10 tricks for managing large websites with small teams

Running a big website with a tiny team is not for the faint of heart. It’s a daily juggling act—part circus, part crisis management, part caffeine-fueled improv show. But the truth is, you don’t need a battalion of developers or an army of content people to keep a massive site humming. You just need some honest prioritization, clever shortcuts, and the willingness to ignore a few “urgent” requests now and then. Here’s how the pros fake it with a skeleton crew.
1. Ruthlessly prioritize (aka, let some stuff burn)
Let’s get something straight: you’ll never clear your to-do list. Not even close. Trying to do everything is a recipe for burnout, especially if your idea of a “team” is three people, two cats, and whoever just joined on Slack. The trick is knowing what absolutely has to get done—and what can smolder quietly in the background.
Start with the things that, if ignored, will come back to haunt you: security updates, broken checkout flows, or anything that tanks revenue or puts user data at risk. Set up a quick scoring system for tasks (Impact, Urgency, Visibility). If a broken footer link from 2019 still isn’t fixed… let it ride. If your homepage is down, drop everything. Accept that some stuff will break and that’s okay. During an MVP launch, this mindset is especially important—you need to ship fast, learn, and fix later. Your job is to focus on what really matters and get comfortable with leaving a few fires to burn themselves out.
2. Templates and repeatables are your best friend
Custom builds feel glamorous, but in reality, most of the time you just need a solid template and a quick way to swap out the details. Small teams win by building things once and then duplicating the heck out of them. Build modular landing pages, re-usable blocks, email templates, product layouts, even “about us” variations for different verticals.
Spend time creating a central “pattern library” or design system with ready-to-go templates for everything from blog posts to lead magnets. You’ll save time, preserve brand consistency, and be able to launch new content in minutes, not days. Bonus: templates help new team members get up to speed fast, which is crucial when you’re all wearing too many hats.
3. Automate anything that makes you yawn
If you find yourself doing the same five-click task every week, it’s time for a robot to do it. Website backups, image compression, SEO audits, social media posting, analytics reports, and content generation —almost everything can be automated if you look hard enough.
Use Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), or your CMS’s built-in schedulers to move routine work off your plate. Set up automated workflows for publishing, notifications, and even bug tracking. Don’t stop at the basics: automate reminder emails, security checks, inventory updates, or even basic customer service answers. Even for more growth-focused workflows, like running a referral program, use automated tools like ReferralCandy to streamline every possible task. The end goal? Your team spends their brainpower on the stuff machines can’t do—like strategy, creative ideas, and fixing things that really break. This is especially true if you’re looking to start a dropshipping business where automation is key to managing orders, inventory, and marketing without a large team.
4. Get everyone writing things down (future you will be grateful)
Ever tried to reverse-engineer a solution from code or settings someone else left behind? Or worse, something you set up during a late-night caffeine binge? Documentation is not optional for small teams—it’s a survival mechanism. Don’t aim for War and Peace, but don’t settle for cryptic sticky notes either.
For every new process, plugin, or bit of code, write a quick “how-to” or checklist. Create a shared space (Google Docs, Notion, Confluence—pick your poison) where you keep login details, workflow guides, key decisions, and troubleshooting steps. Record short loom videos when words get fuzzy. Make documentation part of your workflow so when someone’s on holiday (or leaves), you’re not piecing together their logic like a lost Da Vinci manuscript.
5. Assign clear owners (and avoid ‘everyone owns it’ syndrome)
Nothing falls through the cracks faster than the infamous “everyone owns it” approach. Suddenly, nobody is monitoring analytics, SEO is adrift, and the content calendar has vanished into a black hole. Pick owners for every critical area, even if that means one person wears multiple hats.
Create an ownership map: Who’s responsible for plugins? Who approves content before it goes live? Who owns bug triage? If something’s down, who takes charge? This doesn’t mean one person does all the work—it means they’re the go-to, and can delegate or escalate as needed. Clear ownership means less confusion, fewer dropped balls, and a smoother ride when someone’s out sick or unexpectedly busy.
6. Learn to love “just enough” design
It’s easy to get stuck in perfectionism, but “pixel-perfect” is a myth, especially when you’re stretched thin. Instead, get comfortable with “good enough” and focus on the 20% of design tweaks that give you 80% of the value. The truth? Your users don’t care if the button is five pixels to the left—they care if it works.
Polish the elements users interact with most: navigation, checkout, forms, CTAs. For everything else, stick to your template and resist the urge to tinker endlessly. When there’s time and space for improvement, iterate. Until then, “done” is better than “perfect.” Small teams that move fast often outpace slow perfectionists in the long run.
7. Make your CMS work for you, not the other way around
A clunky, confusing CMS is a silent productivity killer. Take the time to optimize your content management system for the way your team actually works. Hide unused fields, customize workflows, set up quick links and dashboards, and eliminate the friction. If there’s a plugin that solves a recurring headache, test and implement it (just don’t overdo it—plugin bloat is real).
Train your team to use the CMS efficiently. Document the quirky stuff. Streamline permissions and set up user roles so nobody accidentally brings the site down. A well-oiled CMS means faster updates, fewer mistakes, and a happier team—trust us, that’s worth a day or two of initial setup.
8. Set up a ‘website triage’ routine
Big sites break in small, sneaky ways. You need a routine for catching problems before they snowball. Create a checklist for daily, weekly, and monthly website “triage.” Every day, have someone check traffic for big drops, run a quick scan for broken links, and review critical pages for errors or weird formatting.
Once a week, dig deeper: test forms, update plugins, review logs, clear out spam, review 404 errors. Once a month, do a thorough audit—speed tests, mobile usability, accessibility checks, security reviews. A regular rhythm means fewer emergencies and more “Hey, we caught that before it got ugly” moments.
9. Lean on your community (and the internet at large)
No matter how niche your problem, someone else has already faced it and—if you’re lucky—blogged about it. Tap into forums, Slack groups, Reddit threads, and the almighty Stack Overflow. The open web is packed with step-by-step guides, code snippets, weird hacks, and moral support for frazzled admins.
Don’t be shy about asking questions, even if they feel basic. Most people love to share what they know (and to show off). And if you solve a puzzle no one else seems to have cracked, give back and document your solution. It’ll help you remember and pay it forward to the next small team fighting the same fight.
10. Know when to call for backup
There’s a time to power through and a time to wave the white flag. When you hit the limits of your team’s expertise—major site migrations, security incidents, accessibility overhauls, or anything that could crater your site—get help. Hire a freelance specialist, call in your hosting support, or lean on agency partners for the tough stuff.
A little outside help at the right moment can save you weeks of pain (and potentially thousands in lost business). There’s no shame in being resourceful; in fact, it’s one of the superpowers of small teams who stick around. Sometimes survival means knowing when to call in the cavalry.
Final thoughts
Managing a massive website with a small, scrappy team is less about brute force and more about knowing where to focus, when to automate, and when to let the small stuff slide. With the right routines, a toolkit of shortcuts, and a willingness to call in favors (or just call for help), you can keep even the biggest website feeling nimble.
Remember, nobody sees the fires you put out—only that the site keeps running, the content keeps flowing, and your users keep coming back. That’s victory, no matter how big your team is.