Providing WordPress maintenance for small websites.
Just because your website is small, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need it to work properly.
Small sites need to work harder!
If you have a small website, getting it to rank in the search can be difficult.
This is mainly due to the size of the site; with smaller amounts of content, search engines have less to index.
There’s nothing wrong with a small site, but you do need to make sure that it is properly optimised and built to give it the best chance of ranking and brining you new business.
Not bothered about the search engines?
A lot of smaller sites tend to be ‘brochure sites’, meaning that people visit them as they already know about the business and simply want more information.
If you are not fussed about ranking, it’s still crucial to make sure your site works properly – even more so if you are only getting a few visitors a day: you don’t want your site to not work when a potential customer visits.
Get started with support
So Hair & Beauty.
A good example of a small business website that relies on our WordPress maintenance and support.
Our client is on one of our basic plans but also hosts their site with us.
We also helped them set up Google Workspace for their email (as it was previously unreliable).
We provide monthly update maintenance, ad-hoc site tweaks and keep an eye on everything for them.
Book a free 30-minute consultationWhat are the best options for WordPress support and maintenance for small websites?
A small website does not need a large and expensive support and maintenance package.
Most of the smaller websites we manage are for local businesses, so we always suggest that they start with the most basic WordPress support option, SiteCare 40.
This provides 40 minutes per month for the all-important maintenance and updates but also allows time each month for small fixes and tweaks.
Should the SME need more time in any given month, they can simply top-up their time for £30 + VAT for 30 minutes.
The most important considersations for small websites and WordPress maintenance.
Backups.
No matter how small your site is, having a backup procedure is crucial should the worst happen. We recommend 30-day rolling backups with a simple one-click restore option to get the site back up and running if there is an issue.
Most hosting providers now offer backups as part of their standard plans, but if your site is hosted with a cheap company, you may not have these.
Domain and DNS access.
A mistake that SMEs often make is not to have direct access to their domain and DNS control panels. Often set up by third-party IT companies, if you don’t have access to these settings, and there is an issue with your site, it can complicate the maintenance and support process.
Make sure you own your domain and that it’s registered and managed via tools you have direct access to.
Decent hosting.
Whether you rank in the search or not, your website can bring you new business 24/7. It’s probably one of the most important parts of your marketing toolkit, so don’t scrimp on the hosting.
Cheap hosting is slow, and a slow website frustrates visitors and search engines alike, so view hosting as an investment.
We don’t recommend paying less than £30+VAT for hosting; if you do, you’ll get a sub-par service.
Separate your email from your site.
Another cheap option for your site is to bundle your email accounts onto the same hosting as your website. This should be avoided because if one goes down, so does the other.
Move your email to Google Workspace (recommended) or Microsoft 365, and for a small monthly fee, you will also get access to online docs, storage, and other useful business tools.
Make sure your SEO is correct.
Even if this is done in its most basic form, SEO does make a difference on your site and can help you rank for ‘brand name’ searches.
The last thing you want is not to appear in the search when someone Googles your brand name.
We provide SEO as part of our WordPress support packages, so you can use your time to sort this out.
Have a valid SSL certificate.
If your site does not have an SSL certificate, visitors will get a warning when they visit and will not view your site.
SSLs are not complicated, but they do need to be set up and checked.
Our hosting packages include a free SSL certificate, so there is no additional cost.
We’re experts in providing the right level of WordPress support and maintenance for small businesses.
Book a free call, and we will take a look at your current site. We’ll provide you with an objective audit, some keyword research and suggestions about how we can best help you.
Book a free callSmall business WordPress maintenance FAQs
Charges start from £40 +VAT for our basic service, which gets you updates and 40 minutes per month to use on your site.
We also have an updates-only service, which is £20 +VAT per month; this just covers maintaining your WordPress updates.
We do have service level agreements in place, so in general, the higher tier of your support package, the quicker we get to work.
Generally speaking, we try to action tickets as they come in, so it’s usually a same-day service for most clients.
Yes, you can call us on 01295 266644 to report any issues, and we will look into them.
You can also submit requests via our ticketing system, which keeps a record of all tickets and time used.
Our main studio is in Oxfordshire, but we work with clients across the UK. All our work is done in-house.
No. Unlike many WordPress support companies, we do not farm out work to anyone. It’s all completed by our fully employed staff.
Yes, it doesn’t matter who built your site; as long as it’s on WordPress, we can maintain and support it for you.
We do make sure we have a look at all websites before we provide support to be 100% sure we can provide the services you need.
We are a full-service agency. We don’t just support WordPress sites; we design, build, and host them, as well as provide SEO and content marketing services.
You can use your support time for anything from copywriting and design to SEO and technical optimisation.
No. It’s a rolling monthly contract, and you can cancel anytime. You do have the option of paying 12 months in advance, for which we offer a 10% discount.
You are more than welcome to take a free month of SiteCare 40, our basic plan. This way you can see how we work and what we do before you commit to anything further.
Please note that free trials are limited on a monthly basis.
Certainly, but we do need to get their permission first, and it’s usually best via email. If you would like to speak to some of our existing clients to find our more about our services, get in touch.
Examples of the small business websites we look after.
Cocoapod.
We built this site for CocoaPod and provide support and maintenance on a monthly basis.
Home Care Hire.
We didn’t build this site but are providing support and maintenance along with hosting and a monthly SEO package to help get the site ranking for important keywords.
The Ethical Food Company.
Another site that was built by ourselves. We also provide hosting and ongoing maintenance for this small business website.
We’ll mind your own business.
Monthly support for updates and development requests for this SME website on our basic WordPress maintenance plan.
VAMS.
Site design, build, hosting and ongoing support for this website for a content production company.
Home Portraits for You.
Designed and built previously, we took over the support and maintenance for this site together with the hosting. We maintain the site and help Eli out with updates and tweaks on a monthly basis.
