What a maintenance plan typically includes
- Software updates: core, plugins, themes and apps, applied promptly and tested, with a backup first. The most important item: outdated software is how sites get hacked.
- Backups: automatic, daily or more, stored away from the hosting server, with periodic test restores. See how often to back up a website.
- Security: malware scanning, a firewall, login protection, monitoring for file changes, and clean-up if something gets through.
- Uptime monitoring: an alert within minutes when the site goes down, instead of a customer telling you a week later.
- Performance checks: speed tests, database clean-up, image optimization, caching kept working.
- Functional checks: forms deliver, payments work, links are not broken, SSL is valid, nothing shows errors after an update.
- Content and small changes: hours each month for text edits, new photos, a new page, a price change.
- Reporting and advice: what was done, what was found, what should happen next.
What it usually does not include
Hosting and the domain (separate bills, though some plans bundle hosting), redesigns and new features beyond the monthly hours, writing large amounts of new content, and marketing such as SEO campaigns or ads. Good plans are clear about where maintenance ends and a project begins. PrimaryDM's plans, and what each tier covers, are on the website maintenance page; the costs are in how much website maintenance costs.
Why it matters
A website is software running on the public internet. Like any software, it needs patches; unlike most, it is scanned by automated attackers every day. Without maintenance the failure is slow and quiet: a plugin falls out of date, the contact form stops delivering, a page breaks on phones, and nobody notices until a customer mentions it or Google flags the site as hacked. The guide on how to maintain a WordPress website explains how to do it yourself if you prefer.