Websites and IT

What does website maintenance actually involve?

By Bhavesh Narsai · Published 21 October 2026

Most small business websites go live and then nobody touches them. Then one day a customer mentions the contact form bounced, or the domain lapses, and it turns out nobody knew whose job it was. I look after websites for small businesses from Bolton, on all sorts of platforms, and this is what the job really is.

What does website maintenance include?

It includes anything that keeps the site safe, working and correct once it is live. On almost any platform, that comes down to the same list:

• Updates. The software the site runs on, plus any plugins, apps or themes, kept current so known security holes are closed.
• Backups. A copy of the site and its content that you could actually restore from, kept somewhere other than the site itself.
• Uptime monitoring. Something that notices when the site goes down, so you hear about it before your customers do.
• Forms and email. Checking that the contact or booking form still sends, and that the messages reach a real inbox rather than spam.
• Domain and security certificate. Making sure the domain renews and the padlock (SSL certificate) stays valid.
• Access. Knowing who has a login, and removing people who have left.
• Content. Opening hours, prices, staff, services and photos kept accurate, because out-of-date details lose customers too.
• Small fixes. Broken links, a slow page, a button that goes to the wrong place.

The National Cyber Security Centre's guide for small organisations covers the same basics from the security side: keep backups, keep things updated, and control who has access.

Do Wix, Squarespace and Shopify sites need maintenance?

Yes, but less of it. On a hosted builder, the platform runs the servers, patches the software and handles the security underneath. That takes the most technical part of the job off your plate, and it is a real advantage for a small business.

What the platform does not do is look after your website as a business tool. It will not notice that your form now sends to an email address nobody checks, that an app you added two years ago still has access to your customer data, or that your opening hours changed in March. On Shopify, your theme and apps need attention too, especially if the theme has been customised. And every builder handles backups and restores differently, so it is worth checking what your plan actually gives you rather than assuming there is a full copy you could take away.

The domain is the other common gap. If it was bought separately from the builder, it renews separately too, and an expired card on that account is enough to take the whole site and your email offline.

What extra does a WordPress site need?

WordPress needs the most regular care, because you, not the platform, are responsible for the software. A typical WordPress site has the core software, a theme and a handful of plugins, often from different developers, and they all need updating.

The safe routine is the same every time: take a backup, apply the updates, then check the pages that matter, especially the contact form. Updates are one of the most common reasons a form quietly stops sending, which I cover in contact form not sending emails. Your host also needs to keep the server software current, and old, unused plugins are best removed rather than left switched off.

None of this makes WordPress a bad choice. It is flexible and widely used. It just needs someone to look after it on a schedule.

What about a custom-built or static website?

A custom-built site needs whatever its particular setup needs, which is why the person maintaining it should know how it was put together. A simple static site, plain pages with no database or admin login, has very little that can break or be hacked, so maintenance is mostly the hosting, the domain, the security certificate and the form. A bespoke site with logins, bookings or payments needs its code libraries and server kept up to date as well.

How often should website maintenance be done?

Some jobs are continuous, some monthly, and some only once a year. This is a sensible starting rhythm for a small business site:

Can I maintain my website myself?

Often, yes. On a hosted builder, a reasonably organised owner can do most of it with a calendar reminder and the table above. The things people usually miss are testing the form, the domain renewal and removing old logins, so put those three somewhere you will see them.

It gets harder when the site is on WordPress, when you have more than one site, or when the website is only one of several tech jobs nobody owns. That last one is the common story in a business of 5 to 30 people: the website, the laptops, the Microsoft 365 accounts and a few spreadsheets all sit with whoever is least busy that week.

What happens if nobody maintains a website?

Usually nothing dramatic, at first. Then something quiet breaks. A form stops delivering and you lose enquiries without knowing. A card expires and the domain lapses, taking your email with it. Staff who left still have admin access. On WordPress, out-of-date plugins leave known holes open. And the site slowly drifts away from the business, with old prices and a phone number nobody answers.

The fix is rarely expensive when it is caught early. The cost comes from not noticing.

Is it worth paying someone to do it?

It depends on how much the site matters to your business and how much else is going unlooked-after. A one-page Squarespace site that rarely changes may need an hour a quarter. A site that brings in enquiries every week, on WordPress, alongside an office full of laptops and accounts, is a different job.

That second case is why I put website care inside my monthly IT and website support plans. One person looks after the website on whatever platform it runs on, plus the IT and the small automation jobs, for a fixed monthly fee. If I built and host your site and you only need the website looked after, the simpler Website Care Plan covers it. And if you just need a one-off fix, that is what ad hoc IT support is for.

Common questions

Also worth a read: how to choose a web designer who won't leave you stranded.

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