Revisiting one of my blog posts from three years ago, I had talked about how some companies in San Diego charge a monthly WordPress maintenance fee and it really isn’t worth it if you take care of your site yourself. For the most part I hold true to that post, you don’t need to pay for maintenance, but I’m adding an addendum with the word ‘IF’…a BIG IF (more on that later).
WordPress is all about empowering the small business owner to take control of their website themselves. I LOVE tutoring business owners on their WordPress websites! I see the lights go in their eyes when the how-tos click, or an excited tone emanates from them as we are reviewing steps…boy howdy am I thrilled knowing they are on their way to keeping their website up.
WordPress Maintenance is a MUST. Are you willing to do it?
Having said that, I trust that my WordPress website clients will take the tools they’ve been given and move forward with being proactive on their websites, including updating them as needed. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen as often as I’d like it to. I get a call or urgent email or text that their site has been hacked, or Google has a danger warning on their website in the search results and the dreaded RED danger page when visited.
Google Webmaster tools say that in 2015 hacked sites have gone up 180% and reconsideration requests have gone up 360%. Those are some statistics to pay attention to. As the world we live in revolves around the internet more and more; the bad guys are out there looking to get in on it. It’s just the way it is. But you don’t have to be a victim!
In 2015 hacked sites have gone up 180% and reconsideration requests have gone up 360%.
So, thinking more about this, I will be inquiring with my wonderful clients, and asking them to be very honest about what they are willing to do, how often they will be logging in and how comfortable they are performing backups and updates. If they aren’t able to regularly visit or login to their site (because they are busy helping others with their business services or products) then I will be very emphatic that they will indeed need monthly maintenance. Am I going back on what I said previously about not needed maintenance? No, not really. I am adding a much needed addendum that you don’t need WordPress maintenance IF:
- IF you log into your website at least once weekly (and)
- IF you are proactive when you see notifications of updates (and)
- IF you are comfortable performing backups and updates (and)
- IF you know without a shadow of a doubt you will regularly backup and update your WordPress website as regularly as you drink your morning coffee!
If you reply NO to any of the above statements, then I suggest you hire myself or another WordPress aficionado to do it for you. Prevention is the best defense when it comes to WordPress, updating your website is a best practice that you can’t afford to ignore.
