Website maintenance plans are sold with similar names and very different contents. One is a backup and an update. Another is a bundle of ads, social posts and a ranking promise. If you compare only the monthly number, you will not know which one you bought.
Put the offers next to the same list. The single-plan version, for a small site, is a website maintenance plan for a small site. The moment to buy any plan is in a maintenance plan for a website. The task headings we use are on the care page, and a longer task list is in the checklist.
Compare the same tasks
Ask each plan, in writing: who installs updates, how often, and what happens if an update breaks a page? Where are backups stored, and has anyone restored one? Is there time included for a text change, and how much? Does the plan include the Google profile, or only the website? Who do you email when the form fails on a Saturday?
If one plan answers in tasks and another answers in a position, they are not the same product. Do not average them. A ranking is not a maintenance task. We will not sell one.
What happens if you leave
Ask whose name is on the domain and the hosting. Ask whether the design stays yours if you stop paying. Ask for the logins on day one, not on the day you decide to move. A plan that keeps the site hostage is a rental, even if the advert says care.
You should be able to edit the phone number, or to hire someone else to do it, without rebuilding. That is also why we do not use a monthly design lock-in on the website packages.
Money, kept separate
On this site the website prices are Starter £150 for up to five pages, Business £295 for up to fifteen, and Growth £495 for up to thirty. The first year of domain, hosting and SSL is included. Year two is about £60 to the providers. That £60 keeps the name and the hosting. It is not a maintenance plan, and it should not be compared with a retainer as if it were the same line.
No monthly care figure is published. If you want ongoing updates and backups, ask what the care option includes and what it costs before you agree. If a proposal will not separate the build, the hosting renewal and the care, you cannot compare it with anything else. The build figures are also in the cost guide.
Local sites still need the basics
A Godstone or Caterham site fails in ordinary ways: the hour changes, the photo is huge, the profile points at an old address. A plan that never looks at the profile is incomplete for a local firm. The match between profile and site is in connecting the profile. The studio that would do the work is in Coulsdon, at 109A Brighton Road, CR5 2NG, not in a Godstone office.
Most small sites are ready within two to four weeks of the words and pictures. Maintenance starts when there is a live site to maintain. Buying three plans before the page list exists is how the budget disappears.
How to pick
Pick the offer that names the tasks, the logins and the exit. Ignore the one that leads with a position. Send what you already pay, and what has broken. We will say whether you need a rebuild, a shorter edit, or only a backup habit. If the site is still to be designed, start from website design and add care after launch.
Frequently asked questions
Should I buy the cheapest plan?
Buy the one that says who holds the login, where backups live, and what you pay if you stop. The cheapest line often skips one of those.
Are your build prices a maintenance plan?
No. £150, £295 and £495 are the website. Year two hosting is about £60. Care is a later option.
Do you guarantee rankings as part of a plan?
No. A plan can keep the site healthy. It cannot force a position in Godstone or Caterham.
