WordPress Care Plans: What are the best monthly WordPress maintenance packages?

WordPress Care Plans can save you hundreds of dollars a year.

This article is a little different. Instead of focusing on the technical side of WordPress, I’m going to show you the actual value of a WordPress care plan from the perspective of a website developer and a website owner.

What is a Website care plan or support plan?

A website care plan, also known as a support plan, is a monthly package that website developers can offer their clients. This type of care plan is not associated with any specific hosting package.

This type of care plan benefits both the website developer and the client. For the website owner, it provides a way to make money every month while maintaining good customer relations. For the client, it means they have someone they can go to for help if they experience any problems with their site. In addition, these plans offer peace of mind knowing that someone is always keeping an eye on their site and ensuring everything is running smoothly.

The packages can be tailored to each client’s needs and may include features such as customer support or hosting services. Basic plans include updates to WordPress, plugins, and backups.

What is the benefit of website maintenance plans?

One of the main benefits of having website care plans is that it creates a long-lasting relationship with your clients. They will know that you are always there for them, and they can come to you for any additional work they might need in the future. Additionally, many clients are willing to pay more for services if they know they will be taken care of in the long run.

Website care plans are a great way to get more personalized service and attention for your website. 

It can be an excellent option for those who want to focus on their business and not worry about their website’s day-to-day maintenance.

It establishes trust between you and your client, which can result in repeat business and word-of-mouth advertising.

Finally, offering website maintenance packages is an excellent opportunity to scale up your business. You can grow your team by hiring more people to work on these packages and increase your revenue stream.

What are the best WordPress website care plans for my clients?

There are five possible types of monthly care/maintenance packages:

1. Basic WordPress website care
2. Basic plus (+)
3. SEO Addon
4. Analytics
5. Content Writing

Basic WordPress site care

The “Basic” plan includes WordPress core updates, updates for the theme, and plugin updates with testing. The package also covers updates for page builders like Elementor or Divi. It can also include the configuration of daily backup with a backup plugin which is an additional safety precaution to the backups included in the hosting plan.

Basic plus (+) site care

The “Basic plus” plan contains everything in the Basic plan but three or more minor revisions. Be careful to define clearly in the package what exactly a revision is. Clients might have a different understanding of what a revision is like to refresh the website or add woocommerce support.

A minor revision is changing a font or replacing an image; small things.

SEO Addon

The SEO Addon is an option and not monthly maintenance. The SEO addon contains monthly checks for keywords and minor tweaks in the meta title or description. It could also include minor text modifications for keywords.

To avoid misunderstandings, describe what is included in the SEO addon as best as possible.

Analytics

A further addon to offer to your clients is to install, set up, and maintain analytics tools like Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel.

Content Writing

A fifth package suggestion is offering content writing for blog posts with SEO optimization. A plan could include five articles per month.

Here again, describe clearly what the package includes. For example, how many words per article.

WordPress Maintenance Plans – Build Recurring Revenue

It’s no secret that to scale up your WordPress business; you need to offer recurring revenue maintenance plans. Customers love the convenience of a monthly payment plan, and it’s a great way to create a long-term relationship with them.

Customers should always be able to depend on you for reliable support when they encounter problems with their website.

There comes a time when one may need to call for help from an expert in WordPress. Choosing WordPress Care Plans as your business’s monthly support contract will provide repair calls, current hosting solutions, and security updates.

What is the difference between this and the service I receive from my web host?

The care plans cover support for the website and not for the hosting. Don’t get in the game of being the middle man between the client and the hosting company.

Various hosting packages can fit the needs of your website. However, it’s essential to be aware that not all hosting providers offer the same services. 

For example, one hosting package includes email and daily automatic backups for up to 30 days, while another would have no email. Hosting packages can also be expensive and involve much work (like ensuring the website is up). If the website goes down or there is an issue, the cost to have it fixed can be very high and should not be included in the maintenance plan in any case.

The client needs to be aware of all this in advance.

Different types/options of hosting plans

Shared hosting

Shared hosting is a type of web hosting in which the service provider hosts multiple sites on a single server. It is often an attractive option for small businesses or individuals looking to save money, as it is often the cheapest option. 

However, shared hosting can be problematic for more complex or demanding websites, as issues with one site can impact all other sites on the server. Additionally, if your website goes down or has errors, your hosting provider likely isn’t going to help you.

VPS -Virtual Private Server

A Virtual Private Server, often referred to as a VPS, is a dedicated server instance used for one website only. It means that the resources on the server are reserved for your site, and no other sites will share them. While this can be more expensive than shared hosting, it offers many benefits – such as increased performance and security – that you can’t get with a shared host.

One important thing to remember is that you’ll need to maintain your VPS if you want it to run smoothly. It includes keeping your software up-to-date and ensuring that your site is backed up regularly. If your VPS experiences an error, you’ll need to fix it on your own – which can be difficult if you’re unfamiliar with server administration.

A care plan will ensure that your VPS is appropriately maintained and errors are fixed quickly. In addition, care plans often include other benefits such as malware removal and 24/7 support. Therefore, it’s usually a good idea to sign up for a care plan.

Managed hosting

Managed hosting is hosting where the provider takes care of most of the work, including setting up your website and providing support. It’s more hands-off than self-hosting, but you’re limited in what you can do with the site. Most managed hosts specialize in one CMS (like WordPress), which can be limiting if that’s not what you want to use for your website. 

However, they are experts in optimizing websites for performance and security, so it might be a good option if those are important to you.

My preferred hosting provider is Siteground.

When should I get a WordPress care plan?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best time to get a WordPress care plan will vary depending on your website and business needs. 

However, it is generally advisable to sign up for a care plan before your website experiences significant problems. This way, you can ensure that your site is kept safe and secure from potential security breaches and that you have access to expert support if any issues arise.

Who needs a WordPress care plan?

Regular website maintenance is vital to ensure your site stays up to date and running smoothly. If you don’t have someone maintaining your website, it may become outdated, lose content, and rank lower in search engine results. 

WordPress care plans are a way for businesses to outsource this regular maintenance to keep their website running optimally.

Why do I need wp maintenance?

Keeping your website updated is one way to secure your site from hackers. WordPress is a database-driven system with a lot of underlying source code. Maintenance includes updating the core code as well as any plugins in use.

Regular website updates protect websites from common attacks and help ensure visitors have a positive user experience when visiting your site.

As WordPress websites can vary greatly – not only in terms of appearance but also in terms of setup and configuration – very few professionally developed WordPress websites go live with a generic “out of the box” form. Instead, most WordPress websites are a combination of third-party plugins, themes, and configurations. Typically, WordPress websites are further customized to meet the unique needs of each organization or client.

While WordPress makes it very easy for general users to update primary content (such as blog posts, events, press releases, or other page content), you will want to (or need to) change something a little more behind the scenes; like modifying input fields on a page or contact form. These changes can be complex without assistance from an experienced developer.

Making sure you have a proper support resource in place ahead of time is the only responsible choice for any decision-maker who wants to protect their brand and business reliably. Waiting or hunting down new consultants can lead to problems and reputation loss. Making sure you have a plan is the only responsible way to protect your brand and business.

What happens if my site goes down?

It is a question that web developers and website owners should ask themselves frequently, as website outages can be detrimental to business. 

In most cases, the responsibility for finding and fixing errors falls on the shoulders of the website owner or the developer. However, web hosts are often happy to help customers who are experiencing difficulties – assuming that it’s not an issue with the host’s servers. Simply put, quality hosting providers charge more for their services because they offer value-added support and solutions. If your host cannot help you with a problem, don’t be discouraged; move on to another provider who can meet your needs.

Do you prefer watching a video about care plans? If yes, watch the video from my friend Imran.

Summing up – WP care plans

To sum WordPress care plans up, the best way to have a long and healthy relationship with your client is to offer them a care plan. By doing so, you will demonstrate your commitment to their success and desire to assist them. 

If you are unsure of what type of plan to offer, consider reaching out to other WordPress professionals or doing some research online. There are many great resources available that can help you make the best decision for your business.

What kind of care plans are you offering to your client? I would love to get some feedback. Please send me an email to info@edywerder.ch or leave a comment below.