~ 9 min read
Website support is often seen as something you turn to when something breaks. In reality, the most effective support is proactive. It helps keep websites secure, fast, stable and easy to manage, while preventing the kinds of technical, content and usability issues that can quietly build up over time.
This article draws on ID Studio’s decades of real-world experience in website design, spanning multiple industries. In some cases, the issues we encounter are on websites we did not originally build, where clients come to us for help maintaining or improving an existing site. In others, they are websites we designed ourselves that have not been properly updated or maintained for a long time.
Below, we look at some of the most common website support issues we deal with, why they happen, how we identify them, and the steps we take to fix them and reduce the likelihood of their recurrence.
A content management system should make website updates easier, not harder. In practice, one of the most common support issues we see at ID Studio is a CMS setup that makes it difficult for a client's team to update the site.
Sometimes the problem is that the CMS is too open, allowing users to override styles, break layouts, or upload content in ways that damage the intended design. In other cases, it is too restrictive or poorly structured, making even simple updates slow and frustrating. We also regularly see websites built on technically capable platforms but poorly configured for how the business actually needs to manage content day to day.
In support situations, our role is usually to identify the source of friction and improve the editing experience. That might mean tightening editor controls, creating reusable modules, simplifying page-building options, removing unnecessary plugin dependencies, or restructuring the CMS to make content updates quicker and more reliable.
One of the most common examples of this is when clients accidentally break the design while making routine edits.
At ID Studio, we restrict access to certain features of the content management system (CMS) that control the website's appearance, such as headings, fonts and sizes, colour schemes, table designs, and form layouts.
New clients often come to us with issues caused by an open CMS. One recent example involved an IT supplier whose CMS allowed users to override core design styles.
Issue: A new homepage hero/intro section began displaying with incorrect font, colours, spacing, and button styling.
Why: The CMS editor allowed users to paste content from Word/Google Docs, including inline styles and embedded classes. Those inline styles overrode the global stylesheet, causing inconsistent typography and layout.
Our Fix: We locked down the editor to a controlled set of components (approved headings, buttons, text styles), stripped unsafe inline styles on paste, and introduced brand-safe style guides (e.g., Primary Button, Secondary Button). We also added brief editor guidance and a quick video walkthrough showing what they should do.
‘There is a fine line between giving the client a blank canvas to make the updates they want and implementing too many restrictive boundaries. Our goal is to find the perfect fit depending on the client’s expertise.’
Michael Macneil, Creative Director.
Outdated plugins and software related to content management systems are among the most common support issues we face. Many website owners delay updates because they worry something might break, but leaving core software, plugins, or modules unupdated for too long can cause much bigger problems. It can lead to security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, slower performance, and, in some cases, total site failure. One of the most widely used platforms, WordPress, is highly vulnerable to this unless it is properly maintained.
At ID Studio, we take a controlled approach to updates. Rather than applying them blindly, we first test changes in a development environment, check for conflicts, and then roll them out properly. This helps reduce risk while keeping the website secure, stable and fully functional.
Below are some of the main issues we have come across. Many of these are avoidable if the client is properly trained to use the CMS.
At ID Studio, we provide our clients with videos that show them how to use the common features of their content management system. They can go back and refer to these tutorials whenever they need to, or if a new employee joins the team.
Recently, a Landscape gardening firm contacted us with slow-loading gallery and showcase pages.
1Government reporting continues to show a high volume of cyberattacks targeting UK organisations, which is why security remains a critical part of website support. At ID Studio, we provide ongoing security for numerous clients across high-risk industries, including banks, fintechs, and hospitals.
Below is a table showing the most common misconfigurations we see in a selection of industries.
Industry type | Issue we commonly find | Risk to the business | How ID Studio fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
Restaurant chain | WordPress core updates are ignored and outdated | Known exploits - malware, spam pages, and downtime | Update safely (development server first), monitor after release |
High-end retail chain | WordPress third-party plugin exploit | One vulnerable plugin - takeover, redirects, spam injection | Disable/quarantine plugin, clean infection, replace plugin, add WAF rules to prevent repeat attacks |
Online gaming | Brute-force / credential stuffing on logins | Account takeover, defacement, and ongoing reinfection | MFA and rate limiting, bot protection, strong password policy, and removal of unused users |
Fintech startup | Too many admin accounts / wrong permissions | A single compromised user can do major damage | Role audit, least-privilege access, lock down high-risk CMS actions |
Charity | Malicious script injection (XSS) | Visitors redirected, trust/reputation damage | Patch source, validate inputs, sanitise outputs, and add CSP where appropriate |
B2B | Insecure file uploads | Web shells/malware uploaded - site compromise | Restrict file types, scan uploads, block execution in uploads, tighten permissions |
Recruitment consulting | Exposed staging/dev site | Attackers use staging as an easy backdoor | Lock behind auth/IP, remove public access, stop indexing/leaks |
‘In our experience, website failures rarely happen overnight. They’re usually the result of unmanaged bugs and risks that build over time. Providing security support and maintaining a secure platform is designed to stop this before it happens.’
Neil Kilgallon, Technical Director at ID Studio.
This is one of the first areas we look at when working with a new client. Just one exploit can open the front door, and there are bots out there continuously looking for gaps in the armour. 2According to the Verizon 2025 DBIR report, 25% of SMB breaches are due to security misconfigurations.
Brute-force attacks are much more common than many people believe. The 3UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey in 2025 reported that 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber attack. We often hear clients tell us they are too small, so why would they be targeted? We know from experience that hackers will look for weaknesses, and bots do not discriminate and are simply seeking access.
A recently onboarded retail client reported to us that their server was performing very slowly at different times. We quickly found out they were the victim of a brute force attack, in excess of 7000 attempts in an hour. This was caused by their /wp-login.php page. Fortunately, the hackers had not yet guessed their password.
We resolved this by putting the following controls in place:
Result: The attack was stopped, login security was strengthened, and ongoing monitoring was implemented to reduce the risk of repeat attempts.
At ID Studio, our ongoing support and maintenance plans help clients identify risks early, fix issues properly and put the right safeguards in place for the future. If your website is becoming harder to manage, slower to load or more difficult to keep secure, the right support can make a real difference. Talk to our team to see how we can help.
Source:
1 - gov.uk - cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025
Director
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ID STUDIO
Over 30 years experience running a web design agency in London
ID STUDIO //
Director
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ID STUDIO
Creative director with over 30 years commerical agency experience
ID STUDIO //
