Is Your Website Getting The Care It Need? Here’s Why You Need Website Maintenance

If your website isn’t maintained, it’s not just at risk, it’s quietly costing you traffic, leads, and sales. Outdated software, broken links, and slow load times can turn away customers before you even know they visited.

Think of your website like a vehicle running 24/7 in the background of your business. It can get you far, fast … but only if it’s maintained. Skip the upkeep, and it’s just a matter of time before something breaks, often at the worst possible moment: during a launch, ad campaign, or when your biggest potential client finally clicks through.

According to a 2023 Sucuri report, over 50% of hacked WordPress sites were running outdated software, themes, or plugins—a preventable failure. The same way you wouldn’t leave your storefront unlocked and gathering dust, your website needs regular care to stay secure, functional, and ready to convert.

“Someone told me we should be considering AI optimizing as well as Search Optimizing. What does that even mean? Should we be thinking differently now that people are using ChatGPT and other tools to search?”

It’s a great question, and one we’re hearing more often. And we love to hear this future forward thinking from our clients. The short answer? 

Yes, people’s search habits are changing. But that doesn’t mean SEO is going away. It means the definition of “search” is growing. And that’s an opportunity for your business.

Let’s unpack what this shift means and how to make sure your website and online presence are ready.

A Maintained Website Performs Better in Search

If you care about showing up in Google, this section is for you.

Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t just about keywords and backlinks. It’s also about technical health. And that’s where website maintenance plays a massive role.

Think of it this way:

Even the best content won’t rank if your site is slow, broken, or outdated.

Google wants to send users to websites that are fast, secure, mobile-friendly, and easy to use. That means everything from load speed to error-free code impacts your visibility.

So What Does Website Maintenance Actually Involve?

Website maintenance is not just pressing “update” on a plugin once a month. It’s not something your hosting provider “probably handles.” And it’s definitely not optional if you want a website that supports real business growth.

A healthy, high-performing site needs consistent attention. Not once a year. Not just when it breaks. Consistently.

According to a 2025 Reboot Online report, the average web user forms an opinion of your site within just 0.5 seconds. That’s all the time you have before someone decides to stay or click away and find a competitor.

So what’s involved in real website maintenance?

WordPress Core, Plugin, and Theme Updates for Stronger Performance and Security

If your site is built on WordPress,  like over 43% of the internet is,  it’s running on a system that’s constantly evolving. Developers release updates to fix bugs, close security loopholes, and improve performance.

When those updates are ignored?

Your site slowly becomes incompatible, glitchy, and vulnerable to attacks.

As Wordfence reports, plugin vulnerabilities account for nearly 90% of WordPress security breaches. One outdated plugin can become a hacker’s golden ticket.

Full-Site Backups — Stored Offsite for Fast Recovery After Emergencies

Backups are your insurance policy. If your site gets hacked, crashes, or breaks during an update, backups allow you to restore everything in minutes.

A proper backup plan includes:

• Scheduling automatic backups (daily or weekly)
• Securing offsite storage (not just on your hosting server)
• Applying full-site coverage of files, images, and databases

If you don’t have a backup from the last 7 days, you are not prepared.

Security and Uptime Monitoring to Protect Sales and Keep Your Site Online

You wouldn’t leave your shop doors open overnight, would you? That’s essentially what you’re doing without security monitoring.

Security maintenance includes:

• Real-time malware scans
• Firewall protection
• Uptime monitoring to catch outages fast
• Login attempt tracking

Google may blacklist your site if it detects malware, which tanks your traffic and your reputation. Prevention is the only smart option.

Broken Links and Technical Errors Fixed to Preserve Trust and SEO Rankings

Even one broken link can erode trust.

Link maintenance should include:

• Checking for page redirects are in place
• Confirming all linked third-party resources are still active
• Applying new URL redirects if pages change

Use tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog to crawl for issues. Or better yet, work with a team that checks this regularly for you.

Remember, Google penalizes websites with broken internal links. They create poor user experience and signal low site quality.

Load Time and Performance Checks to Keep Visitors Engaged and Converting

Every second counts. According to Google’s research, 53 percent of mobile users leave a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load.

Site performance maintenance should include:

• Compressing large images
• Cleaning up old scripts or bloated plugins
• Leveraging caching
• Testing speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix

Faster websites convert better. 

Form and Functionality Testing to Ensure Every Lead and Sale Goes Through

Ever filled out a form and got an error message? Or clicked a “Book Now” button that went nowhere?

When forms, buttons, or e-commerce checkouts fail, you lose leads without even knowing.

That’s why monthly testing matters:

• Test all contact forms
• Verify phone numbers and email links work on mobile
• Make sure checkout flows are smooth and secure
• Check popups, CTAs, and plugins are behaving as expected

If your site hasn’t been tested in the last 30 days, chances are something is already broken.

Light Content Tweaks and Updates to Keep Your Brand Fresh and Relevant

Google loves fresh content.

Minor updates, swapping out outdated team photos, updating service pages, and refreshing headlines all signal that your site is active and trustworthy.

Adding internal links, fixing formatting, and refining calls-to-action also improves user engagement and SEO performance.

Small changes can make a big difference.

“Websites are not just published and forgotten. They need consistent tuning. The most successful companies treat their website as a living sales asset.”
— Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder of Orbit Media Studios

Is It Too Early to Worry? Not at All and Here’s Why

AI isn’t making SEO irrelevant. It’s expanding what online visibility means. 

Search is evolving, but that change brings opportunity. AI is not replacing SEO, it’s expanding the playing field. Businesses that embrace both will reach more people, show up in more conversations, and capture more leads than ever before. By combining traditional SEO with AI-centric strategies, we help your brand:

• Stay visible everywhere your customers search, from Google to ChatGPT to voice assistants.
• Speak fluently to both humans and machines, ensuring your content is structured, credible, and conversational.
• Turn evolving search habits into growth opportunities, capturing high-intent traffic and building trust even before a click.
• Future-proof your digital presence, so your website and brand continue generating leads in 2025 and beyond.

The bottom line? You don’t need to choose between SEO and AI optimization. You need both working together. That’s where we come in. Our team knows how to position your brand for today’s searches while preparing for the AI-driven future, making sure every opportunity to attract and convert customers is maximized.

Need Some Extra AI SEO Help?

Most businesses don’t need a brand-new strategy, but they do need to broaden their approach: success today means being discoverable everywhere your future customers ask questions, not just in search engines. This shift isn’t cause for panic, but it is a call to action. 

ant to be a business that adapts by optimizing for both search engines and AI-powered platforms? Connect with our SEO team and we’ll walk you through what it means to be positioned to earn trust and attract new leads as search habits evolve.