Case Study: What happens when you don’t maintain your site
Recently, Healthy Pixels took over a website that hadn’t been touched in a long time. The client could no longer stay with their existing agency, as it was closing down its website services, so we had to migrate the site to a new host.
However, after logging in to make a couple of changes, we found that what looked like a great site on the surface had become a technical disaster behind the scenes:
- Most plugins were out of date
- WordPress itself hadn’t been updated
- Updates failed due to new incompatibilities
- Plugin conflicts made it impossible to add new features
Eventually, we had no choice but to rebuild it from the ground up.
That’s the hidden cost of neglect. A website left alone for too long becomes unstable, insecure, and, sometimes, unusable.
The risks of outdated websites
Failing to keep your site updated not only limits what it can do, but it also puts your entire online presence at risk. It can lead to:
- Limited ability to expand or scale
- Increased vulnerability to hackers
- Incompatibility with newer plugins or tools
- Poor site performance and broken features
In the case of this particular client, they had to pay to rebuild the site, which could have easily been prevented by logging in every now and then.
3 simple ways to protect your site
Website maintenance doesn’t have to be complex, and these three habits go a long way.
Update your plugins regularly
Outdated plugins are one of the most common entry points for hackers, so enable auto-updates where possible.
Don’t rely on this feature alone, however. Log in at least once a month to check for pending updates, and test your site afterwards to ensure everything still works.
Limit your plugins
Every plugin adds potential risk, so only keep the ones you actually need and use. If you’re testing multiple plugins for a single feature, delete the ones you don’t end up using.
Some plugins exist to simply enable minor features (like SVG uploads in WordPress). Often, these can be replaced with a few lines of code in your theme files.
Most Healthy Pixels websites run with 4–8 plugins. But we’ve seen sites with 20+, and they’re often a pain to manage and slower to load.
Set up regular backups
Even with the best precautions, things can of course still go wrong. Automated backups make it easy to restore your site quickly if needed.
How often you back up depends on how often your site changes. For monthly content updates, monthly backups might be enough. If your site changes frequently, consider weekly (or even daily) backups.
Protect your site further
If you’re worried about hackers, there are ways to add an extra level of security as well. Here are three, all of which are easy to implement.
Change the Default Login Page
WordPress uses a default login URL, making it easy for hackers to find your entry point. Changing that URL adds a simple but effective layer of protection.
Tip: Use the WP Hide Login plugin to customise your login URL.
Use strong login credentials
Avoid common usernames like “admin” and use long, complex passwords. WordPress and other CMS platforms can generate secure passwords for you: use them.
Secure your hosting
Choose a hosting provider with built-in security features like SSL certificates and frequent backups. Healthy Pixels offers hosting, and it even runs on green energy.
Don’t want to handle it yourself?
If logging in monthly and managing plugin updates isn’t your cup of tea, our maintenance plans take care of it all.
We keep your CMS and plugins up to date, verify that updates don’t break your site, and prevent problems before they arise.
Have questions or want help securing your site?
Get in Touch
