How Regular Website Maintenance Can Prevent Costly Outages

• July 29, 2025
• /
• Written By Yahea Sultan

Hey there, website owner! Ever had your site crash at the worst possible moment like during a big sale or when a new customer is browsing? It’s frustrating, right? Well, it happens if you’re not maintaining your website regularly.

Your website is like your digital storefront. When it’s down, you’re missing out on sales, leads, and the trust you’ve worked so hard to build. A sudden crash can cost thousands of dollars in lost revenue and tank your reputation overnight. But these website outages can be solved easily if you regularly do your website maintenance check. Nowadays, regular website maintenance is not just a good practice; it’s a must.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through why website maintenance is essential, how it prevents costly downtime, and how you can keep things running smoothly without the stress.

What Is Website Maintenance Anyway?

Let’s break it down.

Website maintenance is the process of regularly checking your website for issues and keeping it updated, secure, and running smoothly. This includes things like:

• Updating plugins, themes, and CMS
  
• Fixing bugs and broken links
  
• Backing up your site
  
• Scanning for malware and security issues
  
• Improving performance and speed
  
• Making sure your site works on all devices and browsers
  

Think of it like taking your car for regular oil changes — it might seem like a chore, but it saves you from big, expensive problems down the road.

What Happens If You Don’t Maintain Your Website?

Short answer? A lot can go wrong. Here’s what you risk:

• Downtime

If your site goes down, even for a few minutes, you could lose potential customers and revenue. For eCommerce sites, that could mean thousands in lost sales.

• Website Outages

Server crashes, expired domains, or broken updates can take your site down completely, hurting revenue and reputation.

• Security Breaches

Outdated plugins and software are a hacker’s favorite playground. Without regular updates, your site becomes an easy target.

• Slow Loading Speeds

If your site gets bloated with outdated code or heavy files, it slows down — and users bounce fast. Plus, Google hates slow sites.

• SEO Problems

Broken links, errors, and slow speed hurt your SEO rankings. If Google sees your site as unreliable, you’ll drop in search results.

• Bad User Experience

Glitches, broken pages, or weird layouts? Say goodbye to trust and hello to high bounce rates.

Not caring for your website maintenance can lead you to costly outages for your website as well as your business. Now, let’s discuss about this thoroughly and find its prevention.  

What Are Website Outages, Anyway?

Website outages happen when your site becomes temporarily unavailable or crashes completely. This can be caused by server issues, expired domains, traffic spikes, software bugs, or failed updates. 

Picture this: you click on a website, and… nothing. Just an error message or a blank screen. That’s a website outage. It’s when your site goes offline, leaving visitors high and dry. Outages happen for all sorts of reasons—server overloads, buggy code, outdated plugins, or even sneaky hackers.

During an outage, visitors can’t access your site—leading to lost traffic, sales, and trust. And the only way to prevent this situation is regular website maintenance.

What are the Causes of Website Outages

To prevent outages, you first need to know what causes them. Here are the usual suspects:

1. Server Issues: Your hosting server might crash or go offline. This could be due to poor hosting quality or overload from too much traffic.

2. Plugin or Theme Conflicts: A single bad plugin update can break your entire site — especially if it’s not compatible with your current system.

3. Outdated Software: Running on an old CMS version? That’s a recipe for errors, crashes, and security holes.

4. Cyberattacks or Malware: Without proper security, your site is vulnerable to hacks and malware that can shut it down instantly.

5. Coding Errors: Sometimes, a small code change (even a missing semicolon!) can cause big issues — taking your site offline.

Running an online store? Don’t miss these Top 5 E-commerce Mistakes to Avoid to keep your site smooth and sales steady.

What’s the Real Cost of Website Outages?

We already know that a broken website what does to your business or brand. Now, let’s talk numbers.

• A study by Gartner estimated the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. For small businesses, it can still mean hundreds or thousands lost per hour.
  
• But it’s not just about money. You also lose trust, credibility, and repeat customers.
  

Worse? If you run ads or a big campaign and your site crashes… that’s a marketing disaster. One outage could erase months of hard work. Now let’s talk about the ways how you can prevent your costly outages.

How Regular Website Maintenance Prevents Outages

1. It Keeps Everything Up-to-Date

Outdated software is one of the top reasons websites break. Regular maintenance ensures:

• CMS, plugins, and themes are updated
• Bugs are patched
• Your site stays compatible with the latest browsers and devices

2. It Improves Security

Regular maintenance includes:

• Security scans to detect malware early
• Installing SSL certificates
• Updating firewalls
• Blocking spam or bot traffic

This means fewer chances of being hacked and taken offline.

3. It Ensures Backups Are in Place

Backups are your safety net. If anything goes wrong, a proper backup lets you restore your site quickly — no panic needed. Weekly or even daily backups (depending on your traffic) are essential.

4. It Boosts Site Performance

Maintenance helps clean up:

• Unused plugins
• Large image files
• Broken links
• Poorly written code

This makes your site faster, smoother, and less likely to crash during traffic spikes.

5. It Catches Small Issues Before They Grow

You know the saying, “a stitch in time saves nine”? That’s exactly what maintenance does. It catches broken links, outdated content, missing images, or layout bugs before they become user complaints or full-blown outages.

For more practical tips, check out these Essential Website Maintenance Tips for Success. 

What Should a Website Maintenance Plan Include?

Here’s a simple maintenance checklist you can follow (or look for in a service) to have a clean website without any hardships :

How to Make Your Maintenance Plan for Your Website

Ready to get started? Here’s how to create a maintenance plan that works:

1. Set a Schedule: Create a checklist of tasks (updates, backups, scans) and assign them monthly, weekly, or daily. Use a calendar or task app to stay on track.
2. Decide Who’s in Charge: If you’ve got a team, assign roles. No team? Consider outsourcing to a reliable web maintenance service. They’re often cheaper than you think.
3. Use the Right Tools: Tools like UpdraftPlus (for backups), WP Rocket (for speed), or SiteGround’s security suite can make maintenance a breeze.
4. Budget Smart: Maintenance costs vary, but even $50–$100 a month for tools or services is a steal compared to outage losses.
5. Test and Tweak: Check your site’s performance and backups regularly. If something’s not working, adjust your plan.

Curious about the effort involved? Read our guide on How Hard Is Website Maintenance? to find out what it really takes.

What Tools Do You Need for Website Maintenance 

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Here are some trusted tools to automate your maintenance process:

Take Professional Help: Try ITclan BD

If you are only determined to focus on your business growth and leave other headaches, then you can try taking professional help like ITclan BD’s maintenance service plan. 

They know how frustrating it is when your website crashes, lags, or faces unexpected issues. That’s why the ITclan BD website maintenance service plan is designed to take the pressure off your shoulders and keep your site running 24/7 — fast, safe, and fully optimized.

Here’s what you get with our maintenance plan:

•  Regular updates of CMS, plugins, and themes
  
•  Security scans and malware protection
  
•  Daily or weekly backups (you choose!)
  
•  Performance checks and speed optimization
  
•  24/7 uptime monitoring
  
•  Fixes for bugs, broken links, or layout issues
  
•  SEO audits and monthly reports
  

Whether you’re running a business website, blog, or eCommerce store, our team tailors the maintenance to fit your site’s specific needs — so you can focus on growing your business, not fixing tech problems.

Wrap-Up: Keep Your Website Alive and Thriving

A website outage can damage your business in minutes. But the good news? Most outages are 100% preventable with regular maintenance.

Think of website maintenance as the “health check-up” your site needs to stay alive, fast, and secure. Whether you do it yourself or hire pros, the important thing is — don’t ignore it.