Debunking Common Magento Maintenance Myths

Many eCommerce businesses treat website maintenance as an afterthought, particularly when their website is working. After all, if nothing is broken, there’s nothing to fix. Right? When it comes to website maintenance, that approach is completely wrong.

Skipping regular maintenance can lead to slow load times, broken checkout processes, and security vulnerabilities. All these Magento website issues harm the customer experience and may result in lower search engine rankings, as well as lost clicks and revenue.

At CertiPro, we specialize in all things related to Magento, including building websites, updating existing sites, ERP eCommerce integrations, and Magento website maintenance. If you’re struggling with slow load times or declining website performance, contact us today and we’ll create a customized Magento maintenance plan tailored to fit your needs.

In this guide, we’ll cover the top 5 website maintenance myths that can harm website performance and what your site actually needs to stay fast, secure, and conversion-friendly.

Key Takeaways

• Magento maintenance services are essential even if your site looks fine, since issues often hide beneath the surface.
• Skipping Magento updates can lead to security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, and poor site performance.
• Cybersecurity threats affect all Magento stores, regardless of size, which is why routine security patches and scans are critical.
• Hosting providers don’t handle Magento-specific maintenance like extension updates, theme conflicts, or checkout errors.
• Investing in regular Magento maintenance services helps prevent downtime, boosts website speed, and improves the customer experience.
• Proactive maintenance ensures your Magento eCommerce site stays secure, fast, and optimized for sales.

Table of Contents

1. Myth #1: “If My Site Looks Fine, It Doesn’t Need Maintenance”
2. Myth #2: “Magento Updates Are Optional”
3. Myth #3: “Security Threats Only Affect Big Brands”
4. Myth #4: “I Can Rely on My Hosting Provider for Maintenance”
5. Myth #5: “Magento Maintenance Is Too Expensive”
6. A Smarter Solution – Regular Magento Maintenance
7. Contact Us
8. Magento Maintenace Myths FAQs

Myth #1: “If My Site Looks Fine, It Doesn’t Need Maintenance”

Our first Magento maintenance myth is that your site doesn’t need maintenance as long as it looks okay. The reality is that visual performance isn’t the same as functional integrity. A Magento website might look great on the surface while its backend code, third-party extensions, or outdated modules cause issues behind the scenes.

Minor issues can build up over time and have a major impact on performance.

Even if your website looks fine, it might have these hidden issues on the backend:

• Deprecated code that breaks after updates
• Unpatched security vulnerabilities
• Database clutter slowing down your site

If you’re not periodically checking the backend of your website, you’re missing critical information about overall site health and Magento site performance.

Myth #2: “Magento Updates Are Optional”

The second Magento website maintenance myth is that updates are optional. As long as everything’s running fine, you don’t have to update to the latest version of Magento, install security patches, or update your extensions. After all, changing anything might break your site, right?

Wrong. Skipping updates can expose your website to serious security threats or leave you behind as everyone else upgrades and adds new functionality. Magento regularly releases patches and new versions to fix bugs, enhance performance, and strengthen cybersecurity. Similarly, third-party extensions also regularly release updates and new versions, which may no longer be compatible with outdated versions of Magento.

Neglecting to install updates can cause problems including:

• PCI compliance issues
• Extension conflicts
• Compatibility problems with third-party services (e.g., payment gateways, shipping APIs)

The bottom line is that keeping your site updated is essential for security and performance.

Myth #3: “Security Threats Only Affect Big Brands”

The third website maintenance myth is that only large brands and companies need to worry about cybersecurity, and that hackers or other malicious actors don’t target smaller companies with less revenue.

The reality is that cyberattacks don’t discriminate based on brand size. In fact, some hackers deliberately target smaller eCommerce businesses because they believe that smaller firms have weaker cybersecurity than big brands.

Magento is a powerful platform, but its popularity also makes it a common target for bots, SQL injection attempts, and malware. Regular security scans, patching, and firewall configurations are non-negotiable for all store owners, regardless of size.

Myth #4: “I Can Rely on My Hosting Provider for Maintenance”

The fourth website management myth is that your hosting company provides all the website maintenance your business needs. Good website hosting companies often provide some cybersecurity features, including firewalls, malware scans, SSL certificates, and DDoS protection. They also perform regular website backups, which protects your data.

However, while your hosting provider keeps your server and infrastructure running, they don’t maintain your actual website.

Hosting companies usually don’t handle:

• CMS updates
• Theme or plugin/extension updates
• Bug fixes or code troubleshooting
• Site-specific security patches
• Fixing broken layouts or features
• Front-end performance optimizations
• Theme compatibility after upgrades
• Cache management and performance tuning
• Broken cart or checkout functionality

While a good hosting provider does provide some cybersecurity protection and maintenance capabilities, they won’t maintain your website or prevent issues that could harm the user experience.

Myth #5: “Magento Maintenance Is Too Expensive”

Magento is a great platform. It’s prized for its flexibility and customizability, but the downside is that setting up your Magento website may require a larger upfront investment as well as ongoing expenses for hiring experienced Magento web developers. It’s understandable that some companies, after facing the expense of getting their website up and running, might not see the value in investing in ongoing Magento maintenance.

But website maintenance is like any other form of maintenance—essential for keeping your website running in top shape and getting the most value out of your equipment.  Magento maintenance is an investment, not a cost.

You wouldn’t wait until your car breaks down to change the oil or inspect the brakes, would you? Often, by the time the issue is bad enough to be visible, it’s too late. Delaying or skipping maintenance and waiting until something breaks often results in expensive emergency fixes, as well as lost traffic and revenue.

Having a regular Magento maintenance plan:

• Prevents costly emergencies
• Improves site speed and SEO performance
• Ensures that your checkout process always works
• Helps maintain regulatory compliance

Over time, investing in regular website maintenance is far more cost-effective and better for maintaining your website than expensive one-time fixes.

A Better Plan – Regular Magento Maintenance

We recommend that all our clients invest in regular Magento website maintenance by hiring internal staff, signing an ongoing Magento maintenance agreement, or working with another Magento maintenance provider.

If you’re serious about growing your eCommerce store, Magento maintenance should be a core part of your strategy. Regular maintenance isn’t just about fixing problems. It also helps prevent them while ensuring maximum uptime. With regular maintenance, you’ll be able to deliver a smooth shopping experience your customers will love.

Contact Us

Need Help Maintaining Your Magento Site? Hire Magento Experts Today

Contact us to get a personalized maintenance plan tailored to suit the needs of your website and your business.

Magento Maintenance Myths FAQs

Does my Magento site really need maintenance if it looks fine?

All websites should receive regular maintenance, including security patches and upgrades. A site that looks fine on the surface can still suffer from backend issues like outdated code, unpatched vulnerabilities, or slow load times. Magento maintenance ensures your site continues running smoothly, securely, and efficiently.

Are Magento updates really necessary?

Updating your Magento site is essential for security and performance. Magento updates include security patches, bug fixes, and performance improvements. Skipping them can leave your site vulnerable to hacks, slowdowns, and compatibility issues with extensions or payment gateways.

Isn’t my hosting provider responsible for Magento maintenance?

Hosting providers manage your server, not your website. They typically don’t handle Magento-specific tasks like extension updates, code troubleshooting, or fixing broken checkout processes. For Magento support and maintenance services, you need to go with a provider that will work directly on your website.

Are small Magento stores safe from cyberattacks?

No eCommerce store is too small to be targeted. In fact, smaller stores are often more attractive to hackers due to weaker security. Regular maintenance—including scans, patches, and firewalls—is essential regardless of your store’s size.

Is Magento maintenance too expensive for small businesses?

Magento maintenance may seem expensive, but not when compared to the cost of emergency fixes, lost sales, or downtime. Routine maintenance is a smart, cost-effective investment that protects your site and improves long-term performance.

How often should Magento maintenance be performed?

We recommend that our clients perform Magento support and maintenance at least once a month. High-traffic websites of more complex stores may benefit from weekly or continuous monitoring. Regular updates, audits, and backups help prevent issues before they escalate.

What’s included in a Magento maintenance plan?

A comprehensive plan typically includes version updates, extension management, performance tuning, security patches, backup management, and bug fixes. Some providers also offer 24/7 support and uptime monitoring.

Why is Magento maintenance important?

Magento maintenance is essential to keep your eCommerce site fast, secure, and fully functional. Regular maintenance ensures your website is protected against security threats, runs efficiently, and remains compatible with third-party tools. It also improves website performance. Without it, even well-built Magento sites can degrade over time, leading to slow performance, bugs, and lost sales.

What happens if I skip Magento updates?

Skipping Magento updates can leave your site vulnerable to cyberattacks, bugs, and compatibility issues. You may face broken extensions, PCI compliance problems, and checkout errors. Magento updates include important security patches and performance improvements—ignoring them increases the risk of downtime, data breaches, and customer frustration.

Do hosting providers maintain Magento sites?

Hosting providers manage your server, not your actual Magento website. While they may offer basic services like backups or firewalls, they don’t handle Magento-specific updates, fix extension conflicts, troubleshoot broken layouts, or optimize performance. That’s why you still need a dedicated Magento maintenance provider.

How often should you update Magento?

You should check for Magento updates monthly and apply critical security patches as soon as they’re released. Major version upgrades may be done less frequently but should still be planned proactively. Regular updates help avoid unexpected issues, ensure compatibility with extensions, and keep your store secure.

Is Magento maintenance worth it?

Magento maintenance is a smart investment. It helps prevent costly problems, reduces the risk of downtime, improves site speed, and supports better SEO performance. Routine maintenance protects your revenue and ensures that your online store delivers a consistent, high-quality user experience.

What are Magento update best practices?

Magento update best practices include backing up your site before updating, testing updates in a staging environment, reviewing compatibility with extensions and themes, applying security patches promptly, and following Magento’s official documentation. It’s also important to monitor the site after updating to catch any post-deployment issues.

What services are included in Magento support packages?

Magento support packages typically include version updates, extension and theme updates, security patching, bug fixes, performance tuning, error monitoring, backup management, and technical troubleshooting. Some support plans also include 24/7 emergency support, Magento audits, and development hours for feature improvements.

Does Magento need maintenance?

Magento absolutely requires regular maintenance to stay secure, functional, and optimized. Without routine maintenance, your site may become vulnerable to security threats, experience slow load times, or suffer from outdated extensions that disrupt performance or break key features like checkout.

What is Magento website support?

Magento website support refers to ongoing services that help keep your Magento store running smoothly. This can include resolving technical issues, updating the core platform and extensions, improving page speed, patching security vulnerabilities, and providing expert advice to optimize your store’s performance and scalability.

Do website maintenance services include Magento performance optimization?

That depends on the provider. There is some overlap between Magento maintenance services and Magento performance optimization, which typically involves code cleanup, database optimization, image compression, cache configuration, and speed audits to improve load times and enhance the customer experience. Faster sites also rank better in search engines and convert more visitors.

Do web maintenance services include Magento security updates?

Reputable Magento maintenance services include security updates and patching as a core part of their offering. Keeping your site updated with the latest security releases is critical for protecting customer data, preventing breaches, and maintaining PCI compliance.

Do website maintenance providers perform Magento performance audits?

Magento performance audits are an essential part of identifying issues with your website, including outdated code, security vulnerabilities, server misconfigurations, and more. These audits often lead to actionable improvements that increase speed, stability, and conversion rates.

Is CertiPro a Magento maintenance company?

CertiPro is a certified Magento partner specializing in Magento website maintenance, ERP integrations, performance optimization, and custom development. Whether your site needs updates, security improvements, or long-term support, CertiPro offers tailored maintenance plans to keep your Magento store running at its best.