Launching a brand new site or a redesign is an exciting time.  There is the buildup to the launch date, the nervousness after you flip the switch, and the satisfied relief when things work as they were designed.

Once the launch date has past and customers are starting to flood your site, what then?  If you are like most site owners then you are focusing on customer service, marketing and quality content.  Unfortunately the needs of your website don’t stop there.  Just like a race car, your site requires care and upkeep to make sure it’s running at top capacity. And just like a race car driver needs a pit crew, the site owner needs someone to routinely turn a wrench on the website.

Why every site owner needs a maintenance plan

When I talk to site owners about the benefits of a maintenance plan I almost feel like an insurance agent; telling horror stories and “what if” scenarios trying to illicit an emotional response.  The truth of the matter is that part of the benefit of having someone with an understanding of  your site’s environment and who actively monitors and conducts backups is invaluable in the event of an incident.

You may ask “What could go wrong?”  Here are some examples of incidents that I’ve responded to:

• The site administrator accidentally presses ‘delete’ on the root category of your store.
• A payment gateway goes down for over 10 hours during the day.
• A site owner forgets to pay a hosting invoice and the site is suspended.
• The power room at a data center explodes and in the process takes the entire data center offline for over four days. (This really happened.)

What is a maintenance plan?

Our website maintenance plans are designed to fit any budget while providing the service needed by site owners.  We keep the site running smoothly so you can focus on running your business.  Our plans include site monitoring, timely backups and software updates.  Plus, bundled maintenance hours allow for design or development updates.

Your turn

How do you handle your website’s care and feeding?  Have you experienced an incident that took down your site?