What a maintenance plan covers
Maintenance is the work that keeps a live website working: software updates (WordPress core, plugins, themes), backups and tested restores, security monitoring, uptime checks, speed checks, fixing things that break, and small content changes. A plan bundles those into a monthly fee so the site is looked at every week instead of only when something has already gone wrong. The full list is in what website maintenance includes.
Typical price tiers
- Basic ($100 to $200 a month): updates, backups, security scanning and uptime monitoring, with a small allowance for content changes. Right for a brochure site that rarely changes. PrimaryDM's equivalent is $149 a month.
- Standard ($250 to $400 a month): everything in basic plus regular content updates, performance tuning and priority support. Right for a site that earns leads and changes monthly. PrimaryDM's equivalent is $299 a month.
- Premium ($500 and up): for online stores and sites the business depends on daily: faster response times, more hands-on hours, staging-site testing before updates, and ongoing improvements. PrimaryDM's equivalent is $599 a month.
Hourly, as-needed support is the alternative. It looks cheaper until something breaks, when an emergency fix at $100 to $200 an hour on a site nobody has backed up costs more than a year of a basic plan.
Can you skip it?
A static site with no login, no plugins and no forms can go years without attention. A WordPress or WooCommerce site cannot: plugins release security patches constantly, and an unpatched site is the most common way small business websites get hacked. If you will not pay for a plan, at minimum keep automatic backups on, update plugins monthly and know who to call. The guide on maintaining a WordPress website explains how to do it yourself.