I Bought A CMS, Why Do I Need Web Support?

Last Updated May 19, 2023

When you had your website built you no doubt paid extra to have it built on a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress.

One of the selling points was that you would be able to update the content yourself and would not have to rely on a developer to keep the site up to date. For many, at the time of purchasing a new website, discussing website support options is an up-sale experience.

You have just forked out what seems like a ton of money and now the developer wants to add to your bill. Wait! Why don’t they just build it right, you keep the content up to date using the CMS and there should be no need for support, right?

As with most things in life, it is not that simple. Below are a few reasons why you should consider a regular support plan for your website.

Quick Note: If you buy a new website be sure to ask about a warranty period. Any good developer or development firm should provide you with 30 to 90 days in which they will fix anything that is not working as it should from the original scope of work.

Website Support: What to Consider

Website Security – Keeping the Bad Guys Out

Dynamic web languages and the servers they run on are constantly changing.

Updates are made on a regular basis; new features are added, and security vulnerabilities patched. Remember that any software’s security is only as good the last hack or exploit. It is incredibly important to make sure that both the software that your website was written with and the server-ware it is running on is kept up to date with the latest security patches.

There is no ‘Design’ Button

No matter how user friendly your site may be, the ability to create new design elements such as banners and section templates etc. can still require technical skills that go way beyond the CMS controls.

Creating new templates often requires dynamic web language like PHP and knowledge of how to connect it all to a database such as MySQL.

Having such support will allow you to run product promotions, highlight events and keep your website looking fresh.

Web Technology is Always Changing

We have all heard it, the rate of which technology is progressing and changing is faster than it has ever been.

When your website launches it may have been tested in all the latest browsers, but changes are on the way. Did you know most major browsers companies have adopted what is called a ‘rapid release cycle’? This basically means they are pushing new major versions of their browsers out at a rate of 1 per month (or even weekly). Keeping your site looking good in all used browser version is an ongoing campaign.

Websites do Break (or slow down)

It seems like it shouldn’t. I mean you have not changed anything and maybe not have even touched the system since the time it was working last. However due to the complexity of websites today and the servers they run on, it is a fact that things go wrong. They break, they slow down, things stop working as they once did.

There are thousands of reasons why this stuff occurs and having a team to call upon is essential when working with such systems.

Adding New features, Updating Old Features

It is important to keep your site up to date, not only in terms of content but the features and functions that are used by your visitors. From the time you launch your website, you should be constantly making improvements to your visitor’s experience. Many of these items are things that you could not have thought of at the time you built your website.

Your Business is Changing and so Should Your Web Site

Times change, people change, businesses change and so should your website. Keeping your site up to date with your business is not only important to your site visitors but will help extend the lifetime of your site, saving money over complete redesigns and rebuilds.

Third Parties Change

Most websites today rely on at least one third party service to aid in its visitor experience and your marketing efforts. Sometimes these are complex integrations with other software systems but much of the time these connections are as simple as share buttons, or marketing/re-marketing tags.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, MailChimp, ConstantContact, Stripe and so many more have all made several major changes to their APIs over the last decades that removed features, added features and completely changed how a website interacts with their systems. The result in some circumstances has broken website features and even kept pages from loading. Such third parties can change systems whenever they feel fit, and it is up to individual site owners to make updates on their site.

Extend the Lifetime of Your Website.

By keeping your site up to date with critical security patches, general software upgrades, keeping the user experience fresh and features and functions in line with your visitor’s expectations you can greatly extend the amount of time a website may be online before having to be rebuilt.