Outdated WordPress approaches you’re probably still doing
A lot of what we do is WordPress development and, as such, we’re privy to a tonne of the outdated WordPress approaches you’re probably still doing as a small to medium-sized brand. Sure, budgets can be tight and everyone needs their websites to perform, but you might want to skip these tropes to have a better overall WordPress website.
Would it be cheaper if….
Usually, that sentence is followed by the removal of core features like website responsiveness and accessibility. That’s not where you’ll save costs. Instead, think about trimming things if you don’t plan to keep them updated like a company news page or a customer social media feed plugin. You might look to remove any animations or simplify the design overall if costs are a big concern. If you really have a tight budget, you may want to adapt an existing design or start with a template you like. This can get your website dev costs to the absolute floor.
We need it to rank on Google
We 100% get that. And everything that we can technically do to ensure you can rank will happen. However, whether you rank or not is actually up to you and the content you fill your website with. If it meets Google’s EEAT framework, and we’ve done our part with the tech spec, then you’ll have a good shot at organic search traffic. But that’s not something we can control from the development side. You a robust content plan, a defined perspective and a commitment to regular publishing. Without that, you’ll struggle to break into an already saturated market within your niche. You’re probably not the only company doing x, y or z. Failing a good content strategy or the time to execute one, you could instead focus on PPC to drive traffic. That will get you immediate results without the 3-6 month lead time that an SEO strategy needs to bed in.
Not installing critical updates
It’s pretty common with clients that their website has been technically neglected for several years. That’s why we offer website support and maintenance packages. Those alerts at the top of WordPress aren’t a polite suggestion (even if they do say ‘please’). If you can’t afford someone to manage all the updates for you, then it’s a good idea to at least run the Site Health Check and implement the recommended updates. Even WordPress itself tries to get this message through with text that reads “Critical issues are items that may have a high impact on your site’s performance or security and resolving these issues should be prioritised.” If you don’t update WordPress, after a while, you may find parts of your website or theme don’t work anymore or it’s underperforming technically so much that you’re no longer showing up in search results.
What do you think about these outdated WordPress approaches? Relatable? No matter what state your existing website is in, we can help get you up to speed. Just get in touch today.
