Hooray! You survived the time-consuming, costly process of launching a WordPress website for your business! Finally, current and future customers and clients can visit you online to make orders or appointments and find information. You know your website is going to add value to your business and make it easier to find and keep clients.
But you’re not done yet. Your website, unfortunately, is not a “set it and forget it” solution. Even if you’re convinced you will never want to make any changes to the design or content, the site still needs regular monitoring and upkeep. Until you have a maintenance solution, your website isn’t fully finished.
The Six Reasons You Need a WordPress Care Plan
1. Limit Downtime and Site Errors
The last thing you want is for visitors to your website to get a notification that your website is down, inaccessible, or unsafe. A care plan provided by qualified developers will always ensure that your website goes down as little as possible, and that when it does the issue is fixed right away. Without uptime monitoring and a WordPress developer actively keeping an eye on your website, the site could be down for hours or days before you even know about it, much less do anything about it. Curious about how your site is performing now? Read about the importance of WordPress website audits here.
2. Protect Your Customers’ Data
The two top goals of hackers are exploiting consumer data and holding data for ransom. Hackers are always finding new targets and new points of access. Don’t let your website become part of the chain that leads to exposed personal information or even identity theft for your clients. If you collect and store any customer information using your website, even something as seemingly innocuous as an email address, it’s your responsibility to keep that data safe. A WordPress care plan ensures that your website gets the upkeep it needs to stay safe and secure.
3. Get Ongoing Access to a Development Team
What if you wake up one morning and have a major problem with your website? Regardless of whether it’s down and you have no idea why, or a recent update broke some part of the design, a sudden problem can easily lead to panic. Having easy access to a development team that knows your website is crucial. Think of it this way – if you have an unexpected medical problem, isn’t it easier, faster, and less frustrating to get care if you already have a relationship with a local medical professional who knows your medical history and already has your insurance and financial information? It’s much the same with a website; you can save time and headache by already having access to a developer via a care plan.
4. Have Access to Regular Backups through your WordPress Care Plan
If the worst happens to your website, and it is hacked or broken, what is your next step? If regular backups of your website aren’t being performed, you could end up paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to get your website restored. With backups, it’s easy to restore your website to its former glory. Most companies won’t provide backups unless you have a care plan, so this is your easiest pathway to an insurance policy for your website.
5. Maximize Performance
Even simple websites need regular updates to stay in good shape. The plugins on your website will need to be updated, in addition to the core WordPress software, from time to time. Otherwise, problems could develop and make your website slower or more difficult to use. With regular performance checks and monitoring, as well as properly scheduled and performed updates, a care plan is your best option for achieving optimum performance in the long term.
6. Protect Your Investment
Your website is an investment in your business. It may be costly to start, but it pays off with higher interest and conversion rates for the rest of its lifetime. What you don’t want is to end up pouring more money into the site due to maintenance issues. Much like a car, a website needs regular, inexpensive maintenance work to avoid much more expensive problems.
If you’re looking for a reliable development partner to provide a WordPress care plan, WebArc is here to help! Visit this page to see our monthly pricing and features, or contact us today.
Want to learn even more about how WordPress care plans can help? Here’s a previous article.
