Imagine buying a new car and driving it every day for a year without ever changing the oil or checking the tyres. Eventually, it will break down, likely when you need it most. Your business website is no different.
At Custom Coded Websites, we often meet London business owners who believe that once a site is launched, the work is done. This is a dangerous misconception. The digital landscape changes daily—security threats evolve, browsers update, and search engine algorithms shift.
Whether you manage a simple brochure site or a complex custom web application, regular maintenance is the only way to protect your investment. Here is the essential checklist for keeping your digital presence healthy in 2025.
1. Security Updates & Patching
Security is the number one reason to maintain your site. If you are using software, it needs updating. Hackers use automated bots to scan for vulnerabilities in outdated code.
- Server Updates: Ensure your server OS (e.g., Ubuntu/Linux) is running the latest security patches.
- Framework Updates: If you are on a custom Django platform, your developers need to update Python libraries to patch any discovered vulnerabilities.
- SSL Certificates: Ensure your HTTPS certificate hasn't expired. browsers like Chrome will block users from entering your site if this lapses.
2. The "3-2-1" Backup Strategy
What happens if your server data center catches fire, or a malicious employee deletes your database? If you don't have a backup, your business is gone.
We recommend the 3-2-1 Rule:
- Keep 3 copies of your data.
- Store them on 2 different media types (e.g., server disk and cloud storage).
- Keep 1 copy off-site (completely separate from your main hosting provider).
Check: Are your backups actually running? Test a restoration once a quarter to be sure.
3. Performance & Speed Audits
Websites tend to get slower over time. As you upload high-resolution images for your new blog posts or add tracking scripts for marketing, "code bloat" creeps in.
Regularly run your site through Google's PageSpeed Insights. If your score has dropped, you may need to:
- Compress new images.
- Clean up your database (remove old session data).
- Review third-party scripts that might be slowing down the rendering time.
4. Form & Checkout Testing
This is the most painful failure we see. A business owner spends thousands on ads, only to realise months later that their "Contact Us" form stopped working after a server update.
The Monthly Test: Actually go to your website. Fill out the enquiry form. Buy a product (you can refund yourself later). Did you receive the email? Did the payment go through? Did the CRM update? Never assume these critical paths are working.
5. Broken Link Scan ("Link Rot")
The internet is fluid. External sites you linked to two years ago might now be dead, or worse, redirected to spam sites. Internal pages you deleted might still be indexed by Google.
Broken links (404 errors) frustrate users and hurt your SEO rankings. Use a crawler tool to scan your site for dead links and either remove them or set up 301 redirects.
6. Legal & GDPR Compliance
UK data protection laws are strict. If you have added a new tracking pixel (like a Facebook Pixel) or changed how you store customer data, your Privacy Policy and Cookie Consent banner must be updated to reflect this.
Failing to update your legal documents can leave you open to significant fines from the ICO. An annual legal review of your site's text is a smart business move.
Conclusion: DIY vs. Professional Support
Can you do this checklist yourself? potentially, if you have the technical skills and the time. But as a business owner, your time is better spent growing your company, not managing server updates.
That is why we offer tiered Maintenance Packages—from Basic security monitoring to Enterprise-level support. We handle the code, the backups, and the security, so you can handle the business.
View our Maintenance Plans and secure your website's future today.