The short version
- Real maintenance means updates, backups, security, monitoring and someone to make changes when you need them.
- Our hosting starts at $25 a month and care plans at $99 a month. Bigger or busier sites need more.
- Skipping maintenance is how most small business sites get hacked, break, or quietly slow down.
- Ask any provider exactly what's included, how often, and what happens if something goes wrong.
A website isn't like a brochure that you print once and you're done. It's software running on a server, and like your phone or your laptop, it needs updates, backups and the odd repair. When nobody's looking after it, problems build up quietly until something breaks at the worst possible time.
"Website maintenance" can mean almost anything, though, from a full service to someone renewing your hosting once a year. Here's what it should include.
What a proper maintenance plan includes
Software updates
If your site runs on WordPress (most small business sites do), the core software, the theme and every plugin get regular updates. Many of them are security fixes. Updates should be applied regularly and checked afterwards, because sometimes an update breaks something.
Backups
Daily automatic backups, stored somewhere other than the server your site lives on. And a tested way to restore them. A backup nobody has ever restored is a hope, not a plan.
Security
A firewall, malware scanning, protection against people guessing your login, and someone who'll clean things up if the worst happens. Out-of-date plugins are one of the most common ways small business sites get hacked.
Uptime monitoring
Something that checks your site around the clock and alerts a person if it goes down, so you don't find out from a customer.
Hosting
Fast, reliable hosting, ideally from the same people who maintain the site. When hosting and maintenance are with different companies, problems tend to turn into finger-pointing.
Content edits
Changing your hours, swapping a photo, adding a new staff member, updating a price. A good plan includes a monthly bank of small edits so you're not waiting on a quote for a typo.
Speed and health checks
Sites slow down over time as content and plugins pile up. Regular checks catch this before it costs you visitors. See why is my website slow for what usually goes wrong.
Someone to call
Honestly, this is half the value. When the contact form stops working on a Friday afternoon, you want a real person who knows your site.
What it costs
Prices vary a lot depending on what's included and how big the site is. As a reference point, here's ours:
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | From $25/month | Fast, managed hosting tuned for WordPress |
| Care plan | From $99/month | Updates, security, daily backups, monitoring, speed checks, support and a monthly bank of content edits |
| Care plan + | Custom quote | For larger sites, online stores or sites that change often |
When comparing quotes, look at what's included, not just the monthly number. A cheap plan that only covers hosting isn't maintenance. A plan with no content edits means every small change is a separate bill.
What happens if you skip it?
Nothing, for a while. That's the problem. Then one of these happens:
- The site gets hacked through an old plugin, and starts redirecting visitors to spam or gets flagged by Google as unsafe.
- An update you run yourself breaks the layout, and there's no recent backup.
- The hosting or domain expires because the renewal went to an old email address.
- The contact form quietly stops sending, and you lose leads for weeks before anyone notices.
- The site gets slower and slower until it starts hurting your Google rankings.
Fixing any of these after the fact usually costs more than a year of maintenance.
Can you do it yourself?
You can, if you're comfortable with it and actually do it every month. If you go that route:
- Set up automatic daily backups stored off the server, and test a restore once.
- Update plugins, theme and WordPress regularly, after a backup.
- Delete plugins and themes you don't use.
- Use strong passwords and two-factor login for every admin account.
- Test your contact form every month.
- Make sure domain and hosting renewals go to an email you check.
Most owners we work with tried this for a while, then decided their time was better spent on their business.
Questions to ask any maintenance provider
- How often do you apply updates, and do you test the site afterwards?
- How often are backups taken, where are they stored, and how fast can you restore one?
- What happens if my site gets hacked? Is cleanup included?
- How many content edits are included each month?
- Who do I call, and how fast do you respond?
- Is there a contract, or is it month to month?
- If I leave, do I get my site, my files and my domain?
Want it off your plate?
We look after WordPress sites for small businesses across Halton, Peel and Dufferin. Hosting from $25 a month, care plans from $99 a month, month to month, with a local team you can call.See our maintenance & hosting plans →