Web hosting, care plans, maintenance packages, monthly support: what does it all mean and why is it important to have one?
This year a lawn care business owner came to me in a panic. His Google Ads had been disabled and this was his primary lead generation. Google was refusing to post his ads and his incoming work plummeted.
A photography business owner came to me wondering why her instagram feed was showing a critical error.
In both these instances, these websites were built in WordPress but with one key failing: they weren’t being regularly maintained. In the case of the lawn care company, his site was so broken from the lack of regular maintenance, Google had flagged his site as dangerous and black listed it from its Ads system! I proceeded to work with my Google Ads specialist to rebuilt and clean his site and get it re-listed back on Google (a very painful and costly exercise).
WordPress websites are like cars. They need regular servicing to run smoothly. No one wants their site to break down, slow to a crawl, or worse—disappear completely! This is where a website hosting care plan is absolutely essential.
What is website maintenance?
A maintenance plan ensures your site stays live, secure, and running efficiently. It’s a service that covers the essential bits of keeping your site in shape without you needing to lift a finger. Some developers call them monthly updates, some include hosting and some don’t. I prefer to call my packages ‘Care Plans’ because I maintain your site, but I also put a little bit of extra care in checking forms, cleaning any spam comments and optimising it as best I can.
What does maintenance or care generally include?
Each web designer or developer will have a different kind of plan. But a good plan should include the following?
- Secure hosting
The actual server where your site lives. This is different to domain hosting which can purchased elsewhere. Reliable hosting keeps your site up and running, avoiding unnecessary downtime. A good Australian-based server is best, and make sure you know how many sites are being run on each server. For example, some of the cheaper services such as GoDaddy or Crazy Domains will host hundreds of sites on a server. Whereas at Clare Walter Design, I only host a maxiumum of 20 sites per server and maintain them myself, meaning any security issues on other sites won’t bleed into yours; they’re all very well cared for! - Security monitoring
Regular checks to make sure your site isn’t vulnerable to attacks or hacks. A good maintenance plan will include weekly or fortnightly screening of your site to make sure it’s free of baddies. This is probably what my lawn care client DIDN’T have on his site, it attracted malware unbeknownst to him and next minute he’s banned from Google Ads! - Software Updates
Websites run on different software like WordPress, themes, and plugins. Plugins in particular are created by independent, 3rd part developers. Sometimes these plugins are updated, but they might conflict with another plugin on your site. By keeping them up to date you’re ensuring any known bugs are eliminated and the conflicts reduced. You also need someone who knows what they’re doing to troubleshoot any conflicts and roll back to a previous version if anything breaks (see next point) - Backups
Ever made a change to something on your site, hit Save and uh oh… it’s broken! There’s a critical error and you can’t log into your site, you’re losing customers by the minute! Regular backups mean if something like this happens, your website can be restored quickly, with minimal disruption. I take backups on both a server & application level daily with my plans, which means there’s a Plan B & C if you accidentally mess something up (which let’s face it, happens to us all) - Support
If something breaks, or you need to make small updates, a care plan usually includes a bit of time for help and fixes. This varies greatly between developers and some will charge handsomely for the tiniest of fixes. At Clare Walter Design I try to help my maintenance clients who are in a bind, within reason!
Can I do my own maintenance?
If you’re penny pinching and can’t afford the monthly cost, no problem! Ask your designer or developer to teach you how to update your plugins, theme and core monthly. I include tutorials with every website I build on how to do this. But…if you’re anything like my clients you’re busy. You want to spend more time doing your thing and want to hand over all the techy stuff to someone else. Sometimes knowing your website is taken care of lets you sleep a little better at night.
Maintenance is such a headache.. why wouldn’t I go with Squarespace or Wix instead?
If all this maintenance sounds like an absolute head ache, I get it. Sometimes you just want a ‘set and forget’ site. I build in Squarespace and Wix and you’re right – they don’t require maintenance! However you will still need to pay $20-30 per month directly to the platform. They also regularly release updates to their interface and sometimes things break. You want to make sure you’re checking your site regularly just in case. And if you’re going to need to check your site constantly, you might then think about a care plan to get that task off your desk.
Ok, I need maintenance. Now what?
Already have a site? Awesome. I can help you maintain it, just get in touch. Or if you want to make sure your new website is not only built to last but cared for regularly, we can get you started with a custom website and care plan of your choice.
Make sure you’re not losing clients with a leaky website. It’s your business shopfront and one of the most valuable education & marketing assets, it deserves a little bit of TLC.