Technical Debt on Websites: What It Is and How to Avoid It
Every "quick fix" accumulates technical debt, eventually slowing growth and driving up costs. Learn how to manage it effectively.
Author: Meiko Neuman
Founder and web strategist, Kodulehe Haldus
What is technical debt?
The concept originates from software development – every "temporary solution" that isn't eventually done properly grows into "debt". On a website, this means: - Legacy code that no one dares to touch - Plugin bloat - Database bloat - Outdated themes - Lack of documentation
How does technical debt occur?
A typical path: 1. The client requests a "simple addition" → the developer writes a quick hack 2. 6 months later, someone modifies it → something breaks 3. A new developer doesn't understand the old code → writes another hack on top 4. 2 years later, the code is "untouchable"
The real costs
A Stripe study from 2018 showed that developers spend 42% of their time fixing old code. On your website, this means: - Every new feature takes 2x longer - Every bug takes 5x longer to fix - Every update is a risk
Signs you have technical debt
- "Don't touch that page – it'll break"
- "Only the old developer knew how that worked"
- Updates are avoided rather than proactive
- The same bug appears regularly
- Simple changes take days
How to pay off technical debt
1. Audit Perform a full [technical SEO audit](/blogi/tehniline-seo-audit) – map all issues by priority.
2. Refactoring Allocate 20% of time in each sprint: cleaning up old code, adding comments, and writing tests.
3. Plugin consolidation 50 plugins → 15 high-quality ones. Every plugin carries a maintenance cost.
4. Documentation Document every customisation (what, why, how) – so a new developer can understand it immediately.
5. Version control Git is mandatory. Every change must be reversible.
How to avoid technical debt
- Do things correctly the first time – there is no such thing as a "temporary solution"
- Code reviews before going live
- Standardisation (coding style, framework)
- Regular refactoring – don't wait for a crisis
- Solid choices – quality hosting, modern stack
The reality of the Estonian market
We see clients with websites that have: - 8+ years of age - 50+ plugins - Multiple different developers over time - Customised themes without child themes - No version control
Technical debt on such a site represents an unavoidable cost of €10,000–€30,000 over the next 2 years.
Summary
Technical debt is a silent killer. Every day you ignore it, the cost grows. We offer technical debt audits and controlled refactoring processes – request a quote and get clarity on the true state of your code.
Sources
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Request a quoteAbout the author
Meiko Neuman — Founder and web strategist, Kodulehe Haldus. Meiko leads the Kodulehehaldus team and has spent over a decade helping companies maintain and optimise their websites for measurable business results. He writes about website management, SEO, AEO/GEO and the commercial side of the web.