WordPress is the standard for marketing database driven websites. Fortune 500 companies such as CNN, Forbes, Sony, GM and thousands more utilize the power of this flexible CMS system. WordPress (like any relevant software) is constantly evolving.
The WordPress core is consistently being updated. The Plugins that bring the level of functionality for effective Search Engine Optimization, Security, Online Marketing, Social Media, Ecommerce and hundreds of other levels of functionality need to be updated.
Nothing ever stays the same – and this is true, especially online.
According to a recent study, 83 percent of hacked WordPress websites hadn’t been updated. Your website is not something that you just put out there and forget about.
Anything that is online is accessed by the whole world. Everyone knows about hacking, web viruses, and all the data that is exchanged online.
*You need to be proactive in keeping your online brand safe and updated.
Your website is not a static tool. You need to keep your content up to date and also make sure the software running your website is current. This does not happen automatically. You need to login in to your website dashboard at least once a week to check on things.
Bug fixes: WordPress plugins can occasionally suffer from bugs popping up in the code. Updating the WordPress core, plugins, and themes will fix annoying bugs discovered in the previous version. With Plugins on your website it’s important to keep them up to date and only download those Plugins supported.
Add functionality and features: WordPress is constantly evolving. It’s great now and continues to get greater. This is why fortune 500 companies use WordPress to build their websites. Who doesn’t want the latest bells and whistles to make their website look great and attract more visitors. When new core updates come out in WordPress, you will see this in your dashboard. First update your core before your plugins. Often times a core update will be released and it will take a few days or weeks for the plugin developers to update to the new release.
Before you update the core be sure and take a back up of your website. After this, update the core, check the plugins to be sure they have been modified to the most current version.
Increase your site security. With all the stories in the news about serious hack attacks stealing information and shutting websites down, why risk it? When Internet experts talk about web security, the first thing they say is “install updates.” The second hackers see notices about system vulnerabilities, they pounce to take advantage of people too busy and uninformed to make the necessary upgrades and close the gaps.
Keep your website GDPR Compliant. The GDPR is a new regulation by the EU and went into full effect on May 25th 2018. It changes a lot regarding how each and every WordPress site goes about doing their business. Even non EU-based sites and businesses are affected. More info here
Maintaining a website is a time commitment, but it’s vital if you want your business website up-to-date, secure, effective and rank as high as possible in searches for your business.
*We understand that not everyone want to deal with making changes to their website or has the time to do it. That’s why we have a service to keep your website up to date.
Plan 1: Our small business support package is $199 a month and includes:
- Monthly backups of your website
- Plugin Updates
- Monthly checks of your SEO settings and general settings
- Core updates as needed
- 1 hour of Email Support
- Security monitoring and IP blocking as needed to reduce spam and login attempts.
- 2 hours of text updates, home page banner updates or other content revisions that are sent to us
Plan 2: 49.99 a month and includes:
- Monthly backups of your website
- Plugin Updates
- Monthly checks of your SEO settings and general settings
- Core updates as needed
- 1/2 hour of Email Support a month or 1/2 hour of text updates
Plan 3: Help When You Need It
We love to empower our clients. With each website we build it comes with a month of support or more depending on the build, we also offer online training, a WordPress training presentation and email support. If you are a do-it-yourself-er but need website training, we offer 60 minute demonstrations on Zoom, see details here.
After the support period has ended, if you would like ongoing website support you need to have one of our plans (above) in place.
If you would like support as you need it, we have 2 options below:
– Online training sessions as often as you need for 75.00 an hour.
– Technical support: 99.00 an hour. Paid in advance. You website goes down or any other issue site related. Often times hosting companies will not fix this and it happens if you aren’t keeping your core and plugins up to date. It can also happen if your site gets hacked.
