Maintenance
and Support
“Website maintenance” and “website support” sound like the same thing.
But here’s the deal: while they work together to keep your site performing at its best, they’re not the same job. Think of maintenance as the behind-the-scenes care that keeps everything ticking over reliably, while support is the hands-on help that moves things forward when you want changes or something goes wrong.
Maintenance is about keeping your website healthy, secure, and running smoothly – like servicing a car so it stays roadworthy.
Support, on the other hand, is about making updates, changes, and improvements – from adding new pages to fixing issues caused by edits.
Both are essential. One keeps your site stable, the other keeps it evolving.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what typically falls under each service:
Category | Maintenance – Keeping the site healthy | Support – Making changes & improvements |
|---|---|---|
Core Updates | Regular plugin, theme, and core CMS updates to ensure security and compatibility. | Installing or configuring new plugins to add functionality. |
Security | Monitoring for malware, patching vulnerabilities, and setting up firewalls. | Resolving issues caused by third-party tools or scripts a client added. |
Performance | Speed optimisation, database clean-ups, and image compression. | Improving page layouts or redesigning sections to boost conversions. |
Bug Fixes | Fixing technical errors that stop the website working as intended (e.g. broken forms due to updates). | Fixing issues caused by client changes (e.g. broken layout after client edits content). |
Backups & Recovery | Setting up and maintaining regular backups, restoring from backups if the site goes down. | Restoring lost content and re-creating pages if they were deleted by mistake. |
Monitoring & Uptime | Continuous uptime monitoring and resolving downtime issues. | Investigating and resolving functionality issues reported by users. |
SEO Health | Ensuring technical SEO basics remain intact (sitemaps, robots.txt, redirects). | Adding new pages optimised for new keywords or campaigns. |
Content & Features | (Not included – content isn’t maintained) | Adding or editing pages, updating text and imagery, creating new features or sections. |
Design & UX | (Not included – design is not maintained) | Adjusting page layouts, navigation menus, or adding custom design changes. |
When it comes to support work, we keep things simple, fair and completely transparent. Any requests that fall outside of regular maintenance – like adding new features, creating pages, updating content, or fixing issues caused by client changes – are billed at £70 per hour, charged in 15-minute increments. Every task is time-tracked and logged in your client portal, so you can see exactly what’s been done, how long it took and what it cost. That means no guesswork, no hidden fees – just clear, pay-as-you-go support whenever you need it.