Sites do not stay working on their own. Plugins update, certificates expire, PHP versions are retired and forms quietly stop sending. This is the agreement that makes all of that somebody’s job.
Ongoing maintenance and technical support for Sculpt Clinic’s website, including after-hours cover around the client’s travel to the USA and Dubai.
Ongoing maintenance & technical support · Direct client partnershipExplore the case studyNot dramatically, and that is the problem. In order of how often we see it:
Every one of these is cheap to prevent and expensive to fix afterwards.
WordPress core, plugins, themes and PHP versions, applied on a schedule with a check afterwards that the site still works. Updates are staged and verified rather than applied blind, because the update that breaks a site is always the one nobody looked at.
Scheduled backups of files and database, held off the server, and — the part that is usually missing — restores tested rather than assumed.
Uptime and the things that fail silently: forms, certificates, checkout where there is one. You should hear about a problem from us rather than from a customer.
Hardening, access review, and removing what is not used. Most site compromises come through something that was installed once for a reason that no longer applies.
The content edits, new pages and tweaks that are too small to quote for individually. An agreed monthly allowance so they do not each become a purchase decision.
Stated plainly, because a support agreement that is vague about its edges is the one that ends badly:
Where the boundary sits is written into your agreement rather than decided when something arrives.
A site that has become slow, or that has never been fast, is a job in its own right: Core Web Vitals, images, caching, database queries, and the extensions that are costing more than they contribute.
Performance work starts with a measurement rather than a recommendation, and we will tell you if the honest answer is that the platform or the hosting is the constraint, in which case tuning it is money spent on the wrong thing.
It is quoted as work rather than covered by a monthly agreement. Once the site is stable it can move onto one.
Sites also arrive here in a bad state, and that is a normal way to start rather than something to apologise for. A hacked or defaced site has its own page: see hacked WordPress site repair.
One place to send things.You report issues one way, and everything is tracked in the same place, so nothing depends on which person happened to see the email.
Priorities are agreed in advance.A down site and a typo are not the same, and which is which is defined in the agreement rather than argued about at the time.
You get a report.What was updated, what was fixed, what was noticed. In plain language.
Response commitments are published.They are in our SLA, which is a public page rather than a paragraph in a contract you have to ask for. Here they are.
There are no support tiers. One agreement covers everything on this page, and the only thing that changes between sites is the monthly allowance for small changes, which is sized against how much the site is used. Backups and monitoring are never the upgrade.
Ongoing maintenance for a multi-location UK restaurant chain’s website, delivered through an agency partnership after the original build.
Ongoing maintenance · Delivered through an agency partnerExplore the case studyTo scope a website support agreement we need the website address, the platform it runs on and the problems or regular tasks you want covered. Tell us about any existing hosting or maintenance arrangements. We assess the site and agree responsibilities and exclusions in writing. The assessment looks at what the site is built on, what state it is in, and anything that needs fixing before an ongoing agreement makes sense. One agreement covers updates, backups, monitoring, security and small changes, and there are no support tiers. The only thing that changes between sites is the monthly allowance for small changes, which is sized against how much the site is used. The agreement also states what is not covered, such as new features, redesigns and content writing, so the boundary is written down and not decided when something arrives. If the site is in a bad state, that repair work is quoted separately first, and the site can move onto an agreement once it is stable.
Yes, we support websites we did not build, and it is most of this work. It starts with an assessment of what the site is built on, what state it is in, and anything that needs fixing before an ongoing agreement makes sense. You get that in writing, with a price, before anything is committed. Sites often arrive in a bad state, and that is a normal way to start. Where a site needs repair or performance work before an agreement makes sense, that work is quoted as work and is not covered by a monthly agreement. Once the site is stable it can move onto one, with the same updates, backups, monitoring, security and small changes as any other site.
No, you do not have to host with us to have a support agreement. Support works on your hosting. See hosting if you would rather we ran the server as well. When we scope the agreement, tell us about your existing hosting arrangement, and we agree responsibilities and exclusions in writing. Under the agreement we apply updates to WordPress core, plugins, themes and PHP versions, keep scheduled backups of files and database held off the server, and monitor uptime along with forms and certificates. Where a fault sits with a third-party service that is not ours to control, such as a domain registrar or an email platform, we will help you deal with them, but we cannot commit to their timescales. If performance work shows that the hosting is the constraint, we will tell you, because tuning the site in that case is money spent on the wrong thing. The decision to move remains yours.
If you only need occasional help, a monthly agreement is probably the wrong product, and we will say so. Occasional work is quoted as work. The agreement exists for sites where someone needs to be watching between the requests. Under an agreement, updates are applied on a schedule with a check afterwards, backups are held off the server with restores tested, and monitoring covers uptime and the things that fail silently, such as forms and certificates. None of that is triggered by a request from you. Without an agreement we can still help, but the published response times do not apply, and work goes into the general queue as capacity allows. New work is scoped and quoted, and built once you have agreed it. There are no support tiers to choose between. One agreement covers everything, and the only thing that changes between sites is the monthly allowance for small changes, which is sized against how much the site is used.
Yes, you can cancel a support agreement, on the notice set out in the agreement. Nothing is locked to us. You hold the code, the hosting access and the backups. Support works on your own hosting, and where that is the case nothing has to move when the agreement ends. Backups of files and database are held off the server, and restores are tested and not assumed. During the agreement you receive a report of what was updated, what was fixed and what was noticed, in plain language. If you later need help without an agreement, we can still do the work. It is quoted as work, the published response times do not apply, and it goes into the general queue as capacity allows. The agreement exists for sites where someone needs to be watching between the requests. Where the boundary of the agreement sits is written into it, including the notice period.
Yes, we cover e-commerce sites, and stores are treated differently from brochure sites. Checkout is monitored, updates are staged more carefully, and a broken checkout is the highest priority there is. See WooCommerce development for how we build stores. Under our published response commitments, a failing checkout is a time-sensitive issue, because the site is materially impaired. It is picked up immediately during coverage hours and always within 2 hours. Coverage is Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 20:00 UK time, and anything that arrives outside those hours is picked up at the start of the next working day. Updates on every site are staged and verified before they go live. Your payment provider is a third-party service that is not ours to control. We will help you deal with them, but we cannot commit to their timescales. Backups cover files and database together, are held off the server, and restores are tested.
Tell us the site’s address and what has gone wrong recently. If nothing has, that is the best time to start.
Or email us at [email protected].
Agency reselling a care plan? White-label website support
