5 Reasons To Keep a CMS Maintenance Schedule for Your Website

Highlights

• 95% of websites use outdated software that could be vulnerable to security breaches.

• Around 60% of US organizations use outdated web server software even after safer versions become available, risking their data and stability.

• Regular CMS maintenance can save up to 20% compared to urgent response and disaster recovery procedures.

The Consequences of Skipping CMS Maintenance

Like regular medical checkups, CMS maintenance often falls through the cracks. It’s overlooked and considered a waste of time and money. But much like missed GP visits, ignoring CMS maintenance comes at a price. Three major risks include security breaches, crashes, and poor UX.

Security Vulnerabilities

Up to 95% of websites use at least one potentially vulnerable outdated piece of software that could result in a data breach. Considering the legal repercussions under GDPR, HIPAA, COPPA, etc., making your customer data vulnerable can result in fines, as well as dire reputational hits. Luckily, you can mitigate security risks by regularly maintaining your CMS.

Functionality Failures

Aside from breeding security vulnerabilities, dated software is also the prime cause of crashes. Unlike the latest Spotify crash Taylor Swift caused, most website failures can be prevented through careful maintenance. 

Serhiy, Bits Orchestra CTO, explains: "In our experience, regular maintenance reduces security breaches by up to 50%. Each year, we prevent around 30 potential instances of downtime for our clients through proactive updates and security patches. CMS website maintenance secures their operations and ensures long-term performance and functionality. Staying on top of CMS updates and checks, we help our clients avoid costly disruptions to their operations and reputation.”

Poor Website Performance

Errors and glitches disrupt user experience, affecting your bottom line. Since 88% of users leave websites after bad experiences, ensuring every visit is fast, intuitive, and frictionless is the key to high conversions and increased lifetime value of loyal customers.

5 Key Reasons to Prioritize CMS Maintenance

It’s not enough to build your own custom CMS; you need to keep it going. If the risks don’t impress the value of regular maintenance, let’s look at other reasons to keep a CMS maintenance schedule.

Protect Your Website from Security Threats

According to the CMS System Market report, 50% of businesses suffered a CMS data breach in the last three years. For example, in April, the infamous ransomware group LockBit attacked OracleCMS and gained access to over 50 clients, including several Australian local councils.To mitigate such risks, partnering with a reputable cms migration company can help transition your platform to a more secure and robust CMS.

Of course, cybersecurity doesn’t hinge exclusively on CMS website maintenance. Human error remains among the top reasons for data breaches. Still, regular updates and maintenance significantly reduce the risk of hacking and malware attacks. It’s up to your professional CMS support partner to monitor occurring vulnerabilities and mitigate risks before they can affect your business.

Keep Your Website Running Smoothly

Even an hour of downtime can cost $150 million. That’s how much businesses lost when Fastly CDN went offline in 2021, affecting Amazon, Spotify, Paypal, and major news outlets. Aside from the immediate loss of sales, every crash, broken link, or missing photo and every instance of slow load time can turn off potential customers. New visitors won’t return, and loyal clients will think twice before buying your products or using your services again. 

According to Ostap Hetman, Team Lead at Bits Orchestra: "Effective CMS maintenance is all about anticipating and mitigating issues before they affect user experience. We regularly run performance tests for our customers. Based on test results, we clear site caches, optimize databases, run website backups—all crucial tasks to maintain speed and responsiveness. This monthly routine reduces load times by up to 30% for our clients. They never have to worry about crashes, and their websites are ranked higher by Google thanks to reduced bounce rates. Google likes it when people stay on websites longer, and good performance is key to achieve that."

Address Issues Before They Become Bigger Problems

Small issues snowball into huge problems without robust CMS update and maintenance strategies. As we’ve established, customer loyalty only goes so far, and users avoid sites that cause them trouble. Even small issues, like broken links or plugin conflicts, can turn away potential customers. Addressing these issues quickly prevents bigger problems down the line and reduces the risk of business losses. 

Bits Orchestra's experience proves the value of CMS maintenance

"One of our clients experienced intermittent website crashes during high-traffic periods. Our team found a recently updated plugin incompatible with the current CMS version. Within hours, we rolled back the update, tested it for stability, and applied patches to ensure compatibility. The crashes stopped, and the overall site performance improved, preventing what could have been lengthy downtime leading to lost revenue.
With a dedicated team like Bits Orchestra handling your CMS maintenance, issues get resolved quickly and efficiently, usually before they can impact your business operations. This approach saves our clients on average 20% in annual maintenance costs by preventing major glitches."

Stay Up-to-Date with CMS and Plugin Updates

According to a recent study, around 60% of US organizations use web-server software with known security vulnerabilities even after safer updates are available. This slack attitude towards software updates makes businesses increasingly vulnerable to hackers. 

Increased malware and crude force attack risks aren’t the only consequences of using outdated CMS solutions. Other potential issues include:

• Reduced operational productivity resulting in lower sales and revenue

• Increased disaster recovery costs caused by the failure to address issues while they are manageable

• Third-party plugin compatibility issues leading to low customer satisfaction

• Data protection non-compliance and resultant fines and reputation hits

Save Time and Resources in the Long Run

These are rough estimates based on the average time necessary for maintaining your CMS and recovering from major security breaches or crashes. We use Ukrainian hourly rates, which are in the middle of the price range across popular software outsourcing destinations.

We estimated expenses for a single employee. However, working with an outsourcing partner lets you scale the team instantly to address your changing business needs. For example, you can double or triple the team size to address severe issues or scale it down once you’re sure your system is robust again. 

Bits Orchestra CMS Maintenance Experience

Bits Orchestra isn’t merely a custom software development service. Our team of 50+ IT professionals has over eight years of web development and mobile app development experience. We successfully implemented 130+ projects, including solutions for Manufacturing, Retail, Finance, Marketing, Education industries. We offer .NET, Umbraco, and Kentico development expertise. 

Bits Orchestra also specializes in CMS website designing and regular CMS maintenance, CMS integrations, and CMS migration, so we have all your needs covered. Start implementing a CMS maintenance plan for your website by getting in touch.

A Showcase from the TimeOurDoors Project by Bits Orchestra

How to Ensure Your CMS is Properly Maintained

Unless you can afford an in-house website maintenance team, outsourcing is the most cost-effective solution. You’ll need a partner with the right technical expertise, for example, experience working with .NET-based CMS platforms or Umbraco development services. Soft skills, including clear communication and reliable support, are also critical for successful long-term cooperation. You should also explore different pricing plans to ensure you get the most for your money. 

A reliable partner will help you create a CMS maintenance schedule to cover all bases, including:

• Software and plugin updates

• Website backups across multiple hostings

• Site performance analysis

• Accessibility testing

• Search for broken links

• Security updates and vulnerability scan

• Site speed and uptime checks

• User account management

• Header and footer updates

• Interactive content checks

You should perform some of these, like website backups, weekly. Other items, such as load speed checks and performance testing, can be done monthly. You should discuss your business needs with your outsourcing partner to develop a CMS maintenance schedule that won’t disrupt your daily operations.