Your website is the face of your business when you can’t be, and keeping it at its best – strong and healthy – is key to winning the long game. Yet, so many businesses have chased economy and turned to the big box value plans or cheap website builders – and let their websites go off to die a long and lonely death by obsolescence. 

In some ways, it makes sense. These days, anyone can make a website, there are so many tools and opportunities to put pages on the web. But like with any profession – from plumbing to auto mechanics – you often pay for what you get. Do-it-yourslef sounds great, until you hit a wall with a challenge that only experience can tackle. And while you certainly can get a nice looking webpage up and running  – you have to ask yourself if you’re doing the right things in the right places on the backend – the technology side – or you’ll never reach the target audience and get the traffic you want. You’ll also end up tied into “free” builder plans that will nickel and dime you for every service you need, and when it comes time to advance to more powerful technology – don’t think they make it easy to get away. 

The old phrase “Build it and they Will Come” doesn’t apply to the web, it’s a complicated system that has gotten incredibly technical…even though it appears to be as simple as words and photos on the page – it’s an incredibly complex machine with countless points of intersection. 

So no matter how many of your friends say “your site looks great!” – never lose sight of the purpose – to attract, retain, and convert guests into customers. A website is not a photo album, it’s a tool. Of course, the aesthetics are incredibly important, but that’s just part of the package. The technology is what really matters. It’s like running a Yugo in a drag race (if you’re born before MTV you may understand this). 

That is what I do: design and support web-driven products that make a direct connection between potential customers and businesses, efficiently. Many times it’s the backend processes that make or break your reach and help you get (and stay) ranked, consistently, on Google. We’re talking things like Speed, User Experience, Link Integrity, Backlinks, Traffic monitoring and assessments, Integration with other Tools and APIs, ability to use (and understand) Google Analytics – and how they all play together. While I tend to be no frills on the front end, I manage the backend to maximize your investment by using the right tools at the right time. 

Only then can we get into actual advertising – social media, paid search. 

Don’t let your vision for your business be scarred by a poorly built and maintained website. And if you think social media is the answer (facebook is free!) – do some real research. You pay or you are stifled, period. The same 30 people see your posts – and it doesnt matter how large your following is – you still need to pay for exposure, and it’s addictive.

Don’t put all your eggs in that basket! Social media is a dying, pay to play advertising tool – dominated by the players with the biggest budget – that offers you no control – you can lose your entire following in a heartbeat and be overtaken by competition in no time at all. It’s crucual that you take charge of the one thing you can fully own – your web presence, your customers and your contact lists – and do things the right way, the first time.  You invested in your business and your marketing – why not optimize your digital presence on the regular and keep it working at it’s best!

The Solution? A subscription based WordPress website hosting and maintenance plan will ensure that your site stays fully functional and working at its best. You;’ve got enough on your plate, let me worry about the technology while you focus on running your business. 

• WordPress core, plugin, and theme updates – plus support and remediation should something go awry during the updates.
• Full Backups of website, database, and server side data.
• Emergency data restoration in case of catastrophic failure or hack.
• Active and passive security monitoring using Wordfence
• Performance monitoring and assessment
• Uptime monitoring
• Content updates and improvements (up to one hour included per month, does not carry over)
•  A responsive professional (think – someone who addresses your concerns in a timely fashion and doesn’t just leave you in phone tree hell)

If you love sitting on hold for hours at a time, hate resolution and enjoy communicating with offshore tier 1 support agents (did you try rebooting? is the machine plugged in? You must have a virus!) this service is not for you. While I may occasionally employ the talents of other freelancers, all of my clients work directly with me to resolve any issues. I am not a 24/7 support team, but I do everything in my power to satisfy the customers who choose to work with me.

fast My website looks great, why do I need you to manage it?

Like all things technical – it will break. And someone needs to fix it! Plus, you may be blissfully unaware of things like hacks and intrusions that could be damaging your domain reputation and your business.

Your site may become obsolete to the point that it can be very difficult to update without starting over. This is perhaps the most common reason I see for people needed a new website. The old site is outdate, unfixable and there is an urgent need to get things going again. Be proactive!

“Rush” and on-demand troubleshooting and resolution costs are higher if you don’t have technical support actively engaged and invested in your success. By keeping your site healthy – you are one step closer to a quick resolution when something goes awry

Site errors are seen by search engines can affect your organic search ranking, enough to give a competitor an edge or blackball you and your domain.
A poorly maintained site signals to your ideal customers that you aren’t professional or attentive to detail in general.  

Biggest WordPress Challenges Concerns

Frequent software updates help protect your site from hack intrusions.
Longevity: WordPress, your theme, and your plugin software are all meant to be updated incrementally. If there is a long lapse between maintenance sessions, an update that jumps several version releases may create a problem that will take the site down or make it potentially unusable.

Someone with expertise and awareness of current issues can respond to alerts about site problems as they occur and has the knowledge to stay on top of issues before they happen.

WordPress is open source – it’s a living breathing machine that is constantly being updated, improved and rebuilt. Plugins, the tools we use to make things happen – need to also be updated and supported. Sometimes, they just stop working and have to be replaced (much like a spark plug wire in your car). It needs care and feeding to work optimally. 

Performance:

For starters, Google’s ranking favors fast sites with good mobile performance. And like servicing your car, servicing your website keeps it performing it’s best, fast and efficiently. Don’t take my word for it – try a speedtest now: https://gtmetrix.com/

 Levels of Maintenance

Technical WordPress website maintenance: The authors of your various themes and plugins don’t know each other and don’t work together to make sure their products are compatible with every other software product on the market. Responsible software authors are continually updating their software to deal with security threats and enhance their functionality. As a result, there are frequent conflicts between products that mess up your functionality or your display. WordPress websites are in constant need of attention to software updates to keep your software current. 

Technical Maintenance is the task of keeping your software up-to-date and troubleshooting your site when something breaks.

Find a level below that supports your business goals!