What are the typical website maintenance tiers?
Most UK suppliers offer three broad levels. Basic plans keep the site updated, backed up and monitored. Business plans add a set number of support hours for content changes and small fixes. Ecommerce or business-critical plans add faster response times, more testing and closer monitoring because downtime costs money.
| Tier | Typical monthly range | Usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | £30–£100 | Software updates, backups, uptime and security monitoring |
| Business | £100–£300 | Basic plus content changes, support hours, reporting |
| Ecommerce or business-critical | £300–£1,000+ | Business plus faster response, testing after updates, closer monitoring |
These are indicative ranges from the wider UK market, not a Freehand HQ quote. Our website maintenance and support page explains what we cover.
What should a website maintenance plan include?
A good maintenance plan covers software updates, off-site backups that are tested, uptime and security monitoring, SSL certificate checks, a defined number of support hours and a clear response time. It should also state what is excluded, such as new features or redesign work, so there are no surprises when you ask for help.
- Updates: CMS core, themes, plugins or framework dependencies, applied on a schedule and tested.
- Backups: daily or weekly, stored off the server, with restores tested.
- Monitoring: uptime alerts and security scanning.
- SSL and domain checks: so certificates and renewals never lapse.
- Support hours: for content edits and small fixes.
- Reporting: a short monthly summary of what was done.
How much does website hosting cost on top?
As a typical UK market guide, shared hosting costs around £5–£30 a month and managed hosting around £30–£150 a month, excluding VAT. Some maintenance plans include hosting; others do not. Managed hosting usually adds better performance, server-level caching, backups and expert support, which suits business sites that rely on enquiries.
| Item | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | £5–£30 per month | Small, low-traffic brochure sites |
| Managed hosting | £30–£150 per month | Business sites, WordPress, ecommerce |
| .co.uk domain | roughly £5–£15 per year | Every UK business site |
Indicative UK market ranges only, not a Freehand HQ quote.
What licence and subscription costs should you expect?
Many sites rely on paid software that renews annually: premium WordPress plugins and themes, form builders, booking tools, email marketing, font licences and security services. These costs vary widely by product, so list every tool your site uses, who pays for it and when it renews. Lapsed licences often stop updates.
A lean build with fewer third-party tools keeps these costs and the security risk down. If you are still planning a new site, our guide to website design costs in the UK covers the build side, and WordPress vs a custom website explains how platform choice affects running costs.
What happens if you do not maintain your website?
Unmaintained websites gradually become slower, less secure and more likely to break. Outdated plugins and frameworks are a common route for attackers, expired SSL certificates trigger browser warnings, and broken forms can lose enquiries without anyone noticing. Fixing a hacked or broken site usually costs more than maintaining it would have.
Our guide to website security best practices explains how to reduce these risks.
- Security vulnerabilities left unpatched.
- Contact forms that silently stop sending.
- Lost data with no recent backup to restore.
- Falling speed and search visibility as the site ages.
- Personal data at risk, with obligations under UK GDPR if a breach occurs.
Can you maintain a website yourself?
You can, if you are comfortable applying updates, checking backups and fixing problems when an update breaks something. Many small businesses handle content edits in-house and pay for technical maintenance. The deciding factor is the cost of downtime: if your site brings in enquiries or sales, professional cover usually pays for itself.
If you do maintain it yourself, set a routine: apply updates on a staging copy first where possible, keep at least one recent backup off the server, use two-factor authentication on admin accounts and check your contact form each month. The National Cyber Security Centre's small business guide is a useful free starting point.
How do you choose a website maintenance plan?
Match the plan to how important the site is to your income. Check what is included, the response time, how unused support hours are handled, who owns the hosting and backups, and the notice period. Ask what happens if an update breaks the site, and whether fixes are covered or charged separately.
If your site is already slow or outdated, a website speed optimisation project, typically £500–£3,000 one-off in the UK market (excluding VAT), may be worth doing before a maintenance plan starts.
- List the platform, plugins and tools your site depends on.
- Decide how quickly you need problems fixed.
- Estimate how many content changes you make each month.
- Compare plans on scope and response time, not just price.
- Confirm your business owns the domain, hosting and admin accounts.