If you’ve never thought about subscribing to WordPress maintenance services, imagine this true story of what recently happened to me.
I was updating one of my blog posts when all of a sudden, I realized that it was saving the post as a new article and adding a number to the end of the URL slug. And what did I get? I was merely creating duplicate content with each revision!
If you’re a non-technical person like me, what should you do?
If you treat your website as your digital gateway for your business, subscribing to a WordPress maintenance service is a small price to pay for a huge peace of mind.
If you haven’t run into these problems before, my more than a decade of experience in WordPress blogging tells me that, at some point, you will! But there are more things to consider.
One of the things that we bloggers run into is the need to maintain regular maintenance of our site. After all, routine tasks like updating the software and cleaning up comments don’t sound appealing. Most of us are rather busy with our so-called “regular” jobs. However, without the proper kind of attention, WordPress sites, in particular, can develop problems like the one I had. Besides broken links, faulty security plugins, and slow loading, a poorly maintained site is unappealing to visit.
Fortunately, there are WordPress maintenance services you can use to make the job done. While I don’t sell these services myself, I have found them to be invaluable. My thoughts here are a service to my fellow bloggers. To that end, I’d like to share with you what these services do and then introduce some of them.
What Do WordPress Maintenance Services Do?
Like many other things, there’s no one size fits all approach to maintaining WordPress. This is one reason why there are so many WordPress maintenance services with numerous maintenance packages to choose from. Let’s take a look at what they can do for you.
Maintain Core WordPress Updates
Like all software programs, WordPress needs to be updated now and then. Even though you don’t usually install WordPress on your computer, it does need to have core files and updates installed on the website itself. Your hosting service can’t do this for you, but WordPress maintenance services can.
Maintain Theme Updates
Even your WordPress theme needs updating occasionally. These might not be as frequent as WordPress itself, but if something goes wrong with your theme, then your website won’t look right. Worse, it can malfunction. Having an automatic way to update is very handy.
Theme Modifications
Like many other things in life, you sometimes want to modify a product to suit your needs better. WordPress is a great example of this that offers custom development of themes. After all, there can be things about it that don’t completely fit your style and brand voice. Proper maintenance of your WordPress site can minimize this problem through regular theme modifications.
Maintain Plugins
One of the key advantages of WordPress maintenance services is that they help maintain plugins. While most people will advise you against having too many plugins, a few are generally necessary. By keeping everything maintained, you’ll ensure that your website works smoothly on a long-term basis.
Resolve Plugin Conflicts
This is the most common WordPress problem that I have run into, even though I am trying to use only the best WordPress plugins. As with human teams, not everything on your website works well together. Sometimes your plugins will conflict with each other, which could cause the site to crash or malfunction. With a maintenance service, the plugin conflicts can often be resolved with the click of a mouse. Easy, right?
Backup Website Daily
Most computer users know the value of data and will have some sort of automatic backup. This is a bit harder with a website because of how much code there is. Plus, the code “lives” online already. Nonetheless, you need to have as many hourly backups to ensure you can get back online quickly if needed. By having regular backups, you are doing some sort of way to cope up in case some terrible things happen to your site.
Speed Optimization
One of the things which makes potential visitors go elsewhere is a slow website. Whether that’s caused by too many plugins or a lot of media, every site owner needs to ensure that it loads fast enough. This is one of the better features of most WordPress maintenance services. They improve the overall response time of websites.
Further Reading: WordPress Speed Optimization: The 6 Best Ways to Speed Up Your WordPress Website
Database Optimization
Databases are critical if you want to turn your WordPress site into a sales magnet. Unfortunately, without optimization, this database can become cumbersome. Instead of getting frustrated, it’s important to ensure your database is user-friendly.
Malware Scans / Security Scanning
Most of us think of malware as a computer problem, but these programs are downloaded from somewhere. With proper security optimization and screening, you can help ensure that your website isn’t one of those places. You owe it to your readers.
Uptime Monitoring
Uptime monitoring lets you know, in real-time, the extent to which your website is available. So, if your server access is compromised, then most WordPress maintenance services will let you know. At the same time, it’ll tell you how much of your traffic allowance is used on a regular basis.
Help with Website Downtime
When your website goes down, it’s important to get it up and running ASAP. Depending on your hosting service, you might have to do most of this yourself. Luckily, the process can be streamlined with good basic website maintenance.
General Troubleshooting
Having your website go down isn’t the only maintenance pitfall. Sometimes, one part of it will malfunction, or you might run out of bandwidth allotments. Either way, WordPress maintenance services can help you find and fix the problem.
WordPress Advice
Sometimes it’s hard to know which WordPress changes to make and which ones should be avoided. A maintenance service can help you make these decisions through modelling and knowledge bases. While this won’t guarantee results, it sure helps avoid some costly mistakes.
Premium Plugins
Finally, WordPress maintenance services can help provide, install, and manage premium plugins. These are the ones you have to pay for, whether included in an overall package or separately. Many of them are geared towards improved reader experiences or optimized operations, such as a dedicated account manager, a backup plugin, or anti-spam software.
Further Reading: The 19 Best WordPress Plugins for Business Blogs in 2024
Why Do I Recommend You Use a WordPress Maintenance Service?
I think you can tell from what I wrote above as to all of the amazing things that a good service provider can do for you. So there are many reasons why a WordPress maintenance service is beneficial. But if I had to focus on the main ones it would look something like this:
WordPress is Always Changing
One is the reality that WordPress is an open-source platform that is always changing and evolving. Now and then, there are bugs and other technical issues to fix; thus, improving the platform is a must-do to meet customers’ needs, whether enhancing its features or improving its security. This is why regular security updates are being released to ensure that every website created is secured. To maintain its usability and function, a WordPress maintenance service is needed to handle these updates, preventing errors and mishaps from happening.
Do You Have WordPress Expert Employees?
Having all these problems related to WordPress functionality can be a headache if you are running your website solo. Surely, you’ll save a lot of time if you have a dedicated IT staff to deal with it. But if not, things would get out of nowhere, and worst disasters can occur, such as data loss, security breaches, and server failures. That’s why I recommend you get a WordPress maintenance service to have peace of mind so that you can focus more on running your business while assigning the technical aspects to others.
A Very Small Investment to Make in Your Digital Marketing
In fact, for many of us, it’s essential to hire WordPress maintenance services because we otherwise would spend too much time and effort away from our goals. When you think about it, the monthly charge typically saves you a lot of headaches, especially for the money. My recommendation is simple: pick a plan that fits your technical needs and budget. It’ll take some thinking through to determine which bells and whistles you need or don’t. But it’s worth it.
Further Reading: 15 Best Blog Writing Services to Consider
12 Leading WordPress Maintenance Services
Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of various WordPress maintenance services, let’s take a look at the services themselves. Along with links, I’ll let you know what each service will do, how they’re different, and their minimum prices.
1. SiteCare
WP Site Care provides a wide range of WordPress maintenance services, including security, automated updates, downtime support, and much more. In addition to the “basic basket” of services we talked about above, they have lead generation tools, consultation services, and hosting available. In other words, once you get the site developed, they’ll take care of almost everything else. For that reason, WP Site Care is a great all-in-one option for website owners. Furthermore, they have support levels to accommodate businesses of all sizes. However, pricing is available only in annual plans covering 990$ yearly with a 2-month free bonus.
2. WP Buffs
WP Buffs provides everything from basic tasks, including uptime monitoring and theme updates, going all the way to enterprise-level maintenance. Notably, everyone gets some website security coverage, free basic website updates, and access to premium plugins, such as iThemes Security Pro, for free. One nice feature about WP Buffs is that they offer unlimited website edits and comprehensive performance checks. This can really save you a lot of time. They also support other platforms, such as WooCommerce, and white-label service solutions. This company also prides itself in being freelancer friendly. Pricing plans start at $79 per month.
3. Maintainn
Depending on your service level, Maintainn will provide all of the items listed above, including Google Analytics integration. For that reason, they’re a comprehensive maintenance service. However, they’re unique in that they don’t stop there. Maintainn offers complete website development and hosting services, such as offsite backups, data migrations, and customer developments, for an all-in-one solution. The lowest price, which offers weekly updates, sums up to $99 monthly. You can also avail of its Plus maintenance plan for only $299 a month with advanced features such as version control and staging updates.
4. GoWP
GoWP is a maintenance company that offers a unique, comprehensive budget option for different websites for clients. Even at the lowest service level, you get everything we talked about in the features list. They don’t do the hosting itself, but they’ll build client sites for you and even provide a dedicated developer. In other words, at GoWP, you can turn the whole website over to dedicated professionals without hiring anyone yourself.
At the same time, they don’t just run the site without telling you. Rather, you get a regular report on their activities and the health of your website. This allows you to request changes and gives you unlimited content edits. Need your clients to be able to request changes too? It’s an available step-up. Pricing starts at just $39 monthly for essential care maintenance plans
5. FixRunner
For website owners who need comprehensive WordPress maintenance services but have a smaller budget, check out FixRunner. Their claim to fame is putting a wide range of services into even the most basic plan package. There are plans for both small and large sites, and you can only have one site per account. However, you’ll get the complete range of security and optimization services, along with an allotment of support time each month. In addition, they give you a detailed monthly log of changes made. Pricing starts at $59/month.
This is the service that I am currently using, and I highly recommend it!
6. WP Maintainer
If you have started your website with a different content management system and regret it, WP Maintainer will help. They have a migration system that lets you quickly switch to WordPress. If you need a new hosting provider, they’ll handle this switchover as well. Once your website is up and running in the right place, the WP Maintainer team will ensure that the site is carefully maintained. All the basic maintenance tasks are included.
WP Maintainer emphasizes that they are careful about plugin compatibility. If a site update crashes things, they automatically roll back to the prior programming. At that point, you’ll get advice on what to do about the problem. Malware cleanup and prevention are also in their skillset. Need development support? You can purchase this at a discounted hourly rate. Pricing is unique: everyone pays $99 monthly.
7. WP Tech Support
As its name suggests, this service acts a lot like standard tech support customer service. That’s because they are willing to come in during an emergency outage and help you. However, at the same time, they offer routine maintenance. Think of it like the Geek Squad of WordPress maintenance services. Then, there’s an online website portal that can show you what’s going on with your website in real-time. Pricing: monthly maintenance at $55 and up; one-time fixes at $110 each.
8. Newt Labs
Newt Labs offers both maintenance services and cloud-based Web hosting, both for WordPress sites. In addition, they will manage your domain name and clean up messes as they happen. Because sometimes, messes are unavoidable, even with the best hosting and maintenance. Another thing they provide is tutorials, so you can learn to do more with WordPress yourself. There is one drawback, however: they are a small company based in the UK and are only available during UK business hours. Pricing: Base is £79.
9. GoDaddy WordPress Premium Support
Briefly, this is the WordPress maintenance service affiliated with the web hosting company GoDaddy. However, they will let you work with them even if your site is hosted elsewhere. With this option, the services are ala carte, rather than coming in various packages. Each task will cost you a “credit,” which is purchased in blocks depending on your subscription size. This way, if you feel comfortable doing certain things yourself, you won’t have to pay someone else to do it. Almost everything is free on GoDaddy Pro except for the premium add-ons, which will cost you about $9 per site.
10. The WP Butler
If you are tight on the budget and would like to have a WordPress maintenance service you can use, the WP Butler suits best for you. WP Butler has customized maintenance plans that you can utilize to fully equip your website with the exact feature you need, including speed improvement features, performance optimization, malware scanning and removal, backups, and themes. Spend your money wisely while getting the most important feature in one basket. Pricing starts at $39 monthly for its basic site care plan if you want to give it a go
11. WP SitePlan
If you have a significant website database, then WP SitePlan is a good choice. In fact, they specialize in this type of maintenance. In addition, they will add analytics plugins to your website so that you can better track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. For this reason, sites that are intended to generate a lot of leads would do well with this particular form of WordPress maintenance services.
Another thing to note is that the higher service levels will support WooCommerce, so websites with stores can also use this service. Finally, the company boasts that its employees are exclusively US-based. They don’t outsource, either. A great way to support American web developers. Pricing starts at $59 monthly per site.
12. ClickWP
In terms of reliability, clickWP offers more than you ever need. It has the best support features if you want to have all-scaled website maintenance. ClickWP works both ways in handling website-related issues and security updates, ensuring that your website reaches new milestones progressively. Get the best monthly security scans and daily cloud backups now with its basic pricing of $35 monthly.
Further Reading: The 15 Best WordPress Blog Hosting Sites for 2024
Conclusion
Outsourced help for many corporate functions such as IT support have been mainstream for years, so having another company help manage the technical aspects of your website instead of hiring someone is an absolute no-brainer in my book. And, as you can see from above, the pricing is very reasonable for the peace of mind they provide.
Worry no more with your ongoing maintenance, security issues, and security checks alike. You have many a provider to choose from here, each company offering each customer a slightly different variation of services. Regardless of whether you value malware removal, security monitoring, plugin updates, or daily backups, consider a WordPress maintenance service as part of your essential blogging tools.
Have you used a WordPress maintenance service before? Are any other services that you have used not listed above? Please feel free to comment below.
Further Reading: 17 Things You Need for Effective Blog Management
