WordPress Maintenance and Security

Some hosts provide server-level backups and security, and some apply WordPress core updates. Most do not test theme and plugin updates or check that your site works afterward. We review what your host covers and fill the gaps.

Automatic updates help, especially for minor security releases. The risk is that an update breaks part of the site without anyone noticing. We combine updates with backups and post-update checks.

Yes. We start with a review so we understand how it was built and whether anything needs attention before routine maintenance begins. The review also shows whether website maintenance alone is enough or whether a few fixes are needed first.

Usually not. Most hacked WordPress sites can be cleaned and secured. A rebuild makes sense only when a site is badly outdated or the damage is extensive, and we will explain the tradeoffs.

It depends on how often your site changes. A brochure site may need less frequent backups than a store taking orders every day. We set a schedule that matches your site.

It covers tested core, theme and plugin updates, offsite backups with tested restores, around-the-clock uptime monitoring, security hardening and regular malware scans. Hardening includes strong authentication, removing unused accounts and plugins, limiting login attempts and setting correct file permissions. Each month you receive a short plain-language summary of updates applied, backups completed, uptime, and anything we found or fixed.

Because updates applied directly to a live site can break the layout or a contact form. We take a backup first, check key pages and forms afterward, and test larger updates on a staging copy. We build WordPress, Elementor and WooCommerce sites, so we understand how updates affect page builders and checkouts and can spot a risky update before it takes down a form or a store.

Separately from your hosting. Automatic backups of your files and database are kept offsite, because a backup stored only on the same server as the site can be lost along with it. We also test restores, so we know a backup will actually work when it is needed rather than discovering a problem during an emergency.

We find out quickly. Your site is checked around the clock, and we are alerted when it goes down so we can investigate with your host instead of waiting for a customer to mention it. For businesses that depend on calls and forms from their website, that gap matters. See how we think about lead flow in our HVAC industry marketing.

Common signs include unexpected redirects to other websites, strange pages in Google results, warnings from your browser or Google Search Console, emails from your host about suspicious activity, and administrator accounts you did not create. One frequent pattern is spam pages in another language, or for products you do not sell, appearing when people search for your business name.

That is up to Google. We contain the problem, remove malicious code and backdoors, close the entry point, and use Google Search Console to request review of security warnings and address indexed spam URLs with the right status codes. Google decides when warnings are lifted and how quickly spam URLs leave its index, so we cannot promise a timeline.

An administrator login for WordPress, or permission to create one, plus access to your hosting account and domain registrar. A list of premium themes or plugins with their license details helps, as does knowing who to contact when something breaks and any recent problems, such as slow pages or forms that stopped sending. If some access is lost, we can usually help recover it with your host.

Rarely, but it happens. Our site review checks your WordPress version, theme, plugins, hosting, user accounts and backups, and identifies immediate risks. When a site is badly outdated, it can be better rebuilt than patched, and we will explain the tradeoffs. Our Decatur web design service shows what a new build involves.

Yes. We provide maintenance for sites we built as well as sites built by others, and a new site benefits from routine care from the start, because small, regular updates are easier to manage than months of overdue ones. If you are planning a new site, see our page on web design for Marietta businesses.

It depends on your site and the level of care it needs, which the initial site review helps establish. Where a standard maintenance plan fits, you can buy it online at its approved fixed price; a site that needs more gets a written quote. Any one-time work, such as stabilizing an overdue site, is listed apart from ongoing care, and ongoing care is not taken at checkout. See our maintenance and hosting pricing.