Let’s be honest for a second. When you first launched your WordPress website, it felt like a massive victory. You finally had a digital home for your small business, the design looked crisp, and you were ready to take on the world.
But then, a few weeks (or months) later, you logged into your dashboard.
Suddenly, you were greeted by little red notification circles. A plugin needs updating. There’s a new version of your theme available. Something to do with PHP needs addressing. And in the back of your mind, a little voice asks: “If I click this ‘Update’ button, will my entire website crash?”
It’s the classic small business owner’s dilemma. You’re driven, scrappy, and used to wearing many hats. But does that mean you should be the one wearing the “IT Director” hat, too?
We hear this question all the time at Sparked Digital. Is maintaining your WordPress website yourself a smart cost-saving move, or is it a ticking time bomb for your business?
We’re going to break this down comprehensively. We’ll look at what maintenance actually involves, the benefits and risks of a DIY approach, and how to decide if it’s time to call in a partner.
The myth of "just click update"
There’s a common misconception that WordPress maintenance is just about clicking the “Update All” button and moving on with your day.
If only it were that simple.
WordPress is an incredibly powerful platform because it’s open-source and extensible. You have the core software, your specific theme, and a collection of plugins that add functionality. These three elements are often built by different companies or developers.
When you update one, you have to hope it still plays nice with the others.
The compatibility gamble
Imagine you update your “WooCommerce” plugin because a new security patch came out. Great! But your “Checkout Page Customizer” plugin hasn’t been updated by its developer in six months.
Suddenly, the checkout button on your site stops working.
If you aren’t testing these updates in a safe environment before pushing them live, every update is a roll of the dice.
The “white screen of death”
This is the term for when a WordPress site encounters a critical error and simply displays a blank white screen. No error message, no menu—just nothing.
Fixing this requires going into the backend files of your server (using FTP or cPanel), finding the problematic file, and manually deactivating it.
If reading that sentence made your palms sweat, DIY maintenance might not be for you.
What does proper WordPress maintenance involve?
To help you decide if you have the time to maintain your own website, let’s list out what a weekly maintenance routine actually includes.
These are some of the key weekly tasks that are required to keep a small business WordPress website safe, fast and reliable:
- Taking backups: Ensuring you have a full copy of your site (database and files) stored off-site (not on your website server).
- Uptime monitoring: Checking logs to ensure your website stayed online 24/7.
- Plugin updates: Reviewing changelogs (notes from developers) to see what changed in the new version before installing.
- Visual inspection: Clicking through your main pages to ensure forms work and images are loading before and after software updates.
- Security scans: Running scans for malware or unauthorized file changes.
- Database optimization: Cleaning out “trash” data like post revisions and spam comments that slow down your site.
If you know exactly what you’re doing, this routine takes about 2 to 4 hours per month. If you’re learning as you go, or if something breaks and you need to troubleshoot, that time can easily triple.
The hidden costs of DIY website maintenance
When business owners tell us they want to maintain their own site to save money, they’re usually looking at the cash cost (aka the monthly fee of a maintenance agency).
But in business, cash isn’t the only currency. There are hidden costs to the DIY approach that often end up being more expensive than hiring a pro.
1. The opportunity cost (your hourly rate)
What is your time worth? Let’s say you value your time at $100/hour (a modest estimate for a business owner).
If you spend three hours a month fussing with backups, updates, and trying to figure out why your contact form now looks weird on mobile, that’s $300/month of billable time you just “spent.”
Could those three hours have been used to close a new client? Develop a new product? Or perhaps just take a break so you don’t burnout?
2. The cost of downtime
If your site breaks because of a bad update on a Friday afternoon, and you don’t notice until Monday morning, how many potential customers did you lose?
If you maintain the site yourself, you’re the on-call support team. If the site goes down, you have to drop everything to fix it (assuming you know how to fix the “white screen of death”).
3. The cybersecurity risk
Cybersecurity is no joke. Small business websites are actually huge targets for hackers. They know big corporations have dedicated security teams, but small local businesses often leave their digital back doors unlocked.
Professional maintenance includes setting up firewalls, limiting login attempts, and hiding sensitive system files. Without these measures, your site is vulnerable to being hacked, defaced, or used to send spam emails (which can get your domain blacklisted by Google).
Recovering a hacked website is significantly more expensive than preventing the hack in the first place.
4. The marketing risk
Search engines (like Google) and answer engines (like ChatGPT or Gemini) favour websites that are fast, secure, and technically sound.
If your site is bogged down by outdated plugins, bloated databases, or security vulnerabilities, it hurts your visibility and marketing efforts.
Professional maintenance is actually a foundational part of SEO/AEO strategy. It ensures the “house” is sturdy so that your content can shine.
The technical skills assessment: A quiz
Still on the fence? Let’s do a quick self-assessment.
Can you confidently answer “Yes” to these questions?
- Do you know how to access your website via FTP/SFTP?
Why it matters: If you get locked out of your WordPress dashboard, this is the only way to get back in. - Do you know how to restore a backup from an external source?
Why it matters: Having a backup is useless if you don’t know how to use it to overwrite a broken site. - Do you understand the difference between a plugin conflict and a theme conflict?
Why it matters: This is the #1 reason sites break after updates. - Do you know how to clear your server-side cache vs. your browser cache?
Why it matters: Often, you’ll make changes that you can’t see until the cache is properly cleared. - Do you have the patience to troubleshoot technical issues for 4 hours without throwing your laptop across the room?
Why it matters: This is just a personality check!
If you answered “No” to more than two of these, going the DIY route is probably going to be stressful for you.
Is hiring a partner an expense or an investment?
If you’re confident you can maintain your own WordPress website, hiring a partner to do it for you is an expense. But, if you’re not confident, or if doing so will distract you from more important value-add tasks, then hiring a partner is an investment.
When you hire a dedicated partner for maintenance, you aren’t just paying for someone to click “Update.” You are paying for peace of mind.
Think of it like car maintenance. Sure, you could change your own oil, rotate your own tires, and replace your own brake pads. You could watch YouTube videos to learn how. But is that really the best use of your Sunday afternoon? And are you 100% sure you tightened that bolt correctly?
Most of us take the car to the mechanic because we want to know it’s safe to drive, and we want to spend our time driving it, not fixing it.
The “agency” advantage
Partnering with an agency like Sparked Digital for maintenance brings a level of expertise that goes beyond basic maintenance.
- Proactive vs. reactive: We don’t just fix things when they break, we prevent them from breaking in the first place.
- Performance optimization: We want your site to load fast because we know that helps your Google rankings (SEO) and keeps your visitors happy.
- Expert advice: Wondering if you should install that new pop-up plugin? You can ask us first. We’ll tell you if it’s going to slow down your site or cause conflicts.
When should you absolutely hire a partner?
While professional maintenance is often the right choice, there are specific scenarios where it’s a non-negotiable:
- You run an eCommerce store (WooCommerce). If your site accepts credit cards and processes orders, you cannot afford downtime or security breaches. The stakes are too high. A broken checkout page means immediate lost revenue.
- Your site generates the majority of your leads. If your phone only rings when your website is working, your website is your most valuable employee. Treat it that way.
- You’re just not tech-savvy. There’s no shame in admitting that technology isn’t your forte. Your expertise is in your business, like baking, consulting, construction, or law. Stick to your zone of genius and outsource the rest.
- You have custom functionality. If your site has a custom-built membership portal, a complex booking system, or unique integrations, standard updates can easily break these features. You need a developer who understands the code behind them.
The final verdict: Should you DIY your website maintenance?
If you’re a hobbyist blogger, have a web background, and no budget, then yes, DIY maintenance is a great way to explore the ins and outs of WordPress.
However, if you’re a business owner who values their time, relies on their website for revenue, and wants to sleep soundly knowing their website is secure…
No, you probably shouldn’t maintain your WordPress website yourself.
The risks outweigh the savings.
Your website should be an asset that works for you, not a second job that demands your attention every time a plugin releases a patch.
Finding a maintenance partner
At Sparked Digital, we live and breathe WordPress. We handle the updates, the backups, the security scans, and the performance tweaks so you never have to see a “white screen of death” or panic over a red notification circle again.
We offer comprehensive and affordable website hosting and maintenance packages designed specifically for small business owners who want to focus on growth, not glitches.
Check out our WordPress Website Hosting & Maintenance Services today. Let us handle the technical stuff, so you can get back to business.
