What does website maintenance cover?
The short answer
Website maintenance is the work that keeps a site safe, working and up to date after launch. It covers software and security updates, backups, checking the site is online, fixing anything that breaks, and making the content and design changes a business needs over time. Without it, a site slowly falls behind and becomes easier to break into.
Why a website needs looking after
A website is not finished on launch day. It runs on software that is updated regularly, often to close security holes. Browsers and phones change. Your business changes too: new products, new prices, new people, new opening hours.
A site that nobody looks after keeps working for a while, then starts to slip. Pages load more slowly, a form stops sending, an outdated plugin lets someone in, or the menu shows a dish you stopped selling months ago. Each problem is small on its own. Together they cost customers and trust.
What website maintenance usually covers
Software and security updates. The software behind the site, and anything added to it, gets updated so known security problems are closed.
Backups. Regular copies of the site, kept somewhere safe, so it can be put back if something goes wrong.
Uptime monitoring. Automatic checks that the site is online, so a problem is spotted quickly rather than when a customer mentions it.
Fixes if something breaks. When a page, a form or a feature stops working, it gets fixed.
Content and design changes. New text, images, products and pages, and small design changes as the business grows.
One place to send requests. A single contact for every change, fix and idea, so nothing gets lost between people.
What happens without it
Without maintenance, the risks build up quietly:
| The job | If nobody does it |
|---|---|
| Software and security updates | Security. Out-of-date software is a common way in for attackers. A hacked site can be defaced, used to send spam or flagged by browsers as unsafe. Slower pages. Sites that are not looked after can get slower, which hurts customers and can affect how easily people find you on Google. |
| Backups | No way back. Without a recent backup, a serious problem can mean rebuilding the site from scratch. |
| Uptime monitoring, and fixes if something breaks | Lost enquiries. A contact or ordering form can stop working without anyone noticing, and every message sent in that time is lost. |
| Content and design changes | Out-of-date information. Wrong prices, hours or contact details turn customers away and lead to awkward conversations. |
Doing it yourself or using a care plan
Some businesses try to look after their site themselves. It is more than it first looks. Updates have to be applied regularly and checked, because an update can occasionally break something. A backup is only useful if it can actually be restored. And problems tend to appear at the worst moment, when nobody on the team has the time or the know-how to fix them quickly.
A care plan hands all of it to people who know the site. Updates, backups, monitoring and fixes happen as standard, someone is watching when something goes wrong, and you have one place to send every change.
How our care plans work
Every one of our care plans includes software and security updates, backups, uptime monitoring, fixes if something breaks, one place to send every request, and the director as your named contact. There are three levels:
- Essential, for sites that rarely change. Requests are answered within three to five working days.
- Standard, for sites that change every month. Everything in Essential, a monthly allowance for content and small design changes agreed with you when the plan starts, and requests answered within two working days.
- Priority, for sites the business depends on every day. Everything in Standard, a larger monthly allowance for changes, new pages and features, and requests answered within one working day.
Care plans cover websites and apps we have built, and sites built by others after a review of the site.
Maintenance for apps and ordering systems
Apps and business systems need looking after too, often more than a website does. Phone operating systems update every year, and an app that is not kept up to date can stop working properly, stop being offered to new users, or in time be removed from the App Store. Ordering and booking systems are where money and customers pass through, so a fault there costs you straight away.
If your business depends on an app, an ordering system or a staff dashboard, make sure the plan covers it, not just the website, and that monitoring would spot a problem before your customers do.
Questions to ask any maintenance provider
- What exactly is included, and what is charged separately?
- How often are updates and backups done, and where are backups kept?
- How quickly will you answer a request, and how quickly is a broken site fixed?
- Who is my contact, and how do I send changes?
- If I leave, what do I keep, and do I have ownership of the site, or a clear written licence to use it?
Clear answers to these tell you more than any list of features.
In short
Website maintenance keeps a site secure, working and up to date after launch: updates, backups, monitoring, fixes and changes. Without it, problems build up quietly until a form stops working or the site is broken into. You can do it yourself if someone has the time and skills, or hand it to a care plan. Whoever does it, ask what is included and how quickly requests are answered.