So technically speaking, all websites need maintaining. All websites run on code, and code evolves & changes over time to become faster, better & safer. But that’s not a very helpful answer, so we’ll go a bit deeper and look at the types of websites that do need maintenance from a company’s/ user’s perspective.
We’ll be looking at:
- Self-hosted content management systems (CMSs).
- Hosted CMSs (often referred to as DIY website builders).
- Hard-coded websites.
Self-hosted CMSs #
Self-hosted content management systems (CMSs) are a very popular choice when it comes to building websites. They allow great flexibility and customisation. On top of that they allow developers and non-developers to effectively manage nearly all aspects of a website from an easy-to-use admin panel.
Self-hosted means you will have to find your own hosting for the website/ platform. Because of this they often will need maintenance to ensure the core and external software is kept up to date – more on why that is here.
Common examples of self hosted CMSs:
Do they need maintaining?
They do need maintaining.
Hosted CMSs (DIY website builders) #
Hosted CMSs, or more commonly known as DIY website builders are a good choice if you want an out of the box solution and have the time on your hands to create the site yourself.
Compared to self-hosted CMSs, they do have limited scope for customisation, however the trade off is that no maintenance is required because it’s all managed centrally from the platform itself.
Popular examples:
Do they need maintaining?
Generally no, but best to check with the platform.
Hard-coded #
Not very common among smaller businesses because hard-coded websites are often the most expensive type of website – usually a lot more development time is required on the project.
Hard-coded websites are websites built from the ground up and often have no ‘admin-panel’ or ‘back office’.
You will need a professional web developer to carry out the maintenance with this type of website as they will need to be competent in coding.
Do they need maintaining?
They do need maintaining.