Your website keeps running, even when you are not looking

As part of the maintenance package we make sure that the CMS and all plug-ins are up to date, monthly or quarterly. The PHP server software is checked regularly as well. We spot possible compatibility problems and test the updates first on a local copy that we prepared beforehand. On a WordPress site the updates of some plug-ins are uncritical, and for those we switch on automatic updates, which has been possible since WordPress 5.5, see our article on the topic.

After the update we check your website for errors. We use professional tools such as Browserstack to simulate the site efficiently on the most common devices. We have a lot of testing experience, but we cannot guarantee that we find every possible error.

Irregularities and problems during updates are documented as we go, so that we can work efficiently when they come back. If we find a problem after an update we analyse it and report it. Small corrections are included in Standard, in Premium we fix the problems for you.

Most hosting providers do run automatic backups, but they keep them for a few days only. For clients in our maintenance package we back the site up daily to an external server and keep access to those copies. Your data is safe and can be restored even if a problem only surfaces one or two months later.

We find and correct broken links, so that your visitors have a smooth experience and your website works as it should. Such links creep in when the address of a page is changed, or when a link to an external partner site stops working. They should be avoided in any case, not least because they hurt your Google ranking.

A security check makes sure that the important security measures on your website actually work. It catches potential security problems that may appear after an update, before they have critical consequences.

Once a security hole in a plugin becomes known, it often takes only hours until it is exploited automatically. No update cycle can wait that long, and many vendors ship their update days later. That is why every website in our maintenance package runs virtual patching by Patchstack. It closes the known attack path right away, until the proper update is installed. The protection works in the background, does not change your website and costs you nothing on top.

Depending on the server provider your website can be offline for a number of hours per year, for instance during maintenance by the host. Our uptime monitoring checks that the site responds, minute by minute. Downtime that would otherwise go unnoticed is recorded and reported monthly.

The performance of your website matters for usability and for your SEO ranking. A fast load time helps visitors stay longer and come back. Performance can drop when new plug-ins are installed or new content is added.

Through continuous SEO analysis with the free Google Search Console we spot potential SEO problems that can appear when Google indexes your site. Steady optimisation improves your ranking in the search results.

With the SEO check you can name up to 100 keywords. We enter those search terms in our tool and you receive a monthly report showing where your website stands against the competition in the Google results.