Many people treat a website as a one-off purchase: pay, receive, forget. In reality a site is closer to a car. Without servicing it works at first, then starts to misbehave, and stops at the worst moment. Website maintenance exists to prevent exactly that.
What maintenance includes
- System updates. The CMS, plugins and PHP version are updated regularly to close security holes.
- Backups. A regular copy of the files and the database, stored somewhere other than the same server.
- Monitoring. If the site goes down, you should hear it from the monitor, not from a customer.
- Security. Malware scans, watching for suspicious logins, renewing the SSL certificate.
- Content changes. A price, a phone number, a new article: small edits you would rather not make nervously on your own.
- Domain and hosting deadlines. A forgotten renewal switches the site off on the most inconvenient day.
What happens without it
Outdated plugins are the most common way into hacked sites. A hacked or broken site with no backup cannot be restored, only rebuilt. And a site that was down for a week loses both customers and positions in Google.
What to ask the provider
- What exactly is covered by the monthly fee, and what is billed separately?
- Where and how often are backups kept? Has anyone checked that a restore actually works?
- How quickly do you get an answer when something breaks?
- Do you hold the logins to the site, hosting and domain? You always should.
Is it worth doing yourself
For a small informational site, yes. If the site brings in customers, takes payments or holds customer data, it is safer in the hands of a specialist. Maintenance usually costs far less than one week of downtime.
If you want to know what your own site needs, write to us and we will propose an option for your real requirements, without extra services.
