Plenty of small business owners pay a monthly website fee and couldn't say exactly what it buys. That's not your fault. It's often not written down. Here's what a monthly fee usually covers, so you can check yours.
What a monthly fee usually covers
- Hosting: the server your site lives on, with storage and an SSL certificate.
- Backups: regular copies of your site, and restoring them when something goes wrong.
- Updates: WordPress, theme and plugin updates, with a check afterwards.
- Security: a security plugin or firewall and spam protection.
- Speed: caching and image optimization.
- Checks and fixes: someone regularly looking at your site and fixing problems.
- Content updates: a set amount of time for small changes.
Some providers also bundle SEO or marketing. Those are different services, and they should be listed separately so you can see what each one costs.
Things that usually aren't included
- Your domain name renewal (often billed yearly, separately)
- Big changes, like new pages or a redesign
- Paid plugin or theme licenses, unless the provider says so
What to ask for in writing
- A list of everything included each month.
- How much content update time is included, and the rate for extra time.
- Who owns the domain, the hosting account and the website.
- How to cancel, and how you get your website if you leave.
A real price list to compare against
We publish our prices. SU Web's Service Plans include hosting and maintenance:
- Level 1: $79/mo
- Level 2: $99/mo
- Level 3: $149/mo
- Level 4: $249/mo
Every level includes fast & secure hosting, an SSL certificate, daily backups, weekly WordPress/theme/plugin updates, weekly website checks and content updates. Higher levels add more storage, premium security and caching, an accessibility plugin and more content update time. The Service Plans page lists everything in each level. We also offer monthly SEO and monthly marketing as separate services.
If your current fee is in the same range but you can't get a list of what it covers, it's worth asking.
Related reading
- Your web developer is leaving: what to get before they go
- What a website care plan should include
- Website hosting vs. maintenance: what's the difference?
SU Web Agency is a Cedar City web design agency serving Southern Utah first and small businesses nationwide. We sell care plans, so we're not neutral, but the checklist above applies to anyone you hire.
