Why Small Business Owners Should Maintain Their Website

What maintenance covers, by platform

Every site needs upkeep. What that upkeep involves depends on what the site is built on.

• WordPress is the most flexible option, and the most maintenance-hungry. Plugins and themes need regular updates. Skipping them is how sites get hacked or break.
• Shopify stores need less core maintenance but closer attention to payment integrations and apps. A broken checkout costs money the same day.
• Squarespace and Wix handle core updates on their own. Content, SEO settings, and outside integrations still need someone watching them.
• Custom-built sites need a developer minding code quality, speed, and security. No platform is doing any of that for you.

How often you actually need it

Monthly suits most small business sites. Plugin and core updates, backups, and a basic security check.

A busy store or a high-traffic site needs closer to weekly. More moving parts means more that can break between checks.

A custom or CMS-heavy site earns a deeper quarterly review on top of the monthly pass, to catch what a quick look misses.

One pattern matters more than any schedule. Small problems caught early stay small.

What it actually costs

Pricing swings a lot depending on what is actually included. So here is what I charge, instead of a vague range.

• One-time fix, a flat $95. No ongoing commitment, for when something is broken right now.
• Basic Care, $45 a month. Monthly plugin updates, backups, security checks, and 404 checks. If something breaks, it gets fixed.
• Standard Care, $175 a month. All of Basic, plus speed tuning, minor web edits, and monitoring or suggesting lead automation workflows.
• Pro Maintenance, $275 a month. All of Standard, plus API checks, SEO monitoring, priority support, and building lead automation workflows for you.

Not sure what platform you're on?

You do not have to guess. BuiltWith and Wappalyzer both identify what a site runs on from the URL alone.

That helps if you inherited a site from a previous designer, or a company, and nobody left any documentation behind.

Common questions

How often does a small business website need maintenance?

Monthly suits most small business sites: plugin and core updates, backups, and a basic security check. A busy store or high-traffic site needs closer to weekly, and a custom or CMS-heavy site earns a deeper quarterly review on top of the monthly pass. Small problems caught early stay small.

What does website maintenance actually cost?

Pricing swings a lot depending on what's included, so here's what I charge instead of a vague range. A one-time fix is a flat $95. Basic Care runs $45 a month, Standard Care is $175, and Pro Maintenance is $275 with API checks, SEO monitoring, and priority support.

Do Squarespace and Wix sites still need upkeep?

They handle core updates on their own, but content, SEO settings, and outside integrations still need someone watching them. Every site needs some upkeep no matter the platform. WordPress is the most maintenance-hungry, and Shopify stores need close attention to payment integrations, since a broken checkout costs money the same day.

How do I find out what platform my site is built on?

You don't have to guess. BuiltWith and Wappalyzer both identify what a site runs on from the URL alone. That helps if you inherited the site from a previous designer or a company and nobody left any documentation behind. Once you know the platform, you know what kind of upkeep it needs.