Frequently asked questions about website maintenance, updates, security, and ongoing support for small business websites.
What does website maintenance include?
Website maintenance covers: content updates (text, images, new pages), security patches and software updates, SSL certificate management, backup verification, uptime monitoring, performance checks (page speed, Core Web Vitals), broken link fixes, and form/functionality testing. I also review your site's SEO health monthly and flag any issues. Think of it as a retainer to keep your website running smoothly.
How often should my website be updated?
Content should be reviewed quarterly at minimum. Security updates should be applied within a week of release. SSL certificates should be monitored for expiration (most auto-renew, but failures happen). I recommend monthly check-ins where I review your site's performance, fix any issues, and update content as needed. For WordPress sites, plugin and core updates should happen weekly.
Do you maintain non-WordPress websites?
Yes — and this is a key differentiator. Most web maintenance companies only handle WordPress because that's all they know. I maintain static HTML sites, Laravel applications, FastAPI backends, PHP sites, and custom-built platforms. If it runs on a web server, I can maintain it. My own portfolio runs on hand-coded HTML, not WordPress, so I practice what I preach.
What happens if my website goes down?
I monitor client sites for uptime and respond to outages within 2 hours during business hours. Common causes include: server issues (I restart services and investigate logs), SSL certificate expiration (I renew and reconfigure), DNS problems (I check Cloudflare and propagation), and hosting provider outages (I communicate with the provider and keep you updated). For critical sites, I can set up automated monitoring with instant alerts.
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
Basic maintenance (monthly updates, security patches, backups, monitoring) runs $50-100/month. More active maintenance with regular content updates, SEO monitoring, and performance optimization runs $100-200/month. This is significantly less than hiring a part-time webmaster or paying an agency retainer of $500+/month. I offer flexible plans based on your site's complexity and how frequently you need changes.
Can you speed up my slow website?
Usually, yes. Common speed fixes include: optimizing images (WebP format, proper sizing), enabling Cloudflare CDN and caching, minifying CSS/JavaScript, removing unused plugins (WordPress), fixing render-blocking resources, and upgrading from shared hosting to VPS. I've improved PageSpeed scores by 20-30 points for several clients. The first step is a performance audit to identify exactly what's slowing your site down.
