Why it’s hard to judge
In India it’s often sold as an AMC, an annual maintenance contract. The same name can cover very different amounts of work, so the label tells you little.
What poor maintenance costs you
An expired certificate that shows “Not secure”, a form that quietly stopped delivering enquiries, a website down for days before anyone notices. Each one costs customers you never hear about.
How to check what you’re getting
Real maintenance is four things. Ask whether yours covers each one:
- keeping the website’s software current and secure;
- regular backups, so a bad day is an inconvenience, not a disaster;
- watching that it stays up, stays fast and that its forms still deliver your enquiries;
- the small changes a business generates: a new offer, a price, a team member, a season.
A good maintenance plan is judged by whose attention you get, not by its name.
What monthly maintenance covers, by kind of website
| Basic website | Business website | Shop or app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Each month | A check that it’s up and its forms still work. | Speed, forms and enquiries checked, and small changes made. | All of that, plus orders, payments and stock checked. |
| Security updates | Few, if the website runs little software. | Regular, and more if it runs plugins. | Frequent: payment and login pages need the most care. |
| Backups | Monthly is often enough. | Weekly or more often. | Daily, because orders change every day. |
| Small changes | Rare. | Regular: offers, prices, team, seasons. | Constant: products, prices and offers. |
| Reports | Optional. | A short monthly note of what was checked and changed. | Monthly, with sales and any problems found. |
Monthly fee or yearly AMC?
The work can be the same; the billing differs. A yearly AMC is paid up front for twelve months. A monthly fee is paid as you go, which means you can stop if the work isn’t being done. Ours is billed month to month, with no lock-in.
Hosting is not maintenance
Hosting is the rented space your website lives on. Maintenance is someone looking after what’s on it. They are different things, so ask for them to be priced separately. Ours never includes hosting: it’s in your name, paid by you directly to the provider.
When you may not need a plan
A small website that rarely changes can run with only its hosting. If that’s yours, we’ll say so, and you can take changes as small one-off jobs instead.
How we solve it
Care & growth:
- simple changes and updates whenever you need them;
- watching that it stays up, with regular backups and updates;
- a monthly check of speed, health, analytics and how the website is performing;
- your enquiries reviewed with you;
- one WhatsApp thread with a reply within one working day;
- everything stays yours.
Bigger work is quoted separately and never done without your yes. We can look after websites we didn’t build too, after a free check.