SiteCare has been helping businesses with their websites for nearly 20 years. In that time, we’ve seen every possible bad configuration you can imagine.
How about the time we found an entire Magento shopping cart installed inside the WordPress wp-admin directory?
Or the time that we uncovered nearly a TERABYTE of backups nested in another (corrupted) backup?
We can’t count the number of times a new client contacts us with a website that was built just a few years ago and has been neglected ever since. Without continuous care, that once-perfect website is now archaic, vulnerability-ridden, and extremely fragile.
It’s easy to blame, complain, and be cynical when battling website technical issues daily. Occasionally, one may want to launch their computer directly into the sun. It’s a natural impulse.
Why do bad things happen to good website owners?
Over the years, we’ve managed thousands of websites in various states of repair. We’ve tried all sorts of tactics to make a wide range of WordPress websites fit into easy-to-understand management plans.
But here’s the reality: Every WordPress website is unique. They’re all different. They have separate constraints, requirements, levels of care, features, functionality, and website owners all have varying tastes and preferences.
WordPress is messy, in a beautiful way, if you’re willing to tilt your head to the side a bit.
After years of trying to improve and automate our WordPress management services, and failing in various ways, we chose a different approach. We started to ask why and how WordPress websites ended up in such a flawed state.
- Do website owners simply not care about the health of their websites?
- Are the majority of WordPress developers truly careless and apathetic?
- Are all WordPress plugins really put together with bubblegum and hope?
That’s a pretty bleak and cynical outlook, so we began to ask questions of our clients.
Getting curious about website neglect
Instead of asking why websites are the way they are, we started to wonder how they got that way:
- Do website owners understand that neglect will eventually put their online business at risk? Do they know proper site management is essential after launching a new website?
- Do developers know that they’re taking shortcuts? And are they doing it out of necessity to meet demanding deadlines or constrained budgets?
- How can people discern good products from bad when search engine results are littered with affiliate marketing and bunk recommendations? Is it the website owner’s fault for following the advice of online personalities they should be able to trust?
After years of boots-on-the-ground experience, client surveys, and watching user patterns, we understood that education and awareness were the key. Without those two elements, healthy, well-preserved websites wouldn’t be achievable. Even if we figured out a way to automate every part of the management stack.
We needed to bring the biggest threats to a website to the forefront, and help website owners see potential risks. Then we could pair that risk with practical advice about how to stay ahead of those risks. With enough awareness and education, we’d be able to shift the tides of mistrust, anger, and frustration.
We wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the noisy, persistent problem.
So we got to work…
Establishing the framework of SiteCare Score
Before we could write one line of code, we needed a methodology to follow. It needed to be simple to understand, and the path to healthy WordPress needed to be clearly defined. Think of it as a training plan. Just like people can’t run a marathon before they walk a mile, a WordPress website needs a solid technical foundation before it can scale traffic, include complex features, or begin to be discovered in search engines.
We developed the SiteCare website hierarchy with the idea that no website should advance to the next level in the pyramid without mastering the level below it.
Our mission is to be continually advancing SiteCare clients up the pyramid.
Site Health: A WordPress website needs to adhere to the WordPress technical requirements, ensure they’re running modern, well-supported, plugins and themes, along with several other basic website standards.
Security: WordPress needs to be hardened and secured in a way that prevents bad actors from taking websites hostage, defacing it, or using the site to generate spam.
Performance: Once a WordPress site is healthy and secure, we can work to make it blazing fast.
Extend: In order to expand the functionality and features of the site, we want to make sure the prerequisite stages of Site Health, Security and Performance are meeting best practices.
Optimize: This is the stage when we optimize for search engine visibility, improve usability, and enhance the user’s website experience.
Learning to Uncover Site Health Issues
With our hierarchy guiding the way, we knew that we wanted to focus on Site Health first, because that sets the foundation for a successful WordPress website.
WordPress core provides a great API to help uncover Site Health issues. However, when we presented the information from Site Health to clients, they often found it confusing and didn’t know how to interpret the information.
They were constantly asking, “Ok, I understand there’s an issue, but now what?”
It became clear that we needed more of an alert system than a list of specific technical issues. The specifics matter, but website owners need a way to keep their finger on the pulse of their website health without looking at technical issues every day.
This insight has shaped our approach to WordPress maintenance. We believe website owners deserve a simple, clear understanding of their site’s health—without needing to decipher technical jargon or wade through complex reports. That’s why our team translates the technical gobbledygook into plain English, providing actionable insights that anyone can understand.
Making Technical Debt Visible
Technical debt is like that junk drawer in your kitchen—easy to ignore until it’s so full you can’t close it anymore. Website owners often don’t see the accumulating problems until something breaks catastrophically.
Our maintenance approach makes this invisible debt visible. We’ve developed comprehensive health checks that examine everything from plugin conflicts to database bloat, security vulnerabilities to performance bottlenecks. But unlike raw data dumps that overwhelm site owners, we present these findings in ways that clarify both the risk and the solution.
When you work with SiteCare, you’ll never hear “your site has an HTTP/2 implementation issue.” Instead, we’ll tell you “your site is loading slowly for visitors, and here’s why.” We believe technical expertise is only valuable when it’s accessible.
Building on the Foundation
Just as our pyramid methodology suggests, we focus first on establishing rock-solid site health before moving on to more advanced optimizations. This methodical approach prevents the all-too-common scenario of building new features on a crumbling foundation.
For every site we manage, we:
- Establish baseline health metrics
- Identify and address critical vulnerabilities
- Clean up neglected technical issues
- Implement proactive monitoring
- Only then, begin optimization work
This patient, methodical approach might not be as flashy as jumping straight to new features or SEO wizardry, but it’s what keeps websites running smoothly for years instead of months.
The Human Element
While we love automation and efficient systems, we’ve learned that maintaining WordPress websites requires a human touch. Each site has its unique quirks, each business has specific needs, and no automated solution can replace experienced eyes reviewing your website’s health.
Our team brings nearly two decades of hard-won knowledge to every site we manage. We’ve seen it all—from those Magento carts hiding in wp-admin to massive nested backups—and this experience helps us spot potential issues before they become emergencies.
Preventing Digital Decay
Websites are living things. They need regular care to thrive. Without it, even the most beautiful, cutting-edge website will gradually deteriorate, becoming slower, less secure, and eventually obsolete.
At SiteCare, we’re committed to preventing this digital decay. Our maintenance services provide the consistent attention your site needs to stay healthy, secure, and performing at its best. Whether you’re running a simple blog or a complex e-commerce operation, we have the tools and expertise to keep it running smoothly.
Ready to Stop Worrying About Your WordPress Site?
If you’re tired of wondering whether your website is healthy, secure, and performing as it should, it’s time to let the experts handle it. Our WordPress maintenance services provide peace of mind and proactive care that keeps your site running at its best.
Don’t wait until something breaks. Check out our SiteCare plans today and discover how we can help you build on a solid foundation.
