WordPress is the best Content Management System (CMS) due to its ideal features. It is prevalent as it’s free, and the navigation process is hassle-free. You can add blog posts, images and videos without having technical knowledge about web designing and programming. WordPress contains open sources and a free version that gives a better experience on your website.
However, although the process of using WordPress is so straightforward, you still need to hire a qualified WordPress developer. The primary reason for having a trustworthy developer is for maintenance purposes and ensuring your site is running correctly. The following article provides detailed information on why it is necessary to have a developer and their duties.
WordPress Maintenance and its importance
A website needs to be continuously reviewed for any errors or factors leading to slow performance or unsatisfactory results. A local web design company needs to check for any problems in your site and rectify them before causing massive destruction. It is also essential to regularly update your website to new versions that mitigate the risks of hacking among other digital problems. A site is more secure if it has updated features and its running at optimal performance.
Having a well-performing website is the best way of creating a consumer-oriented environment that attracts traffic to your site. For a business website, it is the best strategy of creating an excellent user experience that aims at leading to more sales.
Optimal user experience
WordPress contains third-party plugins. The plugins are prone to become outdated, break or have exposure to malicious software. Such factors lead to a passive site that has numerous errors or unnecessary warnings. The site has a negative impact on the customers and in most cases, they will view it as unsafe safe to visit. Negative factors and an unreliable site can frustrate your clients, and they end opting for competitors’ more appealing sites.
A WordPress developer ensures that your third party plugins are well updated. The developer conducts quality assurance tests to check the nature of the plugins. They will warn you in case the plugins are outdated, broken or have any errors. Such performance checks ensure a site’s problem is solved before it leads to substantial financial and security risks.
Enhance site security
Most hackers target WordPress, and in recent research, 90% of all attacks on the CMS in 2018 targeted the WordPress. Some of the security issues are not obvious to you; a developer can identify such risks and handle them before they cause irreversible damage.
Most hackers are professional and will conduct malicious activities on your site without your knowledge. Your website may have malware that various fraudsters can use to gain access to your client’s data. They can use the data to conduct illegal activities leading to damage to your business reputation. In most cases, if clients report your site Google and some search engines will permanently block your site as it is viewed as a potential risk to the users.
Once a site is blacklisted, various users cannot view it and will become invisible to your clients. It will impact your business negatively leading to massive losses on profits and clients. However, if you have partnered with a WordPress developer, such risks will be mitigated and ensure your business image is protected.
Ensure the site is current
Each month they are new updates on WordPress that aim to improve websites’ performance and security. Ensuring your WordPress is updated with the latest features is the only sure way to ensure robust performance and optimal protection. A developer ensures that all plugins and other elements are frequently updated. They ensure any misconfiguration issues or errors in the site are solved in time.
WordPress Maintenance Elements Include:
WordPress maintenance differs depending on the type of website and the web developer conducting the process. However, they are standard maintenance elements that should be incorporated in every site, and they include:
- Core file updates
WordPress is not static, and it continually changes with the advancement in technology and the progression of time. The new features aim at keeping the site performing at its optimal and enhancing security in the site. Core files need to be updated on an occasional basis to make them immune to a security breach and ensure their performance is maximized. Failure to update leads to a negative user experience that is detrimental to your rankings on the search engines.
- Theme updates
A theme is a framework that influences the appearance and performance of a website. WordPress themes need regular updating to ensure they boost security and performance. Outdated themes have limited options in terms of functioning elements and low-security features.
- Third-party plugin updates
Plugins are added to WordPress to improve the functionality of a specific site. They are an innumerable number of third party plugins that assist in the creation of contact form of adding visual effects, video and music. The plugins are updated regularly to improve performance and security. Outdated plugins pose numerous risks on your websites such as insecurity and lower performance.
- Offsite backups
Offsite backups are an essential part of a website. The backups maintain the future of a website and help in restoring a site in case of any mishaps. A good developer will ensure they conduct redundant backups and store your essential data in multiple locations. If you lose your data under any circumstances, you can restore it without having to start a new site.
- Site security
Security is a significant concern for most websites. Most sites are vulnerable to hackers who try to access critical business and clients’ data. Most of these hackers target your finances and seek to divert money to their accounts. Despite a site being regularly updated, it is still vulnerable to malicious personnel.
WordPress developers ensure there is proper maintenance that aims at eliminating any vulnerabilities in the site. They also take stringent measures to ensure that your business or personal website is secure and performing well.
- Broken line inspection
A site that contains dead links illustrates unprofessionalism and poor maintenance tactics to the users. Most users will not be interested in visiting such a site leading to low traffic and a reduction in sales. A WordPress developer ensures that all the broken lines are resolved. Lack of dead links makes your site more user-friendly and leads to an improved user experience.
Search engines such as Google can notice such dead links and will view your site as low-quality and outdated. Such factors can impact your ranking on various search engines.
- Plugin removal
Unnecessary plugins on WordPress can affect the sites’ performance and speed. A developer will inspect your site and remove any unused plugins. Removing them reduces the risks of a website crashing or malfunctioning.
- Removal of spam comments
Your primary goal of establishing a business website is driving traffic to your business and increasing your sales. It is also a strategy of mass awareness, and you can use it to launch new products to the market. However, some comments left on the site’s blog can be converted to a vehicle of spam messages. If such detrimental statements are visible to your audience, it can lead to a negative brand image.
A developer removes the spam comments or filters them from your blog. Such a move ensures your audience is contented, and they trust your products and services.
- Optimizing the site’s performance
A well-performing website should have the adequate page caching and good image compression. If you have no experience in website development, you can end up overlooking such essential factors. A WordPress developer ensures that your site is configured to perform well.
DIY WordPress maintenance
If you have experience in website and software development, it is possible to do WordPress maintenance on your own. But if you don’t have any experience, the process can be quite tedious, risky and intimidating. In most cases, you may end doing more harm than good on your website. You may end up triggering malfunction or crashing your site.
Hire a WordPress development expert
A business website should have updated features to run correctly and provide a positive user experience. A good website is a robust foundation of an online business presence that promises to increase sales. Thus it is essential to hire a developer who is experienced to ensure the site has useful security features and ideal performance.
EcDev Studio, a reliable Ukrainian software development company, helps you hire a pre-vetted WordPress developer.