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Your Marketing Isn’t Broken. Your Marketing Operations Are.

Updated: Aug 7

And it typically starts with your website.


This is Part 1 of a 2‑part series on marketing operations. In this post, we’ll cover how to take back control of your website — the foundation of your marketing. In Part 2, we’ll go beyond your website and show you how to secure all the other marketing tools your business relies on.

If your website disappeared tomorrow, could you get it back?


If that question made your stomach drop, we’ve found your marketing operations problem.


Here’s the harsh truth: if you don’t have your website files, hosting access, and logins in your hands, you’re a guest in your own online home.


And when you’re just a guest, you can’t redecorate, fix the plumbing, or even unlock the front door without permission. That’s not a small problem — it’s the root cause of a lot of marketing headaches you’ve been blaming on “not having enough time” or “needing better ideas.”


The silent chaos hiding behind most websites from Ready Plan Grow AI enabled small business coaching community

You Might Already Be Feeling It


Some signs this is happening in your business right now:

  • You wait forever for basic website updates

  • Your “Contact Us” form is broken—and no one noticed

  • You’re not even sure where your domain is registered

  • You have to ask someone else just to log in

  • You haven’t touched Google Analytics because you can’t access it


Sound familiar? You're not lazy, behind, or bad at marketing. You’ve just been locked out of your own setup.


Common Website Management Issues That Block Progress


Here’s what we’ve found again and again in client audits — across WordPress, Wix, Shopify, and Squarespace:


  • Admin accounts not set up under a business-owned name and email address

  • Hosting or platform settings not optimized for security or performance

  • Outdated templates or themes that break things behind the scenes

  • SSL certificates not configured correctly

  • Domains tied to personal or inactive email accounts

  • No dev or staging environment to test changes safely (or no one knows how to use it)

  • Uploaded images that aren’t even used on the site (but are slowing it down)


The result? A business can’t make simple updates without breaking something — or having to chase down a vendor every single time.


Your site might look great. But under the hood? It’s a mess. And you won’t show up in search results until these issues are fixed.


Why this is a marketing problem (not an IT problem)


This isn't just an IT issue.It’s marketing operations—because it controls your ability to show up and sell. Marketing operations is about controlling the systems that make your marketing work, and your website is the foundation.


If you can’t make updates quickly, your marketing grinds to a halt. New offer? Can’t post it. Holiday hours? Outdated info stays live. Customer reviews? No space to feature them.


In other words, when your site is a mess behind the scenes, here’s what breaks:

  • SEO doesn’t work

  • Content doesn’t publish

  • Pages don’t load fast (or at all)

  • You lose leads before they even reach you


And every hour you spend patching it up is an hour you're not planning the future.


Where AI Fits In (a smart assistant that doesn't judge!)


AI isn’t just for writing blog posts. Used the right way, it can act like a quick‑thinking assistant that helps you find and diagnose website problems before they cost you business.


If you’re not ready to use our audit tool, use AI to:


  • Ask the right questions — e.g., “What website access and hosting details should I confirm to make sure I own my site?”

  • Spot weak points — AI can walk you through a checklist to uncover missing SSL, slow load times, or outdated site settings.

  • Plan fixes — Get step‑by‑step instructions for common issues like broken forms, unoptimized images, or missing SEO basics.

  • Prioritize next steps — AI can help you decide which problems to tackle first based on effort vs. impact.


Think of AI as your first round of troubleshooting — so when you do hire a pro (or use our tool), you’re walking in with a clear picture of what’s wrong and what to fix.


3 Steps to Take Back Control of Your Website


  1. Confirm ownership & access

    Make sure admin accounts are in your business’s name and email address. You should have full admin access to:

  2. Organize credentials

    • Create a generic email address like marketing@yourbizname.com that you share with vendors. They should use that to set up any accounts on your behalf.

    • Store all logins in a secure password manager.

    • Only share credentials using the secure password manager.

    • Note key dates — like when your domain or hosting needs to be renewed.


  3. Audit and optimize. Check for:

    • An active SSL certificate

    • Fast load times

    • Mobile responsiveness

    • Clean image files (delete what’s not in use)

    • SEO settings (page titles, meta descriptions, indexing settings)


Not Sure If This Is You? Run a free Risk Check Review → This 5-minute checkup helps you find the cracks before they cost you time, money, or trust.


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Up Next: The Marketing Tools You Think You Own—But Probably Don’t



This second post covers Google tools, social accounts, CRMs, and other platforms that can slip out of your control if you’re not careful.


You don't have to figure this out alone! We run weekly open office hours for questions just like this. Join today and jump in!


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