Most “managed” hosts are automated; on business plans, I provide a manual, human-led audit of every update I perform.
We have WP website management packages for personal and business sites.
Annual WordPress Website Management Plans
Professional care for your digital presence
- Monthly Updates: WP, Plugins & Themes*
- Daily Database & Weekly Files Backup
- Wordfence Security & Firewall
- Malware Scans
- 50% off Hack/Malware Removal
- Basic Speed Optimisation#
- Content Updates & Edits
- Technical Support via Email
- 30 Minutes Extra Support*
- Everything in Small WP Plan
- Staging Site: as/if required
- Help Desk Service for Staff
- Support Tickets
- Handle Hosting & Plugin Support Issues
- Uptime Monitoring
- Google Search Console Monitoring
- Monitoring AHREFS project
- Monthly Website Technical Audit
- 90 Minutes Extra Support*
- Everything in Small & Company Plans
- Weekly Updates: WP, Plugins & Themes*
- Staging Site: Live Update Testing
- Advanced Speed Optimisation#
- Twice Daily DB & Daily Files Backup
- Monitoring Search Rankings
- Monthly AI Analysis of Audit Logs
- ROI Focus via Speed & Technical SEO
- Monitoring Firewall logs for DDoS
- Revising Security Rules for DDoS
- 180 Minutes Extra Support*
Important Notes
- * Monthly payments are available but there may be an initial setup fee.
- # DDoS Mitigation Services – I can provide Cloudflare security rules implementation for “attack relief”, and caching rules implementation to improve load speed and reduce your origin server load.
- * WP Theme Updates: except if your theme is wildly out of date and no longer has developer support. In which case you may need a website redesign.
- # Speed optimisation: starts at basic page caching, extends to persistent object caching, opcache, asset cleanup, minimising unused CSS and Javascript, image optimisation and conversion etc…
- * Monthly Technical Audit: “Website Auditor” software analysis of page content, load speed, and Google Search Console data to identify issues.
- * Extra Support Time: for resolving any current issues, research, audits, analysis, or features.
Products by Category
The first step in implementing WordPress management services for your site is a full audit of the WP Admin area and the hosting account. This will include security, plugins, themes and page speed. The entire site, including WordPress core files and images, will be scanned for malicious code. I will provide you with a report of what aspects need attention, and ask for your permission to proceed.
Before touching any settings, I will install Updraftplus Backup and ensure a full site backup is done and securely stored off-site. Then I will proceed with the changes I’ve recommended, such as security, WP website speed optimization, and WordPress hosting environment performance tweaks.
Once the remedial works are completed, I will monitor your WP installation daily for you and intervene in any issues that I find.
WP management package pricing from:
Would you like an experienced WordPress management agency to take care of all the technical WP aspects, so you can focus on your core business activities?
What is included in Small Business WordPress website maintenance?
- Daily checks for software issues via the management console. Immediate intervention on notification of new security vulnerabilities.
- Updating WordPress to the latest version: usually several days after it is released to allow emerging issues to be found and fixed.
- Updating low-risk plugins to the latest versions at least monthly.
- Trivial plugins set to auto-update.
- Updating design themes to new versions. The backup WP theme is set to autoupdate.
- Broken links on request.
- Fixing any typos on request.
- Updating text, address and/or phone numbers on request.
- PHP optimisation, version control
- Technical WordPress help
- Cloud Backups – Database daily, files weekly, to secure Cloud storage.
- Security hardening – monitor alerts and attacks, and file scans for issues.
- Adding new plugins for new features as/if required.
- Replacing obsolete plugins with suitable alternatives as required.
As part of commencing your monthly WP support plan, I will also implement and configure plugins for Backup and Page Load Speed and spend an hour on page speed optimization services and implementing website security.
Not Included:
- Major enhancements: ***design theme replacement/updates or new feature developments. These will be costed and quoted, and done on an hourly basis.
- DoS Protection and/or mitigation: I have experience in DDoS/botnet protection and mitigation services, available as an optional extra for those who need it.
Notes: Customised Design Themes without a Child Theme are high-risk, because in some cases, updates erase all custom coding, destroying the previous design and layout. Any work on custom themes is charged at $100 per hour.
When considering managed WordPress, NZ-based is probably the same or less cost than overseas services. Add to that, you might prefer dealing with someone like Ben, who has “Kiwi” as his first language…
Company WP Website Management Plans
Moving up to this level gets you all that’s provided in the Small Business plan, and 2+ hours per month of proactive website management. We monitor a range of indicators that can alert us to changes in underlying technical factors: CSS, JS, php, page speed indicators etc. The objective is to prevent emerging issues from becoming big problems.
All businesses are at high risk of Brute Force Login attacks and DDoS (distributed denial of service). There are botnets out there that are systematically cataloguing NZ business websites. Sites are apparently ranked on vulnerability level and reward potential, and are prioritised for targeting.
Every company website should be operating on a Cloudflare plan with a robust set of Security Rules to protect against the current array of botnet threats. Implementing Caching Rules improves performance for clients, but also makes the website more resistant to DDoS takedown/shakedown attacks. An InnoDb database, Redis object caching, page caching etc makes sense.
WP E-commerce Business Website Maintenance
Including everything in the Company WP Management plan, but extended to monitor your full-stack e-Commerce installation and external threat risk. At a minimum, you should be running an InnoDB database with the Woocommeece HPOS high performance order system.
Your E-commerce installation should have a Cloudflare plan as suggested in the Company plan at left. But becasue the threat level is significantly higher for e-commmerce sites, the level of hardening should be commensurate with that. Proactive efforts to mitigate DDoS attacks are strongly advised. Without Security Rules in place, your website can be taken over before you are aware the threat is prying at your doors. With Security Rules in place and being monitored, we will “see” an attack commence and can adapt our defences as it evolves.
It is less expensive to apply sensible risk managemant early. Reactive defence under pressure from a surprise attack can have your site out of action os dysfunstional for days and cost 10 times more.
Maintenance Checklist FAQ
A checklist of the management tasks such as security, backups and support tasks that keep your WP installation running smoothly!
How WP management works
When you sign up, I will require website access as follows:
Administrator access:
In order to install backup systems, security, and page load speed optimisation, implement repairs as/if required.
Hosting Account Control Panel access:
For most people, that will be cPanel. I will ensure the latest secure and fastest version of PHP is active, and that:
And of course, without control panel access, I can’t help you in a “My site is down” emergency!
First step: a full backup
Step #1 is always to install Updraftplus backup plugin and take a full site backup, stored on secure Cloud storage!
If you require additional tech support input to help your business, I will also provide that.
For example, some clients with busy sites need management support which includes;
Please feel free to ask how I will assist in your particular circumstances!
I can also offer Managed Web Hosting – 1GB storage, no limits on bandwidth or email accounts, and extra MySQL databases as/if required.
When it comes to WordPress website maintenance:
An ounce of Prevention is worth more than a pound of Cure!
Why proactive management is important
WordPress is the world’s leading content management system, powering over millions of websites worldwide. Protective site management is needed for everything from personal blogs to corporate business sites. Some 55% of the top sites in the world run on WP and it is favoured by many Fortune 500 companies.
Due to its popularity, it represents a priority target to the hacking community. If someone develops an effective WP hack, they immediately have a huge array of targets. Conversely, the security community works equally hard to detect and foil newly discovered vulnerabilities and to protect WP sites. This makes proactive WordPress maintenance services a high priority.
However, a great many site owners and WordPress website designers don’t prioritise management. They are blissfully unaware of both:
- The threats…
- The solutions that are available via a professional website maintenance service…
They operate without updating WP core files and plugins, have no security policy, and don’t run backups. The majority have no idea that both “Enable plugin updates” and “Enable theme updates” and core file updates may be set to automatic for either minor or major releases.
That knowledge deficit in WordPress website maintenance extends to a high percentage of web designers who simply don’t comprehend or acknowledge that they have any responsibility to create robust and secure sites for their clients!
“Management isn’t just about keeping the lights on; it’s about ensuring every part of your WordPress engine is tuned for performance and security.”
Ben Kemp
References…
- WordPress – site management
- WP Beginner – WordPress maintenance services
- Themeisle – WP servicing guide
