So, just click a button now and then and let the rest happen automatically?
Unfortunately, no. Sometimes a part of your site stops working. But of course, you don't see that, because I don't think you check your entire site every time.
Your site can also be completely down (horror!) or your contact forms suddenly stop working. But yeah, you only find out after a month, because it's been so quiet.
What now?
My host makes backups, right?
Most website hosts make daily or multiple backups. Yours probably does too.
But have you ever tried to have your host restore a backup? Hmm, suddenly it's not as simple as you thought.
First you have to get hold of those people. And unless you're with a good host, that alone can be super annoying.
Once you finally get them, you get the question of whether restoring a backup is included in your package. What do you know! Digging up a customer number from an invoice, waiting 10 minutes while they check it, and then hearing that it's going to cost you 25 euros. &*^%%$)&^ Oh yeah, and of course they don't have time for it today.
So you have to make backups yourself. Or have it arranged through your maintenance subscription 😉
If I just make backups, my site will keep running, right?
Your theme, WordPress, and all plugins are separate pieces of software. They are developed independently of each other. And yes, of course, software developers do their best to keep everything compatible with WordPress and other plugins, but that's almost impossible given the huge number of plugins (58,000+).
If there's a bug somewhere, or a plugin hasn't been updated in a year and WordPress has, something can always go wrong. With a maintenance subscription, you're always assured that bugs will be fixed. We can do a rollback per plugin, and we can check compatibility to see where the problem lies. We prefer to solve the problem structurally rather than restoring a backup, which could cause the problems to reoccur.
We can also set things up so that we get an alert if the website can't be loaded, so we can take action immediately. And we monitor for any strange malware on the site. As of writing, we're even testing a number of new checks. We never stop when it comes to security!
They can't steal anything from my website, right?
Yeah, kind of. Your site can be hacked if you don't secure it properly. Even sites without payment systems and personal data are at risk. Internet criminals love nothing more than to rip you off, and your website visitors too. For example, because you often don't even realize when your site has been hacked. And so you can restore a backup, but you don't know when it should be from.
But, of course, especially if you process payment details, have a webshop that can't be down, or just don't want people stealing your stuff, a site can't do without good maintenance.
Can you give me an example?
There are plenty of examples. Just read the book "I Know Your Password" by Daniel Verlaan.
If you don't like reading that much, there's also a podcast and a documentary.
It's a super interesting book, great for vacation reading too. For example, it includes an example of an arthouse cinema whose website was hacked. The server hosting the website was then used to infect Dutch computers with ransomware on a large scale. You can easily not realize that your site has been hacked while it is being misused for all sorts of things.
It won't be that bad for me, right?
Often you think, oh well, who cares. But a hack can have a lot of collateral damage. Don't make the mistake of thinking that your site isn't interesting to hackers.
Suppose a hacker, who could just be a bored kid in an attic, gets hold of your webshop accounts and finds out the passwords. He sees that some of your customers use the same password. Easy peasy! Just use that combination of email address and password on other platforms like social media and you're in.
THAT'S HOW MOST PEOPLE GET HACKED!
If one of your customers' Instagram accounts is suddenly hacked and weird things are posted, and orders are suddenly placed on Amazon that your customer knows nothing about, then such a hack of your website suddenly becomes a lot more annoying. So a lot of collateral damage can occur.
Hackers can also change one of the links on your site into a download link that downloads spyware or ransomware onto your visitors' computers, for example. You don't want that on your conscience either.
OK, I'm convinced.
Great. Prevented a lot of misery again.
Check out our maintenance package here. But that's not the only maintenance in the world. If you trust someone else to do it right, go for it.
Still not convinced?
Then we'll wait until your site falls apart due to a lack of, or poor, updates.
See you then.
Sorry for the scaremongering, but we can't warn people enough!
You get it 😉
