After the initial setup, one of the first questions that every WordPress website owner asks themselves is simple: what are the costs for maintaining my website?
While the answer will vary based on your individual needs, there are some crucial and simple ways that you can control the costs associated with maintaining your website on a daily basis. Read on to discover three easy ways to save yourself time and money on WordPress website maintenance, with the help of WordPress developer and Codeable expert Raleigh Leslie.
Choose your team (and their tools) carefully
Raleigh Leslie, speaking about those just getting started with their own WordPress website, says:
Maybe you know nothing about maintaining a website and you need to pay somebody to maintain your site, well, what exactly are they going to be doing for you? Well, that’s the thing right there: you need to be paying somebody who actually knows what they’re doing.
Put simply, the team you build for maintaining your site should be experienced with WordPress and able to clearly explain to you what they will be doing for you. For a WordPress expert maintaining a site is simple, but for a WordPress novice you might get caught up if something crucial is overlooked such as proper backups or the ability to automatically restore should something go wrong.
It’s best to have tools and fallbacks in place to make sure certain tasks are done, and a plan for if something goes wrong so that a qualified person can follow the process. It will cost you much more if you have to approach problems of improper maintenance after the fact, without a maintenance plan in place when the damage has already been done.
Take care of issues properly the first time
Getting out ahead of potential issues with your WordPress site is absolutely vital. Whether you are looking for a backup plugin or speed up the load time of your website, there are often well-tested solutions available for the issues you might encounter. Raleigh compares WordPress website ownership to car ownership in this way:
Say you have something wrong with your car and you start taking it apart yourself, and then you realize that you’ve just screwed it up even worse and you have no idea how to get it back together now, what?! Call the tow truck. Eventually, it’s going to end up costing you more than if you hired a professional from the start.
Not only are you costing yourself time when you fail to identify or address issues properly and proactively, you also might very well be costing yourself money. Regarding people who let issues fester on their website without a professional developer and the resulting financial impact, Raleigh adds:
You know, when you go to a developer, they’re going to see that you’re kind of in shambles at that point, so they’re going to charge you. What do they say? ‘It’s cheaper if you just pay me to do it.’
Another way to think of this is getting a flat tire on a bicycle. The best way to prevent problems of getting a flat tire on a ride is to have the knowledge and tools with you already to fix a flat tire when it happens. Being prepared because it’s not if you are going to get a flat, but when, so be ready.
Respect “time is money” adage
Many business owners back themselves into a corner when setting up their WordPress website on their own. In the name of saving upfront costs, they spend hours upon hours tinkering with their own site. The saying “time is money” applies to WordPress websites as well as anywhere.
Raleigh, speaking from firsthand experience, says:
If you’re a small business owner or even an agency owner, you don’t have time to be fiddling with your website… if you screw it up while you’re doing it, it’s going to cost you three times as much time.
Trying to save money on website maintenance by doing it yourself is really not saving you money at all. Your time is valuable and the headaches and time you’ll save by getting professional help when it comes to maintaining your WordPress website will easily replace the cost of paying them in terms of value.
Wrapping up
The optimal approach to running your business is to spend your time doing what brings you profit and what you already have mastered. Time spent trying to learn new web-related skills represents time wasted, especially when there are qualified professionals out there who are able to tackle this type of project for you.
Given the amount of time and money hiring someone qualified can save you, the only question on your mind should be: when can they start?
This blog post features Raleigh Leslie who is a senior in-house WordPress expert at Codeable. Raleigh helps clients and other experts be more successful in requesting and delivering freelance projects within Codeable’s quality promise. He’s helped thousands of freelancers and business owners with getting results they require when outsourcing WordPress projects.