Someone responsible for your website after launch

What website maintenance usually includes

The exact list depends on your platform, your hosting and how often the site changes, which is why we look at the site before recommending anything. These are the jobs that make up most maintenance work.

Software updates

Core software, themes, plugins and dependencies are kept current. Updates that could break something are best tried on a copy of the site before they go live, and urgent security patches should not wait for a monthly slot.

Backups

Copies of the site and its data stored away from the server that hosts it, so a problem with the host does not take the backups down too. A backup is only worth trusting once someone has restored from it, so restore tests belong in the routine.

Security patches

Security fixes applied as they are released, plugins and accounts nobody uses removed, and a watch for the signs of a compromised site.

Uptime monitoring

An alert when the site goes offline, plus reminders for the things that quietly expire, such as SSL certificates and domain renewals.

Forms and conversion paths

Contact forms, quote requests, booking tools and click-to-call links tested end to end, because these are the pieces that fail silently and cost you leads.

Performance and search health

A look at page speed, Core Web Vitals, broken links and Google Search Console notices, so slow pages and indexing problems do not build up.

Small edits

Text changes, new images, updated opening hours or a new team member, handled as part of the routine instead of becoming separate projects.

Reporting

A written summary of what was done and anything that needs your decision, so you can see the work instead of taking it on trust.

A redesign, new features, custom functionality and large content projects are normally scoped separately. When a request grows past routine maintenance, we say so and quote it as its own piece of work.

Questions to ask before you hire anyone for maintenance

Maintenance offers range from a proactive routine to an invoice for doing very little. Whoever you choose, including us, these questions show which one you are getting.

Who owns the accounts?

Your domain, hosting, website admin login, analytics and Search Console should be in the business's name, not a freelancer's or an agency's. If they are not, fixing that comes first.

How are updates tested?

Ask whether updates are tried on a copy of the site first, who checks the live site afterwards, and what happens if an update breaks something.

Are backups restored as a test?

Ask where backups are stored, how often they run and whether anyone has actually restored one.

What is monitored, and who is told?

Ask what triggers an alert, who receives it and who is expected to act on it.

What does the monthly time cover?

If edits or small improvements are included, ask how much time is set aside, what counts as a small edit and what happens when a request is bigger.

What do you get in writing?

A regular report of what was done, what was checked and what needs a decision.

The same points are covered in our blog guide to the website maintenance checklist, which you can follow yourself or use to check any provider's work.

When maintenance is enough, and when it is not

Maintenance fits a site that is reasonably fast, works well on phones, can be edited by your team and still brings in inquiries. In that case the risk is neglect, not design, and a steady routine is usually the cheapest way to protect what you already have.

It is not the right fix for a site whose platform is slow, unsupported or locked into a builder that cannot do what the business needs, or whose design and messaging are costing you leads. Those call for a redesign or a rebuild. If you are unsure which applies, a quick review of the site is the honest way to find out, and we will tell you if the answer is that you do not need us.

Maintenance also sits well alongside search work. Slow pages, broken links and indexing errors hurt rankings, which is why many businesses pair a maintenance routine with SEO.