- Guide, Website development services
- 5 min read
What Are Core Web Vitals and Why They Matter
In this post, we explain what the new Сore Web Vitals from Google are and why website and online store owners should take them very seriously.
Marketing and digital agencies working with WordPress often inherit websites that are far from perfect. Plugin-heavy installs, messy hosting setups, and rushed code edits are just a few of the common WordPress website-building issues. Such websites also often have broken media and slow performance that become noticeable only closer to the launch.
Some issues are easy to fix, while others signify website fragility, poor maintenance, or substantial technical debt. Depending on the seriousness of the issues, agencies need different strategies and engineering help.
In this post, we discuss some common WordPress problems agencies face with their clients’ websites, what those problems signal, and how to differentiate minor issues from major flaws.
Not every WordPress problem means the site is broken beyond repair
Some website flaws are routine admin or configuration problems that are easily fixable. Others mean considerable plugin-stack fragility, inconsistent updates, broken QA processes, and poorly managed hosting. These issues result in systemic instability and recurring problems, causing long-lasting impact. A weak website creates limitations for business growth and requires continuous fixes that drain the budget.
Therefore, when an agency inherits a new client’s website, the critical step is distinguishing between surface-level and deep issues. It may be difficult without WordPress development expertise.
Headache #1: No Connection to the Database
Based on GetDevDone’s experience, for agencies, the real challenge is not removing visible issues. They have to decide whether the problem is isolated or points to deeper issues that require stabilization. In some cases, website upgrades and modifications are useless without prior extensive rework. We recommend watching out for the following issues.
Wrong Data for Connection
When the system throws an error saying that it has failed to connect to the database, it’s often an environment-management problem, not just a “WordPress issue”. The main reasons behind a failing connection that an agency can assume include:
- Changed credentials without documentation
- Unstable hosting
- Bad environment control
- Weak handoff from the previous vendor
If the real problem is credentials or server availability, teams can either verify username, password, hostname, and DB name in the wp-config.php file or contact the server provider for clarification. It’s a quick thing that practically any website owner can do. Yet if the connection issues happen because of environment access, hosting limits, or unclear deployment procedures, it may be a sign of an infrastructure-level failure.
Headache #2: Too Much Extraneous Data
When it comes to WordPress development, one of the most common headaches that agencies and engineering teams face is database bloat. This issue builds up over time and gradually affects performance and maintainability as the database structure becomes messy and unmanageable.
A new WordPress project has a clean, well-structured database. Yet when it starts growing, old revisions, transients, orphaned plugin data, leftover tables, heavy postmeta growth, and other unused options accumulate. After some time, the website gets slower, and any major change, including migration or debugging, becomes harder.
An agency inheriting such a website usually sees database bloat as a long-running site without cleanup discipline. Such websites also have weak maintenance practices and too frequent plugin churn.
Fixing this issue requires a different approach to website maintenance and cleaning up revisions, transients, and unused options.
Headache #1: The Home Page or Another Page on Your Site is Blank
The WordPress core gets better with every new release. Developing sites with WordPress, though, still assumes the use of plugins to enhance a site’s functionality. In this respect, WordPress website developers and users are lucky. Since this CMS is one of the oldest in the market, its community is the largest. Thanks to that, you will find tons of WordPress plugins on the Internet.
This is good, isn’t it? It is, until you suddenly open up your WordPress website with a sizable array of plugins inside and, to your horror, see a completely blank page. There’s nothing to tell you what has happened: no notifications, no warnings — nothing.
You close the browser. Then, open it again. The page is still blank. What can you do when you don’t even know where to look?
Any WordPress website development professional will immediately see what’s wrong. Most likely, this one of the most common WordPress issues is caused by a plugin. It might have been produced by amateurs or poorly tested, for example. It may also be outdated.
In a situation like that, WordPress development experts recommend getting rid of all your plugins temporarily in order to see if one of them is to blame for the error. Here is what you should do:
- FTP to your site
- Search for the plugins directory
- Give it a different name
Now, open up the site again. Has the content returned? You’ve hit the nail on the head! The problem lies in one of the add-ons. The next steps:
- Give the plugins directory its initial name
- Cut out all the folders from the plugins directory and paste them into a separate folder
- Cut and paste each of the folders into the original plugins directory in turn and keep your eyes on the page
- Once you’ve identified the offending plugin, remove it or replace it with a different one.
Note that any page of your website may have this issue. In addition, since programmers use PHP for WordPress development, this problem can be caused by a lack of PHP memory.
Whether the cause of the issue is a faulty plugin or shortage of memory, you can also set the WB_DEBUG constant in the wp-config.php to true. This will enable the debug mode so that you can identify the error immediately.
Headache #2: The Pages Start Taking Painfully Long to Load
In many cases, there’s nothing wrong with the plugins you or a WordPress web developer has installed. The problem can be in their number. We understand you. It’s very tempting to use as many plugins as possible to meet all your business needs.
However, an excess of add-ons can cause some very unpleasant WordPress issues. One of these is abnormally long page loading times. If you’ve noticed that your site is running at a speed that was fast ten years ago but these days is unacceptable, review the list of plugins on your site.
Make sure you have no redundant plugins. Try leaving one plugin for each function such as search engine optimization or data analytics. You can read about other methods to speed up a WordPress website on our blog.
Of course, custom WordPress development is the best way to ensure smooth and fast operation of your website. If speed is your concern, as it should be, but you just can’t increase it on your own, сonsider hiring our expert WordPress and WooCommerce developers. They are well-versed in the essential web technologies and can add required features to your site. This way, you won’t have to put yourself entirely at the mercy of third-party WordPress plugin developers.
Some Other Issues That Can Arise in the WordPress Website Building Process
Headache #1: WordPress Produces the Parse Error
This is one of the WordPress problems that’s relatively easy to fix. Sometimes, it’s wiser to take someone else’s coding solution and apply it to our own website than try to reinvent the wheel. Even top WordPress developers do that and… make mistakes.
There can be a slash or bracket missing in the external code, for example. Paste it into one of the files through your admin dashboard and the next thing you see is the parse syntax error message printed across the page.
The good news is that this message is very detailed. It indicates the precise location within the file where the problem occurred. To resolve the issue, follow these steps:
- FTP to your site
- Find the file specified in the error message
- Find the line or lines within the file
- Correct the mistake and save the file
- Press the browser reload button.
Sometimes, you may also have to clear the cache both in the WP admin panel and on the server side.
When you choose expert white label WordPress development services, you can be sure that you’ll get clean code without mistakes as professionals will test the project before delivering it to you.
Headache #2: A Link Points to Nowhere
Have you ever clicked a link on a website just to land on a page with number 404 prominently displayed along with the notification that the page doesn’t exist? Very annoying, isn’t it? You don’t have to be a WordPress web developer to let you visitors see the real page instead of an error page, no matter how stylish it looks.
Just go to the WordPress admin area and find the permalinks menu item. Make sure the URL of the page to which the link points is correct. If it’s not, edit it, and save the changes. There are several reasons why a permalink takes visitors to nowhereland. For example, a post may have been deleted.
One thing is that, in certain cases, you should save the permalinks changes even if the URL is correct. Just click Save changes.
Another explanation is that there can be something wrong with the .htaccess file. The recommended way to fix this one of the common issues with WordPress is to consult a WordPress site developer. This file is too important to modify it without proper expertise.
Headache #3: Images Are Not Displaying Correctly
Another common issue WordPress users often encounter is with images not displaying correctly on their site. This can be due to a variety of reasons ranging from incorrect file paths, file permissions, or an issue with the media library.
A frequent error is the ‘HTTP image upload error’, which can be particularly frustrating as it prevents users from uploading images to their site. To resolve this issue, you may need to adjust your media settings, check your file permissions, or increase your WordPress memory limit.
However, if you’re not comfortable with these more technical aspects, it’s advisable to seek help from a WordPress site developer. They have the necessary expertise to diagnose and fix the issue, ensuring your site’s visual content is displayed as intended.
When agencies should stop patching and bring in WordPress support
Agencies can fix an issue without major rework when it’s isolated and easy to trace. However, sometimes patching can be counterproductive and lead to more problems. When the same problems happen repeatedly, plugins conflict unpredictably, or website maintenance becomes too difficult, it may be time for professional WordPress support.
Chronic issues are more than accidental error messages. They mean that the website is unstable and the current maintenance approaches don’t work. In these cases, the website needs structured cleanup, plugin optimization, and enhanced QA discipline. Therefore, agencies should think about a broader rescue plan and using engineering support for in-depth changes.
Final Words
In this post, we have only scratched the surface by describing some frequently reported WordPress issues that arise during website development and maintenance.
Agencies should remember that not every WordPress issue they inherit is life-critical. There are surface-level problems that are easy to fix after a quick audit and modifying settings. At the same time, there are some signs that the website suffers from ad hoc fixes, undocumented changes, and fragile dependencies. These issues create delivery risk and harm client trust.
The main task for an agency is to identify which problems can be handled as quick maintenance tasks and which are the signs of deeper instability. Patching stops working when used for the same issues over and over. That’s when structured WordPress support becomes a better choice than temporary fixes.
If you want your WordPress website to run smoothly and efficiently, you’ve come to the right place.
Let’s get in touch!
WordPress Website Building FAQs
Repeated website failures, unstable updates, consistent performance and speed issues, and plugin conflicts usually signal deeper WordPress problems than a quick fix. You may also need more extensive rework for broken environments or recurring launch blockers, as these are the signs of significant delivery weaknesses.
When the same type of issues keep recurring, or the site becomes risky to update, it’s time to consider stabilization. An agency can usually do small fixes itself, but when specific engineering expertise is needed, using professional support is more effective.
Not necessarily. Plugin conflicts may signify the need for cleanup when the website has too many overlapping or outdated plugins that considerably affect its operation, leading to blank pages and performance decline. If an issue is occasional, removing or updating a specific plugin may be enough to fix it.
The biggest launch risks in inherited WordPress projects usually come from broken environments, recurring 404 errors, unstable plugins, and slow performance. Missing media and undocumented code edits may also mean the website needs major changes before going live. These are the signs of the missing staging discipline and considerable technical debt that undermines website quality.
Often yes. In many cases, you can optimize slow WordPress sites by removing unnecessary plugins, optimizing media, and using a proper caching stack. If these fixes don’t help and slowness persists, it may indicate deeper inefficiency that requires broader cleanup or restructuring.
An agency should check hosting access, plugin stack, update history, backups, staging process, error patterns, and media handling before agreeing to maintain an inherited website. It’s also necessary to clarify custom code ownership. These are the most common issues that determine whether the website is safe to maintain or needs stabilization first.
