Monthly website maintenance (Website Care Plans)
Updates, backups, security and bug fixes so your website always works.
Launching a successful website or webshop is only the first step. The CMS systems, templates, plugins and server-side technologies running in the background (such as PHP and database engines) are updated all the time. If a site is left on its own, outdated code slows it down over time and makes it vulnerable to attacks, and an automatic update can suddenly break it (a layout that falls apart, forms that stop working or a checkout that gets stuck).
This service gives your business a complete technical back-up and peace of mind. You do not have to deal with the risks of updates, server faults or security settings: your website is supervised around the clock, is continuously updated and cleaned in the background, and gets immediate expert intervention in case of any fault or outage. On top of that, the monthly fee includes a fixed block of developer time for smaller content and visual changes.
Which tasks and areas does the service cover?
- Safe updates and version management
- Regular, manually checked updates of CMS engines, themes and plugins.
- Testing riskier updates in advance in a staging environment, so the live website never suffers downtime or loss of functionality.
- Automated off-site cloud backups
- Full daily or weekly backups (files and database) saved to separate, external cloud storage.
- A guarantee of one-click, immediate restoration in a disaster (server fault, accidental deletion or hack).
- Round-the-clock uptime and downtime monitoring
- Automatic server checks every minute from several points around the world.
- An immediate alert if the server goes down or fails, and fault-fixing starts during working hours or on priority standby.
- Continuous virus and intrusion protection
- A weekly automatic scan for malware in the database and the file system.
- Checking firewall and login logs, and automatically blocking suspicious IP addresses and brute-force attempts.
- Speed and database maintenance
- Regularly clearing unnecessary transient data, post revisions and spam comments.
- Optimizing and indexing the SQL database to keep loading speed high.
- Monthly dedicated developer time
- 1–3 hours a month of freely usable developer time for swapping texts and images, formatted uploads of new blog posts or products, and adding new menu items or banners.
The steps of the service
- System audit and takeover: I review the existing website, find missed updates and faults, and create the first baseline backup.
- Setting up monitoring and the backup protocol: I set up round-the-clock uptime monitoring, the malware scanner and the automatic off-site backups.
- Regular maintenance cycle: At set intervals (a weekly or fortnightly routine) I carry out the necessary updates and cleaning.
- Content changes on request: I carry out the small text, image or technical changes you ask for, from the dedicated block of time.
- Monthly management report: At the end of every month I send a clear report on availability (uptime %), the updates that ran and the security status.
What does the monthly service include?
- An up-to-date, secure and fast website with no unexpected technical surprises.
- Secure external cloud backups.
- Round-the-clock server monitoring and a guaranteed reaction time in case of a critical outage.
- A regular monthly status report on the health of the site.
- A usable monthly block of time for small tasks.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if an error appears after an update, or the website layout falls apart?
I never run updates automatically and blindly on the live site. A fresh backup is made before every intervention, and for more complex systems I check compatibility in a staging environment. If a plugin or theme change still causes an error, I restore the original state immediately and fix the problem directly in the code, or with the developer, without visitors noticing anything.
What can the monthly developer time in the package be used for? Can it be carried over to the next month?
For any small operational task: swapping texts and images, placing new promotions or banners, uploading blog posts and products, adding new form fields or making small design changes. The block of time can be used within the given calendar month, for predictable planning, so it does not accumulate, but it guarantees that the small changes you ask for get priority.
Does the monthly fee include immediately disinfecting a website that was hacked or neglected before?
At takeover I carry out a thorough status check and audit. If the website was already infected with malware before maintenance began, or suffers from serious accumulated technical debt, we put that right at the start as a one-off cleaning and repair task. The aim of the monthly service is to protect and keep up to date a system that is already clean and working, and to prevent future infections.
Is there a lock-in period or long-term commitment for the monthly plans?
There is no lock-in period; the service is completely flexible. Maintenance is billed monthly and can be cancelled at the end of any month without obligation, or changed to a different plan to fit your current business needs.
How fast is the reaction time if the website suddenly goes down or becomes unreachable?
The basic philosophy of my work is conscious prevention: with regular backups, testing updates in advance and protective settings, my aim is to avoid outages in the first place, so that frantic firefighting is not needed. If an unforeseeable server or technical fault still occurs, the round-the-clock monitoring system alerts immediately. During working hours I usually fix faults within 24–48 hours, but depending on the severity and my capacity I try to intervene as quickly as I can. I do have one strict principle in my work schedule: I do not work from Friday 14:00 until Saturday 23:00. For me that period is not a working day, so I take on no intervention then, not even for an extra fee. Alerts that arrive in that window I handle after the break ends, during working hours. Within working hours you can of course choose a premium priority tier, with which intervention is guaranteed to start within 2–8 hours.
