What does website maintenance include?
Website maintenance is the monthly work that keeps your site secure, fast and up to date, plus the small changes you'd otherwise never get around to. For Perth businesses on our support, a typical month looks like this:
| Task | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Updates | Platform, theme and plugin updates applied and checked | Outdated plugins are a common way small sites get hacked |
| Backups | Regular copies of the site to roll back to | If an update breaks something, it can be rolled back instead of rebuilt |
| Security | Login, malware and SSL certificate checks | Keeps the padlock in the browser and your customers' trust |
| Small changes | New photos, price updates, staff changes, edits to service pages | Your site stays accurate without you logging in |
| Speed checks | Page speed tested on mobile and fixed when it slips | Slow pages lose visitors and rankings |
| Uptime | The site is monitored so we know if it goes down | Problems get spotted before customers tell you |
What counts as a small change depends on the site, and we agree it up front. Bigger jobs, like a whole new section, get their own fixed price quote so there are no surprises on the invoice.
How much does website maintenance cost in Perth?
Website maintenance with Source Digital starts from $200 a month, ex GST, for ongoing support and changes. Hosting is a separate cost, roughly $10 to $50 a month depending on the platform your site runs on.
There's no lock-in contract. If you have a quiet few months and don't need changes, you can stop and start again later. If you only need a one-off fix, ask for a fixed price on that job instead.
Whether you need monthly support at all depends on your platform. A Squarespace or Shopify site handles its own core updates, so many owners only need help with changes. A WordPress site needs updates every month whether you're changing anything or not.
What's the difference between website hosting and website maintenance?
Hosting is where your website lives. Maintenance is someone looking after it. You always need hosting. You don't always need maintenance.
| Platform | Hosting | Rough monthly cost | Who does updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Included in your Squarespace plan | Your Squarespace plan | Squarespace, automatically |
| Shopify | Included in your Shopify plan | Your Shopify plan, paid to Shopify, plus apps | Shopify, plus app and theme updates |
| WordPress or WooCommerce | Separate web hosting | Roughly $10 to $50 | You or your developer, every month |
| Custom HTML/CSS/JS | Static hosting | About $10 to $30 | Very little, no plugins to update |
That's why the platform matters so much for running costs. A static custom site has almost nothing to update. A WordPress site with a lot of plugins has something to update most weeks. If you're on WordPress and weighing up a rebuild, our WordPress web design page covers what that involves.
Where should a Perth business host its website?
Host it where your platform runs best, with backups and an SSL certificate included. For most Perth businesses the platform answers the question for you.
- Squarespace and Shopify sites are hosted by the platform. There's nothing to choose.
- Custom sites go on static hosting with a content delivery network, which serves pages from servers close to your visitors. That's part of why they load fast in Perth and on the east coast.
- WordPress sites need a host with daily backups, current PHP versions and decent support. Cheap shared hosting is often the reason a WordPress site is slow.
Be wary of website hosting bundled into a long contract. If you leave, you should be able to take your site and domain with you. With us there are no lock-in contracts on hosting or support.
What happens if a website isn't maintained?
Usually nothing for a while, then something breaks at the worst time. The risk depends on the platform: low on Squarespace, Shopify and static custom sites, high on WordPress.
Common problems on sites nobody has looked after:
- Plugins go out of date and open a security hole.
- The contact form quietly stops sending, and enquiries vanish.
- Prices, staff, hours and services go out of date, and customers notice.
- Pages slow down as images and scripts pile up.
- The SSL certificate lapses and browsers warn visitors away.
The broken form is the expensive one. MIT and InsideSales found leads contacted within 5 minutes were 21 times more likely to qualify than leads contacted at 30 minutes, so an enquiry that never arrives is a job gone. If you want every form answered in seconds, Omega CS texts each new lead back from your own Australian mobile number.
How monthly support works
- We look at your site. Platform, plugins, speed, backups and anything already broken.
- Fix what's urgent first. Security, form or speed problems get sorted before regular support starts, with a fixed price quote if it's a bigger job.
- Monthly checks. Updates, backups, security, speed and uptime handled in the background.
- Send changes when you need them. Email or call, and you deal with me, not a ticket queue.
- Stop any time. No lock-in contract.
We support sites on Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce and custom code. If your current site is past saving, a website redesign can cost less than years of patching it.
Is website maintenance worth it for a small business?
It's worth it if your site runs on WordPress, changes often or brings in most of your enquiries. It's probably not worth it for a simple Squarespace or custom site that rarely changes.
The honest version: plenty of small businesses don't need $200 a month of support. A five page Squarespace site that changes twice a year is fine with a one-off change when you need it. Monthly support makes sense when you'd otherwise spend your own evenings fighting the site, or when a site going down means lost bookings or sales.
We're based in Perth's northern suburbs and look after sites for businesses across Perth and the rest of Australia. Being local helps when you'd rather sort something out face to face, but most support runs fine over email and phone. If you need a new site as well, see our Perth website design page.
