I want to clarify on this topic, with the intent to let you understand all the hidden activities that allow you to make your website accessible and always functional.
I have recently had a phone conversation with someone that had a rather confused idea of what is “hosting”, “monitoring” and “maintenance”…hence this article came out.
INTRODUCTION
Let’s say that by now most of us are able to buy a web space, run a pre-installed script and install a CMS system like WordPress and even, after “tweaking” a few hours / days or weeks, according to the level of expertise design a decent few web pages by utilizing pre-made templates in which you just have to substitute text and images. Sometimes it only takes a few words with your a close friend or a Google search and…bang! You’re done …solution found.
But…Is it really? … That is what most think, unfortunately it isn’t done yet and it will never be fully done. This is because is not generally known to the average person that after the publication of your site the monitoring and maintenance phase should begin.
WEBSITE BACK-END: ACTIVITIES
So here are three types of service that are often confused, but in reality they are different things or rather they are activities that complete the management of a website:
1. Hosting: We are talking about the physical space where the files necessary for the operation of our website will be copied. It’s like taking the site and copying it to a hard drive. Also for hosting there are activities that are done on the servers to always guarantee functionality and security. In this case the cost depends on the type of hosting we purchased: shared (systemic activities concern all the sites resident on the server, therefore the costs are diluted) or on a dedicated server (systemic activities affect 100% of the cost of hosting).
The skills required for this type of systems activities are of a high standard and require constant updates from technicians to keep up with server-side technology.
2. Monitoring: This is an ongoing activity necessary to understand if the site is accessible and functional, that it does not present files that suggest a possible malware attack, phishing, trojan horses, spam, viruses or that are not being involved in any other unlawful and harmful activities. These are tasks that are usually done in part with automatic systems, but which require technical skills for a reliable evaluation.
Personnel must always be operational and able to intervene as soon as possible in the event of any attacks or problems.
3. Maintenance: CMS and plugin update is probably one of the activities that has recently become the nightmare of all agencies and / or companies that develop websites or e-commerce with standard platforms (WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Prestashop, Opencart etc. …).
Not a couple of days goes by and here is the message “Update available” which forces you to check what is the update about and decide whether to proceed or wait for the next message.
The simplest thing is to click on the “Update” button, cross your fingers and hope that everything works.
The most professional thing is to check if all the plugins are compatible, clone the site on a test environment, update it, check that everything works and repeat the same operations on the online site (the real one).
Sometimes you can also update the site directly, without resorting to the backup and verification on a test environment, but in any case the backup is to be done. In the unfortunate hypothesis that the site would fail to load, it is necessary to intervene either by restoring a previous backup (if no data is to be lost), or trying to understand the problem, obviously without knowing the times to find a solution.
Also in this case it is important that the staff in charge is always updated on new technologies and is able to intervene at the code level (mainly php, javascript and mysql).
THE WARRANTY OF OPERATION OR MAINTENANCE OF THE WEBSITE IS NOT “THE” HOSTING BUT “ALSO” THE HOSTING.
And that is the point that I wanted to stress in this article. Some people have the assumption that once you pay for an hosting the website is in a bullet proof secured space where nothing is going to happen…and this is absolutely not the case. We read everyday from bulletins from Wordfence / Sophos / Sucuri and many more Security Agencies that not only big name in the media and entertainment or banking system are breached continuously but also the medium and small companies…even mom and pops web shop can be hacked from anyone that has downloaded a few web script from the dark web and wants to start a career on the wrong side.
The set of three activities above mentioned represents the total maintenance of the website and its cost can vary accordion to whom you have given to run.
In practice, a professional company should always offer you this type of service and then it is up to you to decide whether to activate it or not.
Bear in mind that these activities require on average at least one or two hour a week, by qualified personnel. Do the math.
My advice is, there is no better investment than having a qualified supplier who MAINTAINS your website because in case of a problem or an attack…those are enough to annihilate a small saving …
Digital Designer, blog writer and also a tech enthusiast.
He loves to write content for blogs, podcasts, design websites, logos, brochures, banners and anything that sends a message to an audience.
You can contact Daniele at the link below:
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