In short, it’s a lot more complex to host WordPress that most expected. Business were not explained the complexities when they selected their website. They may not have even been been told that different content management system where available. We no longer recommend WordPress as part of a digital strategy when marketing budgets are under one thousand dollars per month (AUD). This is because WordPress costs over two hundred dollars (AUD) each month to run.
Essentially, most businesses need a websites and not hosting. However, the current market offers business owners the ability to purchase their own domains and hosting. Why? Business owners do not have the training and qualification to administer their own servers. They are encouraged to make purchases when they are unqualified, do not understand the requirements and are given misinformation. For example, business owners often purchase 50 Gb of hard drive space with their hosting when most small business websites are under 2 Gb.
WordPress has grown into a complex framework to build, design and manage your website and its content. It comprises of core software offer by WordPress. WordPress is a cooperative organisation and not a commercial venture. There is no cost to the license but there are restrictions and your are not the owner of the code. Third part software called plugins are available at extra cost. Plugins provide added functionality and features. For example WordPress does not have eCommerce built into its core.
All the software must be maintained, configured and kept up to date. This has nothing to do with your articles or the design. We are discussing the software that runs your website long after your website designer has completed their work. The #1 way that a hacker accesses a WordPress website is through an old plugin. When was your website last upgraded?
We use a specially built platform to store and deliver WordPress. No more complex hosting. No more cPanel. WordPress is automatically upgraded and we include security, backups and a cache (accelerator) to ensure the website has everything it needs. There is even an option where we can upgrade you third party plugin, inspect the website and then bundle in month maintenance.
Upgraded software improves seniority and offers new features. At the same time it may change how the site looks and functions. Correcting these issues is not included in the hosting charges and this is not your original designer’s mistake. It’s simply the cost of owning a WordPress website using software that is ever evolving.
We recommend clients put in place a monthly maintenance contract to correct these types of issues arising from upgrades.