--- title: 'Exterior Renovations: Broken Image Fix — ''How to Tell When Your Siding Needs Replacing'' (2026-01-29)' type: article created: '2026-01-29' updated: '2026-01-29' source_docs: - raw/2026-01-29-weekly-call-w-ben-118278820.md tags: - exterior-renovations - ahrefs - wordpress - wp-engine - cdn - caching - maintenance-workflow - broken-image layer: 2 client_source: Exterior Renovations industry_context: b2b-services transferable: false --- # Exterior Renovations: Broken Image Fix — 'How to Tell When Your Siding Needs Replacing' (2026-01-29) ## Overview During a weekly Ahrefs audit of the Exterior Renovations site, a broken image was detected on the blog post "How to Tell When Your Siding Needs Replacing." The image — a woodpecker clinging to damaged wood siding, illustrating the Pest Damage section — had a valid alt text entry but no actual image file rendering. The fix involved replacing the image in WordPress and flushing the WP Engine cache to ensure the corrected version propagated across all CDN locations. This fix was performed live during the [[wiki/meetings/2026-01-29-weekly-call-w-ben|2026-01-29 weekly call with Ben and Mark]] as a demonstration of the new weekly Ahrefs maintenance workflow. --- ## Issue Details | Field | Detail | |---|---| | **Detected by** | Ahrefs site audit | | **Page** | Blog post: "How to Tell When Your Siding Needs Replacing" | | **Section** | Pest Damage | | **Image alt text** | "A woodpecker clings to wood and peeling wood and siding" | | **Symptom** | Image placeholder visible on live page; no image rendered | | **Root cause** | Image file missing or URL broken in WordPress media library | --- ## Fix Applied ### Step 1 — Locate the broken image Ahrefs flagged a broken image error but does not pinpoint the exact location on the page. The page was loaded and scrolled manually to find the missing image block under the Pest Damage section. ### Step 2 — Replace the image in WordPress 1. Navigated to **Posts** in the WordPress admin for Exterior Renovations. 2. Opened the "How to Tell When Your Siding Needs Replacing" blog post in the editor. 3. Located the broken image block under the Pest Damage section. 4. Deleted the broken image block. 5. Inserted a replacement woodpecker image sourced from the existing WordPress media library. 6. Resized the image to an appropriate display size. 7. Published/updated the post. ### Step 3 — Flush the WP Engine cache After publishing, the WP Engine cache was cleared to ensure the fix propagated to all CDN edge locations: > **WP Engine Dashboard → Caching → Clear All** **Why this matters:** WP Engine distributes cached copies of the site to CDN nodes across multiple geographic locations. Without flushing, visitors may continue to see the old broken version until the cache naturally expires. Flushing forces an immediate refresh across all nodes. > Cache rebuild time is typically a few minutes. The site may load slightly slower during this window while CDN nodes repopulate. ### Step 4 — Verify the fix - Loaded the page in an **incognito window** (bypasses any local browser cache) to confirm the image rendered correctly on the public-facing site. - Initiated a **new Ahrefs crawl** so the broken image error would be cleared from the audit report. --- ## Key Learnings ### WP Engine login slows perceived performance When logged into WP Engine and browsing the site, WordPress loads the backend and frontend simultaneously — causing the site to appear slow. This is expected behavior and does not reflect public-facing performance. Always test site speed in an **incognito window** to get an accurate read. ### Ahrefs flags errors but doesn't locate them Ahrefs will report that a broken image exists on a page but will not identify exactly where on the page it appears. Manual inspection of the page is required to find and fix it. ### Cache flush is a required step after any content fix Any time content is updated in WordPress on a WP Engine-hosted site, the cache should be flushed to ensure the fix is live everywhere. Skipping this step can result in the broken version persisting for an indeterminate period across CDN nodes. --- ## Related Workflow This fix was performed as part of the new **weekly Ahrefs maintenance routine** established during this call. See [[wiki/processes/weekly-ahrefs-maintenance-workflow|Weekly Ahrefs Maintenance Workflow]] for the full process. **Routine:** Block 30 minutes weekly to review client sites in Ahrefs for errors. For each error: - Create a ClickUp task for fixes that can be handled directly. - Escalate to Melissa for larger structural issues. - Initiate a new Ahrefs crawl after fixes are applied. --- ## Related Articles - [[wiki/clients/current/exterior-renovations/_index|Exterior Renovations — Client Index]] - [[wiki/meetings/2026-01-29-weekly-call-w-ben|Weekly Call w/ Ben — Client Maintenance Workflows (2026-01-29)]] - [[wiki/clients/current/reynolds/2026-01-29-heading-structure-fix|Reynolds: Careers Page Heading Structure Fix (2026-01-29)]] - [[wiki/processes/weekly-ahrefs-maintenance-workflow|Weekly Ahrefs Maintenance Workflow]]