Website care
What does website maintenance include for a small business?
Short answer
Website maintenance covers keeping the software updated, taking and testing backups, monitoring uptime and security, renewing the domain and SSL certificate, and making routine content changes such as opening hours, prices, menus and photos. What it takes depends on the platform, how much content changes each month, and how quickly problems must be fixed: a simple custom-built site needs little, while a WordPress site or an online shop needs regular attention.
Last reviewed
What should be included
- Updates to the core software, theme and plugins, tested on a copy first so an update cannot take the live site down.
- Backups daily, stored somewhere other than the hosting account, with a restore tested regularly.
- Monitoring for downtime, certificate expiry, domain renewal and security warnings.
- Content changes: a set amount each month for hours, menus, prices, photos, offers and news.
- A short report of what was done.
What changes how much care a site needs
The platform. A WordPress site with many plugins needs more attention than a custom static site with nothing to patch. Shops need the most, because catalogue, prices and stock change constantly.
How much content changes. A restaurant updating its menu seasonally is different from a shop adding products every week.
Response time. A business that loses bookings when the site is down needs faster fixes than one whose site is mainly a brochure.
What happens without it
Unmaintained sites fail slowly, then suddenly: an expired certificate shows visitors a security warning, an outdated plugin gets hacked, the domain lapses, or the opening hours are wrong for a year. Each is cheap to prevent and expensive to fix after the fact.
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