Websites rarely break all at once. They drift.
A plugin update is skipped, then another. The SSL certificate renewal fails quietly. A form stops sending emails after a hosting change, and nobody notices for three weeks because the site still looks fine. By the time the problem is visible, it has usually cost enquiries, rankings or both.
A care plan replaces that drift with a routine. Updates are applied with a backup in place, the things that quietly fail are checked on a schedule, and you get one person to message when you need a change made. You stay focused on the business; the website keeps doing its job.
The jobs nobody has time for, done on schedule.
Updates Done Safely
WordPress core, plugins and theme updated with a fresh backup in place, then key pages checked so nothing is left broken.
Daily Offsite Backups
Files and database backed up every day and stored away from your hosting, so a server problem cannot take the backups with it.
Uptime & Security Monitoring
Automated checks that alert me if the site goes offline, plus security scanning for malware and suspicious changes.
Renewals Checked
SSL certificate and domain expiry dates watched, so visitors never meet a security warning and your domain never lapses by accident.
Small Content Changes
Send over new prices, opening hours, team photos or a blog post, and I make the change. The monthly allowance is set in your plan.
Speed & Tracking Checks
Page speed and Core Web Vitals compared month on month, and GA4 checked to make sure enquiries and sales are still being recorded.
Fixing Things When They Break
If an update, a plugin conflict or a hosting change breaks something, putting it right is part of the plan. You message me, not a ticket queue. Anything bigger than a fix is explained and quoted before I start.
What's included each month, and how often.
The exact mix is confirmed in your plan after the site review. For a typical WordPress site it looks like this.
| Task | How often | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Offsite backup | Daily | A recent, complete copy to restore from if anything goes wrong |
| Uptime monitoring | Continuous, automated | I am alerted when the site goes offline, rather than hearing it from a customer |
| Security scanning | Continuous, automated | Malware and unexpected file changes flagged early |
| Core, plugin & theme updates | Monthly, with urgent security fixes sooner | Known vulnerabilities closed without risking a broken page |
| Form & checkout tests | Monthly | Enquiries and orders confirmed to still reach you |
| Speed check | Monthly | Slowdowns spotted and fixed before they affect rankings |
| GA4 tracking check | Monthly | Your reports keep counting enquiries and sales correctly |
| SSL & domain expiry check | Monthly | No surprise security warnings or lapsed domain |
| Small content changes | On request, within your plan | Routine edits made without hunting for a developer |
| Fixes when something breaks | As needed | Problems caused by updates or conflicts put right |
| Care report | Monthly | A short summary of what was done, what was found and anything that needs your decision |
Review, plan, then a steady monthly cycle.
Quick Site Review
I look at your platform, plugins, hosting, backups and any existing problems, whoever built the site.
Plan & Monthly Price
A written plan listing the tasks, the content change allowance and the monthly price, sized to your site.
Onboarding
Backups and monitoring set up, a baseline recorded for speed and security, and any urgent issues flagged.
Updates & Checks
Updates applied after a backup, then forms, checkout, speed, tracking and renewals checked in turn.
Care Report
A short plain-English report: what was updated, what was found, and any recommendation that needs a decision.
Review & Adjust
If the site grows, adds a shop or needs less attention, the plan is reviewed so you pay for the care it actually needs.
Which sites I look after, and what sits outside a plan
Care plans cover WordPress and WooCommerce sites, including ones I did not build, and Shopify stores. Shopify updates and secures its own platform, so a Shopify plan focuses on apps, the theme, checkout and tracking checks, and content changes. These are outside a monthly plan and quoted separately:
- New pages, new features or a redesign. See website redesign
- Ongoing SEO campaigns and content writing
- Hosting and domain fees, which you pay directly to the providers
- Premium plugin, theme or app licences
- Rebuilding a site that has been badly compromised before the plan started
Reports written to be read, not filed.
Digital measurement and reporting has been part of my work for brands including Costa Coffee and Mothercare. The lesson carries straight into a care report: keep it short, say what changed, and put anything that needs a decision at the top.
See my experienceWebsite maintenance in London that you can actually see.
Many London businesses pay a monthly fee for website support and have no idea what it buys. Care plans are only worth paying for if you can see the work: which updates were applied, when the last backup ran, whether the site went down and how quickly it came back. That is why every plan ends each month with a report, and why the tasks and their frequency are written down before you sign up.
Maintenance matters most on WordPress websites, where core, theme and plugin updates arrive constantly and an out-of-date plugin is a common route in for attackers. It matters differently on an ecommerce store, where a broken checkout or a tracking tag that stopped firing costs money every hour it goes unnoticed. The routine checks catch both.
Backups deserve a special mention. Many hosts include them, but they are often stored on the same server as the site, kept for only a few days, or never tested. Daily backups kept offsite, away from the server they protect, are the difference between a bad afternoon and a lost website.
Because my background is analytics, the plan also watches the numbers behind the site. If GA4 stops recording enquiries after a change, or page speed slips enough to affect search, you hear about it in the report along with what I recommend. Speed problems that go deeper than routine maintenance are a job for technical SEO, and my guide to Core Web Vitals and website speed explains why they matter.
Every new website build includes 30 days of support; a maintenance plan picks up where that ends, and the pricing page shows how it fits alongside a build. I look after sites for businesses across London and the UK, working remotely.
Maintenance questions.
Cost, sites I did not build, emergencies, Shopify and everyday changes.
Monthly plans are quoted after a quick, free review of your site, because a small WordPress brochure site and a busy WooCommerce store need very different amounts of care. The review looks at your platform, plugins, hosting and current issues, and you get a written monthly price and scope before anything starts.
Yes, in most cases. The free review shows how the site was built, which plugins it relies on and whether anything needs fixing first. If there are urgent problems, such as outdated plugins or missing backups, I quote to put them right before the monthly plan begins, so the plan starts from a clean baseline.
Uptime monitoring alerts me when the site goes offline, and I investigate and, if needed, restore it from the most recent clean backup. Fixing problems caused by updates or other covered issues is part of the plan. Any recovery work outside the plan's scope is explained and agreed with you before it starts.
Less than WordPress, because Shopify updates and secures the platform itself. A store still benefits from regular care: app and theme updates, checking that checkout, tracking and product feeds still work, speed checks and small content changes. For Shopify I scope a lighter plan focused on exactly those tasks.
Things like updating text, swapping images, adding a team member, changing opening hours or publishing a blog post you have written. Your plan sets out how much of this is included each month. New pages, new features and redesigns are larger jobs, and I quote them separately before starting any work.
Automatic updates are useful for minor security releases, but applying every plugin and theme update blindly can break layouts, forms or checkouts without anyone noticing. I take a backup first, apply updates in a controlled way, then check key pages, forms and tracking, so a problem is caught by me rather than your customers.
