WordPress Maintenance
WordPress is a powerful open-source content management system (CMS) and it is our choice of CMS for all of our non-e-commerce websites. We even recommend it an an option for our clients who need powerful e-commerce website too. WordPress powers almost 30% of all websites on the Internet today. It allows even the most novice person to easily add/edit/delete pages on their own website without the need for a developer such as Bluehive Interactive to act as the middle man.
Imagine this – your website has been running for a period of time and you have been regularly publishing interesting content to attract and keep an audience, or maybe you’re making your livelihood through an eCommerce plugin such as WooCommerce, affiliate marketing, advertising, or any of the other multitude of ways to monetize your site. Then one day you visit your admin area and receive notifications that one or more of your plugins, themes, or even WordPress itself has available updates. Now what? What will you do if you update your site and everything stops working. Maybe you’re even presented with the dreaded white screen of death..
There are 2 types of updates which the core team releases:
- Scheduled Major/Minor Updates – Typically these updates are released every 9 – 12 weeks.
- Security Updates – Typically these updates are released between the scheduled major releases. These vary and only come out when a security issue is located within the software. These are deemed highly important by the WordPress core team, and as such are pushed out automatically.
In addition to the major/minor and security updates to the core software, updates are also released for plugins which maybe installed on your website.
A plugin is simply a small program which runs under the WordPress core software. These may include such things as slide shows, form processing (contact forms, sales forms), blog comment spam protection, etc.. Typically you can expect at least 1 plugin installed on your website to have an update each month.
Our Recommendation
We recommend that you have Bluehive Interactive update your WordPress core software and plugins once per month.
In addition to software updates there are other areas which can cause issues for your website if left unchecked. These include malware scans, removal of spam comments and excess post revisions, database optimization and performance checks, full site backups (both database and files), or restore your site from backup in an emergency.
The leading cause for a website to experience issues is due to outdated software and/or weak passwords.
To help with maintaining the software for your website, we offer a convenient monthly backup and update service so you never have to worry if your website software is up to date or not, and if your website is backed up and free of security issues.
What’s Included?
Free WordPress Migration
We are happy to migrate you for free during the setup process to a more suitable WordPress hosting environment provided by our approved partner Big Hippo.
Backups
A site is only as current as its latest backup. With our included backup service, we’ll backup your WordPress website on a schedule that’s right for you. Have peace of mind knowing there are regular backups of your site’s content is always replaceable. Each backup is safely stored off-site from your website. A typical schedule includes the following:
- Daily database backups
- Weekly full-site backups (includes database, WordPress core software, theme, plugins, media library)
Update WordPress, Plugins & Themes
A living, breathing developer will update your core WordPress installation, plugins and themes. We will make sure you’re backed up before updating and offer full support you if there are any compatibility issues.
Security & Malware Monitoring
Your site will be safe and secure using the world’s top WordPress malware monitoring and cleanup service, WordFence. Websites are constantly under the microscope of people scanning the web looking for vulnerabilities. We perform an initial site security audit scan to identify vulnerabilities. Your site will then be scanned daily for vulnerabilities.
Website & CSS Changes
From time to time you may need the assistance of a developer to add a new page, make some changes to the header or footer of your website or possibly some troubleshooting to alter the look and feel of the website. We offer these changes outside of our monthly maintenance plans at our agency hourly rate of $75.
What’s Involved?
We install some software to monitor your website for updates as they become available. Your website will be setup to automatically backup the database on a daily basis. We will also preform a full site backup (database, theme, plugins, WordPress core) as well. We will preform updates to the WordPress core, plugins, and theme if necessary.
Bonus
Also included is a pro license to the popular WordFence security plugin – a $99 value. This plugin has over 1 Million plus installations around the Internet. WordFence provides advanced notice when something just isn’t quite right on your WordPress website. Keeping your website up-to-date and using strong passwords is the first line of defense, but having WordFence in your back pocket will allow your website to be even more secure!
WordFence provides notification of malware which could be inserted into your website without you knowing it is there. We take care of the monitoring and you do not have to lift a finger!