17 tips for fixing website issues in 2025 – your First Aid kit
We live in times where change has become an inseparable part of our reality. We’ve grown so accustomed to constant transformation that sometimes we change things just because “everyone else is doing it.” This is especially true in business, where the pursuit of innovation and the “WOW” effect is a daily routine. It’s easy to fall into the trap of taking action without deeper reflection. Of course, transformations are necessary – they allow companies to adapt to a dynamic world – but implementing changes without answering key questions can be ineffective and costly.
Before introducing innovation, it’s worth asking yourself a few questions:
- Why do we want to make this change?
- Is our business ready for it?
- What effects will this change bring?
- What is the basis for assuming that these specific actions will improve our results?
Often, instead of focusing on answering these questions, the priority becomes the pursuit of novelty, while the real blockers that hinder your business and reduce profit are somewhere else.
How often do you check the “health status” of your business’s heart – your platform? Do you know which parts of it need repair, improvement, or are simply outdated and incompatible with your company’s needs?
Would you dare drive a car without an up-to-date technical inspection or without regular servicing? Probably not. So why do so many companies risk their business lives and operate with a platform that lacks monitoring and constant control?
We encourage you to watch the selected episode of our podcast, where we talk to people responsible for large eCommerce systems.
Which website metrics should you keep monitoring?
Below you will find 17 key areas worth regularly monitoring to ensure that your platform runs smoothly, is resistant to attacks, and ready for new challenges. Implementing these practices will help you safely function in a culture of constant change while maintaining stability and performance.
1. Console errors and warnings monitoring
The web browser’s console tool can provide plenty of information about a website’s health status. The basic indicator is the number of console errors and warnings. Even a single JavaScript error can affect the website’s interactive elements, distort the frontend layout, or break contact/register forms. A significant increase in the number of console errors should always be investigated because it can be a result of more serious issues.
2. Page speed on desktop browsers and mobile devices
Website speed optimization is very important for users and their on-site experience. A faster loading page can deliver information more quickly to the user and hence is considered as more efficient. It’s also one of the SEO ranking factors. Professional monitoring of page speed is performed automatically every few hours, separately for desktop browsers and mobile devices.
3. Page UI
Page UI monitoring is dedicated for verification of changes in website’s interface on different browsers and mobile devices. The monitoring should be done by comparing the basic (reference and approved) screenshots of the interface with screenshots taken daily on different browsers and devices. This allows us to detect any incompatibilities with new versions of browsers or notice any issues with recent updates that could distort page’s layout.
4. Server response codes
Monitoring server response codes in a few-minute cycle ensures quick detection of any server capacity issues. An additional benefit of this approach is the identification of server bottlenecks that negatively impact the overall user experience on the platform
5. Server response time
Server response time measures how long it takes to load the necessary HTML to begin rendering the page from your server. The value is crucial from user’s perspective as a typical user expects a web page to load in 3 seconds or less. This will translate into a server response time of 200ms or less. When the loading time exceeds this speed, a higher bounce rate can be observed on the website, which leads to a loss of traffic and, consequently, a decline in revenue When the loading time exceeds this speed, a higher bounce rate can be observed on the website, which leads to a loss of traffic and, consequently, a decline in revenue
6. Oversized assets
Oversized assets can significantly slow down the website and affect SEO score, page speed, or page response time. Assets size optimization is typically one of the first steps to effectively improve page speed. A sudden increase of assets size can be also an indicator of the presence of unwanted scripts on your website, so monitoring this is recommended also for security reasons.
7. Code standards, maintainability, modularity and reusability
Ensure code adheres to established coding standards and guidelines specific to the language and framework in use. The code should be modular, with components that have single responsibilities and are easily reusable in different parts of the application or other projects without code duplications. The code should be readable, well-organized, with clear comments and consistent naming conventions.
8. Scalability and performance
Analyze architectural and implementation solutions in terms of system performance. Based on current and potential future traffic ensure that system is using proper mechanisms like caching, asynchronous processing and queueing, CDNs, database replicas, auto-scaling.
9. Database
Check if the database is properly designed, the structure of entity-relationship modeling is correct, the indexes and keys are used correctly. Going further we should examine queries for performance issues. Use query performance tools (e.g., execution plans) to identify slow and complex queries and optimize them for efficiency. Important aspect is also to ensure that transactions, isolation levels and appropriate constraints (e.g., NOT NULL, UNIQUE, CHECK) are in place to enforce data integrity and security.
10. Libraries up to date
Make sure that used frameworks, libraries, plugins are up to date. This is crutial and basic requirement to ensure the code serurity and overall performance is met.
11. Code testing
Verify the presence and adequacy of unit tests to ensure each module functions as expected. Review test coverage reports to ensure that critical code paths are adequately tested.
12. Error handling and logging
Ensure the code has comprehensive error handling to gracefully manage unexpected scenarios. Incorporate clear and consistent logging practices to monitor application behavior and facilitate debugging.
13. Authentication and authorization
Verify that user authentication and authorization mechanisms are robust and correctly implemented. Check that sensitive data is encrypted both at in and out transit and that proper password and access policies are in place.
14. Server configuration
Review all user accounts on the server to ensure they are necessary and have appropriate permissions. Remove or disable unused or expired accounts. Verify the implementation of strong password policies, including complexity requirements, expiration, and lockout policies for failed attempts. Disable root login and password-based authentication for SSH. Use key-based authentication instead and change the default SSH port if possible. Make sure software applications installed on server are up to date and proper scanning, monitoring and logging routines and mechanisms are configured.
15. Network security
Review and properly configure firewall rules to allow only necessary traffic. Ensure that all unnecessary ports are closed.
16. Data protection and backups
Ensure that sensitive data is encrypted both at rest and in transit using strong encryption standards. Verify the effectiveness of backup and recovery procedures. Ensure that backups are encrypted and stored securely, with regular testing of the restore process.
17. UX/UI audit
This involves assessing the interface against established usability principles (heuristics) to identify any usability issues. Proper user flow and critical paths analysis will increase user satisfaction and potentially users conversion rates.
Ensuring these 17 points will help you regain control over your online business. You will gain a real understanding of your online presence and acquire the knowledge of which innovations are truly needed to increase your profits. If you need a platform update or custom web application development services, feel free to contact us!
