Once a website is live, it's tempting to think the work is done. In many ways the biggest job — building the thing — is complete. But a website is not a printed leaflet. It's a piece of software running on a server, and like any software, it needs ongoing attention to stay secure, fast, and functional.
What can go wrong without maintenance
Security vulnerabilities. WordPress — the platform most small business websites are built on — releases regular security updates. If those updates aren't applied, your site becomes vulnerable to known exploits. Hackers don't target individual sites; they run automated scans looking for outdated software. An unpatched WordPress installation is a target.
The consequences of a hacked website range from embarrassing (your site displays spam or offensive content) to serious (customer data exposed, your domain blacklisted by Google, your hosting account suspended). Recovery is time-consuming and sometimes costly.
Plugin and theme conflicts. WordPress sites run multiple plugins (for forms, SEO, galleries, and so on). When any one of these updates, it can conflict with others — breaking functionality, causing display errors, or crashing the site entirely. Applying updates carefully and checking the site after each one is part of responsible maintenance.
Broken links and outdated content. Services change, phone numbers change, team members leave. A website that isn't reviewed periodically accumulates outdated information and broken links. Both damage your credibility with visitors and, over time, your Google ranking.
Hosting and SSL renewal. Hosting plans and SSL certificates (the security certificate that keeps connections secure and stops browsers showing a "not secure" warning) have expiry dates. When these lapse — sometimes without obvious warning — your site either goes offline or starts showing security warnings to every visitor.
Backups not existing. Without regular backups, a hardware failure, a hacked database, or an accidental deletion can mean losing your site entirely. Daily automated backups mean the worst case is losing a day's changes, not the whole site.
What website maintenance actually involves
A proper maintenance plan covers:
Security updates — applying WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates on a tested schedule. Not just clicking "update all" and hoping — checking the site works after each update.
Regular backups — automated daily backups of both the site files and the database, stored offsite (not just on the same server as the site).
Uptime monitoring — automated alerts if the site goes down, so issues are caught and resolved quickly rather than discovered by a customer.
Performance checks — periodic checks that the site is still loading quickly. Gradual performance degradation from accumulated plugins or increasing content is easy to miss without monitoring.
Content reviews — reviewing pages for outdated information, checking that all forms and contact links still work, updating any time-sensitive content.
Security scanning — regular scans for malware, suspicious files, or signs of compromise.
Do static sites need maintenance?
Static sites (like the ones built by CloudLaunch) have significantly fewer maintenance concerns than WordPress sites — there's no database, no CMS to update, no plugins to patch. The attack surface is dramatically smaller.
That said, they still benefit from:
- Dependency updates (build tools and frameworks do occasionally have vulnerabilities)
- Content reviews
- Performance monitoring
- Hosting and domain renewal management
The maintenance burden for a static site is substantially lower, which is one of the reasons we build this way.
What a maintenance plan should cost
For a WordPress site, a proper maintenance plan from a reliable provider should cost £30–£80/month depending on the scope. What that should include:
- Security updates applied and tested
- Daily automated backups
- Uptime monitoring with alerts
- Performance monitoring
- Priority support for issues that arise
Be wary of very cheap maintenance plans — if someone is charging £9.99/month to "maintain" your WordPress site, they're almost certainly running an automated update script and calling it maintenance. Real maintenance requires human oversight.
What CloudLaunch offers
Our hosting and support plans include everything listed above — site hosting, security monitoring, backups, and hands-on support from us when anything needs attention. Because we built your site, we understand it — there's no time spent getting up to speed when something needs fixing.
For clients on static sites, our hosting plans cover all infrastructure and security at a lower monthly cost than equivalent WordPress maintenance. Get in touch to find out what's included for your type of site.