WordPress Maintenance That Actually Moves Your Business Forward.

Most WordPress maintenance plans are just one-click updates. I build a strategy to make your website work harder for your firm.

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Most maintenance plans just keep the lights on. And that's not enough.

You're paying someone to update plugins and run backups. Maybe they send you a monthly report you never read. But your website is exactly where it was twelve months ago. The same content, the same design, the same results.

Meanwhile, the firm down the road has quietly overtaken you on Google. Their site loads faster, answers the right questions, and makes it easy to get in touch. The gap widens every month you do nothing about it.

What cheap plans are actually selling

A lot of the low-cost WordPress maintenance options are selling a set of automated tasks with a human nowhere in sight. Updates run, backups happen, and as long as nothing breaks, you'll never interact with anyone.

That's fine until something goes wrong. And things do go wrong on WordPress sites. Plugins conflict. Updates break layouts. PHP versions become incompatible. When that happens, you want someone who actually knows your site, not someone starting from scratch reading a support ticket.

Plugin updates applied blindly with no testing or compatibility checks
No analytics review — no idea whether the site is actually generating enquiries
No SEO monitoring — rankings dropping and nobody notices
Security treated as an afterthought until something breaks
No improvement plan — the same stale website, year after year

How WordPress Maintenance and Support Works.

Every engagement starts the same way: I learn your business, build a WordPress care plan, then get to work. No guesswork, no wasted budget.

Month 1: I audit everything.

Before changing anything, I need to understand what you have, what's working, and what isn't. This isn't a five-minute scan — it's a proper review of your website, your market, and your competition.

Google Analytics and Search Console review: where is traffic coming from, and what are people doing on your site?
Competitor analysis: who's outranking you locally, and why?
Local SEO health check: Google Business Profile, directory listings, NAP consistency, schema markup
Full theme and plugin audit: security risks, performance issues, licensing problems, unnecessary bloat
Page speed and Core Web Vitals assessment: how fast your site loads on mobile, where it's falling short
Content gap analysis: what questions your potential clients are searching for that your site doesn't answer

Month 2: I build a plan you can actually follow.

Everything from the audit gets turned into a practical, prioritised plan. Not a 40-page report that gathers dust — a working document with clear next steps, realistic timescales, and honest budget expectations.

Priority-ranked improvement roadmap: what will move the needle most, tackled first
Budget breakdown for recommended work: no surprises, everything approved before it starts
12-month timeline: with quarterly milestones so you can measure progress
Shared Kanban board: you can see what's in progress, what's next, and what's done
Clear scope boundaries: what's included in your monthly support vs. what's billed as improvement work

Some clients pick a few priorities and keep things tight. Others want to work through the full list. Either way, you set the pace and the budget.

Month 3 onwards: The work begins.

This is where most maintenance services stop and where this one starts. Each month, I work through the plan, improving your site's design, content, performance, and search visibility piece by piece.

Monthly progress report: what was completed, what's coming next, and any new findings
Quarterly strategy review: a call or meeting to discuss progress and adjust the plan
Improvement work billed transparently at an hourly rate: you approve the scope before anything starts
Specialists brought in as needed: freelance designers, copywriters, or SEO professionals for specific tasks
Nothing goes live without your approval: every change is reviewed and signed off

The goal is simple: stop your website stagnating. Instead of a costly rebuild every few years, you get steady, measurable progress, and a site that keeps pace with your business growth.

What's Included in Your WordPress Care Plan.

While the audit and improvement work progresses, your site is protected and maintained from the moment we start working together. This is the foundation — the work that keeps your WordPress site secure, fast, and online.

Updates

WordPress core, plugins, and themes — tested in a staging environment before going live. Not auto-updated and hoping for the best.

Security

Daily malware scans, firewall management, and login protection via WP Umbrella. Vulnerabilities caught before they become problems.

Backups

Automated backups stored offsite with a documented restore process. If something goes wrong, recovery takes minutes, not days.

Uptime Monitoring

If your site goes down, I know about it before you do. Downtime is logged, and issues are addressed immediately.

Performance

Regular speed checks and Core Web Vitals monitoring. A slow website loses visitors and rankings, so I make sure yours stays fast.

Priority Support

When something needs fixing, you go to the front of the queue. No ticket systems, no waiting — direct access to the person who manages your site.

One point of contact. A trusted team behind every project.

I lead every engagement personally: strategy, planning, project management, and most of the hands-on work. But a maintenance and improvement service covers a lot of ground — copywriting, SEO, design, development, hosting. So I work with a small network of trusted specialists who handle the areas where dedicated expertise makes the difference.

You deal with one person. I coordinate the team, manage the work, and make sure everything meets the standard before it goes live. There's no agency overhead, no account manager relay, and no one disappearing after the first month.

I've been doing this for over 20 years. I'm based in the UK, and so is everyone on my team.

WordPress Maintenance Plans and Pricing.

I don't bury costs in fine print or hit you with unexpected invoices. Here's exactly what a WordPress care plan costs.

Monthly Support

£125/month

WordPress core, plugin & theme updates
Security monitoring & malware scans
Automated offsite backups
Uptime monitoring
Performance & Core Web Vitals checks
Priority support — direct access
Month 1 full site audit
Month 2 strategy & roadmap

Get started

6-month minimum, then month-to-month.

Improvement Work

£75/hour

Design updates, content improvements, SEO work, and development changes identified in your improvement plan. Scope agreed in advance — nothing starts without your approval.

Optional add-on

Managed Hosting

£30/month

Migration to Kinsta's managed WordPress hosting. Faster load times, better security, daily backups at server level, and one less thing on your plate.

What clients say about working with me.

I have used dozens of WordPress development firms, but Dave is the developer I turn to when I need top quality, careful craftsmanship and reliable follow-up.

Jeff Seaver

Seaver Interactive

I've both hired Dave as a developer and worked in partnership with him on projects, and I would do so again without hesitation. His work quality, diligence and friendly nature make him my top recommendation.

Mark Bowley

Bowley Design

The biggest compliment I can give Dave is that every time I have to work with other developers on projects where I don't get to choose the developer, I'm reminded just how much better Dave is, and how easy he makes the whole process.

Gareth Rees

Perch Digital

Questions I get asked.

How much does WordPress maintenance cost?

In the UK, WordPress maintenance ranges from around £30/month for basic automated updates to £300+ for managed services with strategy and improvement work. I charge £125/month for a plan that goes beyond keeping the lights on. It includes a full site audit, a prioritised improvement roadmap, security monitoring, backups, uptime monitoring, and direct support. Improvement work is billed separately at £75/hour, scoped and approved before it starts.

Why a 6-month minimum?

The first month is an audit. The second month is planning. Real implementation starts in month 3. It takes at least 3–4 months of consistent work before you start seeing measurable results in search rankings and site performance. A shorter commitment wouldn't give either of us enough time to do this properly.

What if I just need basic maintenance?

The base support plan covers all the essentials — updates, security, backups, uptime monitoring, and priority support. But in my experience, most WordPress sites need more than just maintenance. The audit in month 1 will show you exactly where things stand, and you decide how much improvement work you want to take on.

Do you only work with WordPress?

For maintenance and improvement work, yes. WordPress is where my experience runs deepest, and it's what most professional services firms are running. If you need a new site built from scratch, I work with other platforms too — get in touch and we can talk about what makes sense.

Can you take over from my current developer?

Yes, and this is actually a common starting point. The month 1 audit covers exactly this — I review the theme, plugins, hosting setup, and any custom code to understand what you have and what state it's in. There's usually a handover period where I get access to everything and document how the site is built.

What happens after 6 months?

The agreement rolls to a monthly basis. No lock-in, no penalty for leaving. Most clients stay because by that point, the improvement plan is producing results and there's always more to work on. But you're free to leave at any time with 30 days' notice.

Do you work with firms outside North Yorkshire?

Yes. I work remotely with clients across the UK and around the world.

Let's talk about your WordPress site.

Tell me about your current setup and I'll give you an honest assessment of where things stand. No obligation, no jargon.

Get in touch