Website Maintenance: Should I Manage My Own Website?
You’ve just launched your business website — congratulations! Your business now has an online presence, ready to showcase your products and services to the world. But what happens now?
Many business owners assume that once their website is live, it will continuously attract customers and generate sales on its own. Unfortunately, this is a common mistake. While skipping maintenance might save money in the short term, it can lead to security risks, poor user experience, and even lost business.
Simply put… to get the best results, website maintenance, as well as a simple online marketing plan, are recommended.
You can liken your website to your car… if you don’t maintain it regularly by servicing it, you will not be able to rely on it to get you from point A to point B. Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that their website is a ‘set and forget’ business asset. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
To keep your website up and working so that it is displaying correctly when potential customers visit takes time and effort. But who is the best person to do this?
Caring For Your Business Website – Things To Consider…
Maintaining a Website Takes Time and Energy
Website maintenance requires more than just basic knowledge — it involves multiple technical tasks to ensure your site runs smoothly.
Unfortunately, it’s not something you can master in a few minutes by watching someone else. Proper website management takes experience, regular attention, and an understanding of how different website components interact.
The technical side of website maintenance is often the most time-consuming and requires regular attention. Some of the key tasks include:
- Updating themes (ensuring your site’s design remains modern and functional)
- Updating plugins (keeping additional website features secure and up to date)
- Testing website functionality after making updates
- Running and monitoring backups to prevent data loss
- Monitoring security issues to prevent hacking attempts
- Checking for performance issues that may slow down your website
- Tracking website downtime to address potential problems before they affect customers
There is also the requirement of constantly updating the content (including posting new blog posts) or product/service details of your website.
If your business changes in any way, your website should reflect the changes and will require an update. This may include adding staff members, changing addresses, or opening hours.
Other activities that need to be done on a regular basis, and that you may require the assistance of a professional website development company, can be found here.
Are You The Best Person To Manage Your Site?
Unless you have been in the business of maintaining websites, you probably don’t have the expertise to know what to do if and when something goes wrong. If something does happen to go wrong, you can spend (literally) days trying to find a good trustworthy website developer to get your website back online and working as it should. With your website busily working and promoting your business to the world for you 24/7, can you really afford for it to go down for days at a time?
If you own or run a business, then you probably have a lot on your plate. As such, you probably don’t have the time to effectively manage and maintain your business website.
To help you decide whether to manage your website yourself or hire a professional, here’s a quick comparison of both options:
| Factor | DIY Website Maintenance | Professional Website Maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| Time Investment | High – requires learning and regular updates | Low – handled by experts |
| Technical Expertise | Requires self-learning | Experts handle all aspects |
| Risk of Errors | High – potential downtime and security risks | Low – proactive monitoring and fixes |
| Cost | Lower upfront, but costly if issues arise | Predictable monthly expense |
| Performance Optimisation | Limited unless you have SEO and performance knowledge | Regular speed, security, and SEO optimisation |
Should You Hire a Professional For Website Maintenance?
Regular website maintenance is crucial for keeping your business running smoothly online. While you could attempt to manage it yourself, hiring a professional ensures your website is always optimised, secure, and functioning at its best.
Web maintenance experts specialise in keeping websites updated and problem-free. Since this is their full-time job, they have the skills and tools to do it efficiently — saving you time, money, and potential headaches.
There are many benefits of having a properly maintained website, including monitoring and optimisation of:
- loading time
- uptime and downtime
- website security
- traffic and conversion performance
- etc.
These can have an impact on how the search engines regard your site, and if it is not providing a good user experience, this can affect your rankings.
Since a professional website designer and developer may have done your initial website build, they know the history of why certain things are done in specific ways which can save time when making changes in the future. So it is good to build a relationship with an expert early on.
Besides the monitoring and maintenance tools, they may also have access to search engine optimisation tools that the average business owner has little time to learn or use for the best results.
Not only can an expert web designer and developer provide affordable website maintenance, but they can also advise you on how to utilise your website and online presence to better reach the customers and clients you are after. They can advise on changes that should be made as your site grows, analyse statistics, and add fresh content to maximise performance.
Here at SB Web Designs, we assist clients at all stages of their website development. We understand that you have better things to do than to spend time looking after your website. We aim to take away the hassle of having to care for your website, so you can spend your time on higher-value tasks.
Common Myths About DIY Website Maintenance
Many business owners believe they can handle website maintenance themselves, but misconceptions can lead to costly mistakes. Here are some common myths and the reality behind them.
🛑 Myth: “Once my website is built, I don’t need to do anything else.“
✅ Reality: Websites require ongoing updates to prevent security breaches, improve performance, and stay compatible with new technologies. Neglecting updates can lead to downtime, security vulnerabilities, and lost customers.
🛑 Myth: “I can just hire someone if something goes wrong.“
✅ Reality: Finding a reliable expert in an emergency can be expensive and time-consuming. Preventative maintenance reduces the risk of major failures, saving time and money in the long run.
🛑 Myth: “Website maintenance is just about updating plugins.“
✅ Reality: While core, theme, and plugin updates are important, maintenance also involves security monitoring, backups, uptime monitoring, performance optimisation, SEO improvements, and troubleshooting issues before they become serious problems.
🛑 Myth: “If my website is small, I don’t need maintenance.“
✅ Reality: Even small websites can suffer from security vulnerabilities, slow performance, and outdated content. A poorly maintained website can drive customers away and negatively impact your business reputation.
Website Maintenance Workflow
The most logical solution for many business owners to keep their online presence functioning well and with up-to-date information is to let someone else take care of it. Naturally, there will be the cost of maintaining a website to consider, but in the long run, it is a good investment.
Website maintenance is a specialised business, and if you want your website to professionally represent your products/services then it is wise to turn to a professional web developer to keep it up-to-date and operational.
Our aim is to manage this process for you. As well as designing and developing websites, we also:
- Update the website regularly with on-site and off-site backups
- Perform daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance tasks, and check the website after updating to find any issues
- Record all updates to help identify any problems, and quickly and easily revert back if required
- Set up performance, security, and uptime monitoring scans to pick up problems early
- Provide a monthly maintenance and performance report.
Any maintenance issues are identified quickly and addressed ASAP.
For more information on our website care plans, click here.
Cost Of Monthly Website Maintenance – Is It Worth the Expense?
Website maintenance costs vary depending on several factors, including:
- The amount of content that needs updating
- How frequently updates are required
- The complexity of your website’s design and functionality.
While hiring a professional requires an investment, it is often more cost-effective than fixing unexpected issues later. Regular maintenance helps prevent costly emergency repairs and lost business opportunities.
However, if you are like many small business owners, you probably have enough on your plate without having to know the minute and specific details of website maintenance. Your time is most probably better spent running your business, instead of running your website.
If you manage your website and something goes wrong, would you know what to do? Where do you start? When did the problem start? What caused the problem? Who do you call?
If you just identified a problem but don’t regularly do thorough checks, the issue may have been present for a long time. Simply doing a restore to a previous version (if you have an old backup) may fix the problem, but how far back do you go? If you restore from an old backup, will you lose content changes, customer information, sales information, etc?
If something does go wrong, there is a good chance it may affect the look and functionality of your website, and your customers will notice. Not only this, but the search engines will notice and can penalise your website. And the longer it goes on, the worse your site (and your reputation) can be affected.
Another option is to get someone in to fix the issues if and when you find them. It could take you days to find someone, and since you have never used them before how can you trust them? Then (like all emergency work), you will probably be charged a small fortune. Like maintaining your car, regular care and maintenance minimises the risk and often works out cheaper in the long run.
Maintaining your own website may cost you more than you think!
🚀 Want to keep your website running smoothly without the hassle?
Keeping your website secure, fast, and up-to-date is essential for business success — but it shouldn’t take up your valuable time. Our affordable website maintenance plans ensure your site is optimised, monitored, and protected so you can focus on growing your business.
With our website care plans, you’ll get:
✅ 24/7 website monitoring to catch issues before they impact customers
✅ Security updates & regular backups to protect against data loss
✅ Performance optimisations for faster load times & better rankings
✅ Priority support from experts who know your website inside and out.
📞 Book a Free Website Audit Today!
Let us handle your website, so you can focus on what you do best.
