WORDPRESS MAINTENANCE
WordPress maintenance, tested on a copy first.
Core, plugin and theme updates checked before they reach your site, backups we have actually restored, security, monitoring and the hosting underneath all of it. That is Website Care, $199 a month.
$199 per month
Hosting included. Kept updated, backed up and measured.
Most WordPress updates are fine. The one that isn't takes the checkout, the contact form or the whole site with it, and you hear about it from a customer. Updating a copy first is how we hear about it instead.
What WordPress maintenance covers.
WordPress core updates
Minor releases are mostly security fixes, and they are applied promptly. Major releases change more, and they are where themes and older plugins fall over, so they are tested on a copy of your site first.
Plugin and theme updates
Applied to a staging copy of your site, checked, then applied to the live one. A plugin that has been abandoned, pulled from the directory or is otherwise a problem gets flagged, not quietly left in place.
Backups that have been restored
Kept off the server your site runs on, and restored from, so we know the database, the uploads and the configuration are all actually in there.
Security, not just scanning
Hardening, malware scanning and a firewall in front of the site. Plugin vulnerabilities are published openly, so the update that closes one should not sit in a queue.
Monitoring and speed
The site is checked from outside your network, so an outage is something we tell you about. Speed and the database are kept in shape as the site grows.
The server underneath
We run the hosting, so the PHP version, SSL certificates and server software are ours to keep current. There is no second company to chase when WordPress and the server disagree.
WordPress maintenance, answered.
What is WordPress maintenance?
It is the routine work that keeps a WordPress site safe and working: updating WordPress core, plugins and themes without breaking anything, keeping backups you can restore, watching for malware and outages, and keeping the server and the database healthy. None of it is visible when it is done well. All of it is visible when it isn't.
Does a WordPress site really need it?
Yes. WordPress core is stable and well tested; most sites also run a theme and a set of plugins, often dozens, written by different people on different schedules. Security problems in those plugins are published publicly, which is good for everyone except the sites that are not updated. A site left alone for a year is not a stable site. It is a site with a year of known problems in it.
How often should WordPress be updated?
Security releases as soon as they have been checked, and everything else on a regular schedule, not whenever somebody remembers. Waiting does not make updates safer; it makes them bigger, and a site that jumps several versions at once is the one most likely to break. The safe version of "update often" is "update a copy first".
What does WordPress maintenance cost?
Plans on the market run from around thirty dollars a month for automatic updates to several hundred for plans with staging, support and developer time. The difference is usually in what happens when an update goes wrong. Website Care is $199 a month, flat, with hosting included, updates tested on a copy, off-site backups, security and hack recovery, analytics, and two Quick Fixes a month. Every line of it is on the pricing page.
Can I do it myself?
You can, and plenty of people do. What makes it work is not clicking the update button; it is having a copy to test on, a backup you have restored, and the time to deal with it on the day an update breaks the checkout. If you have those, you may not need us. If the updates have been piling up because nobody wants to be the one who clicks, that is the job we take off your desk.
What to expect
- We take a baseline: versions, plugins, backups, what is already broken
- We fix what is broken first, as its own quoted piece of work
- Updates go on a copy, then on your site
- A short note each month: what changed, anything worth knowing
One price, hosting included, month to month. Work beyond the plan is quoted before it starts, at preferred client rates.
Where maintenance plans actually differ.
Almost every plan says "updates, backups, security". The questions below are where they stop being the same thing. Ask them of anyone, us included.
| Ask | Why it matters | Website Care |
|---|---|---|
| Are updates tested before they reach the live site? | Automatic updates on the live site are how a plugin breaks the checkout at 2 a.m. | Yes. On a copy of your site first. |
| Where do the backups live, and has anyone restored one? | A backup on the same server fails with the server. An untested backup is a guess. | Off the server, and restores are tested. |
| What happens if the site is hacked? | Many plans detect malware and then quote the cleanup. | Cleanup and recovery included while the site is under our care. |
| Who runs the server? | When the host and the maintenance company are different people, outages turn into a conversation between them. | We do. Hosting and a CDN are included. |
| Can I ask for small changes? | The little jobs are the ones that never get done. | Two Quick Fixes a month, about fifteen minutes each. |
If it's a WooCommerce store
A store is the site where a bad update costs money by the hour, and where a copy is not the whole story: orders keep arriving on the live site while the copy is being tested, so the live database is never simply replaced. When WooCommerce, WordPress, theme or plugin updates that touch the store are applied, the cart, checkout, payment processing and order creation are checked, because those are what a store is for. If the store needs development every month rather than upkeep, that is WooCommerce development, quoted on its own.
When an update does break something
That is what the copy and the tested backup are for. We roll back, find out what actually conflicted, and try again once it is fixed, rather than leaving the site a version behind forever. If your site is broken right now and not under our care, start with WordPress support instead: we fix what is wrong first.
WordPress maintenance questions.
Is hosting included?
Yes, and so is a CDN. The site runs on our hosting, which is why the PHP version, the SSL certificate and the server are part of the same plan as the WordPress updates, and why there is one number to call.
My site is hosted somewhere else. Can you still maintain it?
Website Care includes our hosting, so a site hosted elsewhere normally moves onto it when Care starts; the move is part of getting started, not an extra. If there is a reason it has to stay where it is, tell us: that is something we agree case by case.
What if a plugin we rely on has been abandoned?
We tell you, explain the risk, and suggest what should replace it. Swapping it out is usually development work, so it is quoted before anything starts rather than folded into the plan.
What happens if my WordPress site gets hacked?
If it happens while the site is under Website Care, putting it right is included: we take it back to a clean state, find how they got in and close it. Nobody honest can promise a site will never be compromised. We can promise you will not get an invoice for it on the day.
Is there a contract?
No long-term commitment. Website Care is month to month. Our terms set out how the plan works.
Do you maintain sites that aren't WordPress?
Yes. Website Care covers the site, whatever it runs on; website maintenance describes the plan without the WordPress detail, and we also look after Drupal and custom builds.
Updates piling up?
Send us the address. We'll tell you what state the WordPress site is in and whether Website Care, at $199 a month, is the right arrangement for it.
Rather talk it through? Call 833-336-6453.