Running a site
What a website maintenance plan should include
A maintenance plan is only worth paying for if you can say what is checked, how often, and what is left out. Here is how to read one, and when to decline.
A website does not wear out, but the things around it change: browsers, software, renewal dates, your business. “Maintenance” is the name for keeping up with that. Plans sold under the name vary from a precise list of checks to a vague promise of “support”, so the useful skill is telling them apart.
What maintenance can cover
The list depends on what the site is built on.
Any site:
- Renewing the domain name and keeping the hosting account active.
- Checking that the pages load and the enquiry routes, such as the phone link, the WhatsApp button and the form, still work.
- Checking links that point to other websites and fixing ones that broke.
- Making content changes you ask for: a price, a photograph, a new page.
- Reviewing problems that Search Console reports, if it is set up.
- Keeping a copy of the site files somewhere outside the hosting account.
A site on a content system such as WordPress, in addition:
- Updating the core software, plugins and themes. WordPress’s own guidance is to keep all of them current and to delete plugins you do not use.
- Backing up the files and the database on a schedule, and keeping some older copies.
- Reviewing user accounts and requiring strong passwords and two-step sign-in.
A static, frontend-only site has no database and no plugins to update, so its list is shorter and the risk is mostly in the accounts around it. See HTTPS, backups and updates, explained.
What keeps costing money after launch
“Maintenance charges” is only one line of the running costs. Ask for all of them before you sign, and write down who pays whom and how often.
| Cost | Paid to | How often | Who should hold the account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name renewal | The registrar you bought it from | Usually every year; the renewal price can differ from the first-year price | You |
| Hosting | The hosting company | Monthly or yearly, if it is a paid plan; check the price after any introductory period | You, or clearly shared |
| Maintenance plan | The developer or agency | Monthly or yearly, only if you choose one | Agreement in writing |
| Continuing SEO work | The developer or agency | Monthly, only if you choose it | Agreement in writing |
| Paid tools such as e-mail, forms or booking software | The tool’s vendor | Monthly or yearly | You |
| Changes outside the agreed scope | The developer or agency | When you ask | Quoted before the work |
Nothing in this table is free by default. If a quote says a domain or hosting is “included”, ask for how long, in whose name, and what the renewal costs after that period. See hosting offers: questions to ask and who owns your website, domain and hosting.
Questions that show whether a plan is concrete
- What exactly is checked, and how often? A list with intervals, not “regular monitoring”.
- What will I receive? A short report, an e-mail when something is fixed, or nothing?
- How are changes requested, and how are they priced? Are some included each month, or is each one quoted?
- What is not included? New pages, a redesign, advertising and new features are usually separate. You want to hear this before you need it.
- How quickly will a problem be dealt with? If a time is stated, is it a promise or an aim?
- Who holds the logins? You should always be able to reach your own domain and hosting accounts.
- How do I stop? There should be no lock-in and nothing that renews without your agreement.
Warning signs
- A long list of impressive-sounding services with no frequencies.
- “Unlimited changes”, which tends to end in an argument about what counts.
- Round-the-clock claims from a one-person service. Ask who is actually watching and when.
- A plan that automatically renews, or one you cannot cancel without a penalty.
- Pressure to buy it at launch, before you know what the site needs.
Do you need one?
Not always. Many packages include a period of free bug fixes after launch; use it, and note what you needed. If the site rarely changes, you might manage the renewals and the occasional edit yourself, or pay for changes one at a time. A plan makes more sense if the site changes often, if you run a content system that needs regular updates, or if you would simply rather not think about it.
How Website Craft Room handles it
Maintenance and monitoring is an optional monthly service, currently ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 per month, and it is separate from the website price. The exact scope is written into your proposal. It does not start or bill automatically: you agree to it. The packages include their own post-launch bug-support period of 14, 30 or 45 days, covered on the pricing page.