Why developers (typically) don’t fix or maintain websites

October 19, 2023

Long story short – building a new website is (often) far easier than fixing or maintaining a website. Having just come to the end of a major overhaul of an existing site – not a rebuild, just a major tune-up – I began to wonder … why is this so much harder? Let’s explore a handful of reasons.

You have to be a curious expert

First and foremost, you really need to be an expert to fix something. The breadth of your experience must be vast and comprehensive. Sadly, expertise is not enough. You must also be very curious. You will need to obsessively wonder why. Why is it this way? Why doesn’t it work? What exactly is going on here? Or the worst … why does it work? A curious fixer is an excellent fixer.

You need to communicate incredibly clearly

Website developers are essentially just translators. I take my clients’ needs and wants and translate the request into a language a computer speaks. Translators must be precise in their language but also crystal clear. If I do not understand my client, or vice versa, we all must stop, and try again. When I am fixing a website issue – 9 times out of 10 – I am fixing a miscommunication. In other words, you need to fix the actual problem, not the assumed problem.

You need a method

Spoiler alert – as a “former” mechanic, I leverage the 4 C’s method (Complaint, Cause, Correction and Confirm). It is really important to note, I am not talking about a “bug tracker”. I am speaking about a framework or strategy for identifying and addressing customer complaints. There are a lot of solutions, but most developers instead, “whack-a-mole” and hope for the best. If bug fixing vexes you, research problem-solving strategies.

You need high standards and the willingness to compromise

Good enough is unacceptable. Mediocre is not an option. Give your best or give nothing at all. If you are going to fix things, perfection is all but a required goal. Then again, we can’t let perfection be the enemy of better. More often than not, repair is the option we exercise when cost is a major factor. We must balance the absolute best we can produce against a bill that is untenable. That balance is incredibly hard to strike and finding it takes practice.

You need massive confidence

Websites are often the most important marketing tool a business has. Even if you are certain about a decision, it can be incredibly hard to pull the trigger. However, inaction is not going to get the job done. It is hard and scary to be the expert who assures the business owner, everything is going to be ok. It is far easier to forget that bad code we know we should address. Fortune favors the bold. Get in there and fix it.

You’ll be wrong

Try as you might, despite all the due diligence in the world, you will at some point be wrong. It is a really tough blow to the ego but you have to just get past it. Dust yourself off, take another look, and figure out where you went wrong. You’ll be better for it in the end.

It’s not your work

I am often called upon to fix the work of other website developers. Most people assume that fixing the work of someone else is going to be tricky. E.g. The previous craftsperson probably used techniques or methods you might not. The thing here – it is not as tricky as you might think. The trouble is that it is time-consuming. In order to be effective, you have to go through everything, tip-to-tail, and really understand it all. You must be willing to invest the time, to understand what you’re dealing with, as opposed to tossing the baby out with the bathwater.

It is your work

You are at the top of your field, with exacting standards, a skill set that is unrivaled, and guess what – you make mistakes too. You might have forgotten about something. Maybe you proof-of-concepted something and never circled back to bulletproof that thing. Whatever the cause, it doesn’t really matter – mistakes happen. The real question becomes, do you have the integrity to fess up, and fix it on your dime?

Project management and cash flow problems

I encounter a lot of developers and firms that have cash flow problems. The ugly cycle is to charge a deposit, buy some financial time, rush the project out the door at the last minute, then move on to the next project. As one can imagine, this results in poor quality control. Even when the customer is willing to pay for fixes or maintenance, they are left out in the cold. The folks that built their website 1. are on to the next thing and 2. won’t touch their own work, because they know how bad it is. Conversely, when you build quality stuff, you think about maintenance and expansion. Comeback customers, in these instances, are cash cows.

Final thoughts

I could go on. Managing expectations and the timeline on a fix vs. build is a world of difference. You are often working on antiquated stuff. Fixes are much harder to market than new builds.

Mostly, though, it comes down to a willingness to do it. The fact of the matter is, most developers or firms do just fine with website builds alone. They don’t really need to fix or maintain websites, so they let someone else deal with that.

Well, that “someone else” is people like me. A little secret for you – all of my best clients are customers who started with me fixing their current website.