Chapter 9: Website Maintenance
Timeless principles. Real-time signals. The thinking stays the same, the tools don't.
Core Principle: Prevention Beats Cure Every Time
Chapter 9 shows how ASOS learned that neglecting the basics costs millions. Like maintaining a car, your website needs consistent care to perform reliably when it matters most.
🔧 Website Performance Monitoring
GTmetrix - Comprehensive website speed analysis
Why now: 3-second load times cause 20% of visitors to leave immediately
Use case: Monitor core web vitals and get specific optimisation recommendations
Pingdom - Uptime and performance monitoring
Why now: Even 5 minutes of downtime can cost thousands in lost sales
Use case: Get instant alerts when your site goes down from multiple global locations
🛡️ Security & Backup Management
Wordfence - WordPress security monitoring
Why now: E-commerce sites are attacked every 39 seconds on average
Use case: Real-time threat protection with malware scanning and firewall
UpdraftPlus - Automated backup solution
Why now: 60% of businesses that lose data shut down within 6 months
Use case: Scheduled backups to cloud storage with one-click restoration
🚀 Content Delivery & Optimization
Cloudflare - Global CDN and security
Why now: Global customers expect local-speed performance everywhere
Use case: Serve your site from 200+ global locations with built-in security
Imagify - Image optimisation and compression
Why now: Images account for 60% of website weight and loading time
Use case: Automatically compress images without visible quality loss
📊 Core Web Vitals Optimisation
PageSpeed Insights - Google's performance measurement
Why now: Core Web Vitals directly impact search rankings and conversions
Use case: Get Google's assessment of your site performance and UX
Web.dev Measure - Comprehensive performance audit
Why now: Performance affects both SEO rankings and conversion rates
Use case: Detailed technical analysis with actionable improvement recommendations
🔍 SEO & Technical Health
Screaming Frog - Website crawler and SEO audit
Why now: Technical SEO issues can tank your search visibility overnight
Use case: Identify broken links, missing metadata, and crawling issues
Google Search Console - Search performance monitoring
Why now: Algorithm updates can impact visibility without warning
Use case: Monitor search performance and fix indexing issues quickly
🛠️ Development & Testing Tools
Staging Environment - Safe testing space for changes
Why now: Testing on live sites risks breaking customer experience
Use case: Test updates, plugins, and design changes before going live
GitHub - Version control and collaboration
Why now: Website changes need tracking and rollback capabilities
Use case: Manage code changes and collaborate with developers safely
Website Health Checklist
Daily Monitoring
Site uptime and loading speed
Security scan results
Error log review
Core functionality testing (checkout, contact forms)
Weekly Maintenance
Plugin and software updates
Content backup verification
Performance metrics review
Mobile responsiveness check
Monthly Deep Dive
Full security audit
SEO performance analysis
User experience testing
Conversion funnel optimisation
Maintenance Trends to Watch
AI-powered optimisation automatically improves site performance
Edge computing is bringing processing closer to customers globally
Automated security responses blocking threats in real-time
Predictive maintenance identifies issues before they cause problems
Green hosting reduces the environmental impact of websites
Emergency Response Plan
Immediate Response - Site down procedures and backup activation
Communication Plan - Customer notification and status updates
Recovery Process - Step-by-step restoration procedures
Post-Incident Review - Analysis and prevention improvements
Red Flags That Need Immediate Attention
Page load times over 5 seconds on mobile
SSL certificate expiration warnings
Multiple 404 errors or broken functionality
Security alerts or malware detections
Significant drops in search traffic or rankings
