WordPress maintenance: updates, backups, changes and what it costs
A WordPress site is not finished on launch day. It is core, a theme and ten to thirty plugins from different authors, each releasing updates at its own pace. When nobody keeps track, the site looks the same for years while quietly ageing inside, until one day it breaks all at once.
Below: what maintenance covers, how to do it so an update does not take the site down, where maintenance ends and development begins, what it costs, and when to stop paying to keep outdated technology alive.
Site broken or slow?
WordPress and custom-built sites alike. Most faults are fixed the same day they are reported.
What maintenance covers
1. Updates. WordPress core, plugins, the theme, translations. Security fixes immediately, the rest monthly. Never without a fresh backup.
2. Backups. Files and database, stored away from the server the site runs on. A backup on the same hosting disappears with the site when the host fails or suspends the account. And every so often a tested restore: a backup you cannot restore from is only a feeling of safety.
3. The PHP version. Every PHP version has a limited support period. PHP 8.1 stopped receiving security fixes at the end of 2025; PHP 8.2 stops at the end of 2026. The host then switches the version off, and old plugins that do not work with the new one take the site down.
4. Uptime and the SSL certificate. Monitoring that reports an outage before a customer calls, and a check that the certificate renews.
5. Form tests. Once a month, a real submission from a phone in a private window. A form that pretends to have sent is the most expensive silent fault: enquiries fail to arrive for months and nobody knows.
6. Security. The administrator list, two-factor authentication, deleting unused plugins and themes. Every unused plugin is third-party code that brings nothing and may carry a vulnerability.
7. Licences. Premium plugins and themes are paid yearly. When a licence lapses, the security updates stop too.
Why updates must never be run blind
An update is the most common reason a WordPress site goes down. Not because the update is faulty, but because two plugins from different authors stop working together after the change, or edits made directly inside the theme get overwritten by the new version.
The order that saves your nerves:
- A backup right before updating.
- A test copy for major versions of a page builder, shop or theme.
- Updating one major plugin at a time, not everything with one click.
- Checking the home page, the form, the cart and the admin area.
- Never on a Friday evening, and never before a campaign.
If an update leaves a white screen or an error, the steps are in WordPress website repair.
Changes: where maintenance ends and development begins
Swapping a text, a price or a photo, or adding a page to an existing template, is ordinary site upkeep. A new feature, such as booking, a client portal or a link to accounting software, is development and deserves its own estimate.
Two rules that save a lot of money:
- Never put code changes directly into the theme. The next update wipes them. They belong in a child theme or a custom plugin.
- "The plugin almost fits" is a warning. Bending someone else's plugin to your logic is a change you must repeat at every update. With enough such changes, you are paying to maintain something that does not fit anyway.
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What WordPress maintenance costs
Honestly, line by line:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Domain and hosting | roughly 50-150€ a year |
| Premium plugin and theme licences | if the site uses them, each is paid yearly |
| Monthly maintenance (updates, backup check, form test) | for a small company site usually 1-2 hours, at 35€ with me |
| Unplanned repairs | after a bad update, a hack, or a forced PHP change |
The last line is the most expensive because it cannot be planned. Regular maintenance does not eliminate it, but shrinks it considerably.
What happens without maintenance
The scenarios people call me about most often:
- A hack through an out-of-date plugin. The site redirects to a casino and Google warns visitors. The steps are in hacked WordPress site.
- A slowdown that creeps in with every added plugin until the site takes four seconds to load on a phone. More in slow WordPress site.
- A forced PHP change by the host, and a site that falls apart afterwards because half its plugins have not been updated in years.
- A silently broken form. The site looks fine, enquiries stop, and nobody knows why.
Maintenance versus a new site on a modern stack
Here is the heart of it. With WordPress, maintenance is a permanent cost built into the way it is made: a site assembled from plugins by twenty authors has to be checked every month, because each one is a separate risk. The best maintenance cannot remove that; it can only pay for it.
A custom site on a modern stack, such as Next.js, is built differently. It has no plugins, no admin panel on the public address, and its pages are generated in advance. There is nothing to update every month, dependencies are refreshed occasionally and on schedule, and a content change can never result in one plugin breaking another.
When it pays to stop paying for upkeep and rebuild:
- the site breaks after an update more than once a year;
- half its plugins depend on an old PHP version;
- there are so many "make the plugin almost fit" changes that nobody dares to update;
- over the last two years you have paid for upkeep and repairs as much as a new site would cost.
Real prices for a new site are in what a website costs in Slovakia, and the two approaches are compared in WordPress or custom.
A monthly checklist
If you look after the site yourself, this is the monthly minimum:
- A backup of files and database, off the server.
- Core, plugin and theme updates, major versions on a copy first.
- A check of the home page, form, cart and admin area after updating.
- A test form submission from a phone.
- The administrator list: nobody unknown, everyone on two-factor authentication.
- Deleting unused plugins and themes.
- Once a quarter, a trial restore from backup.
If you need help
I maintain existing WordPress sites: updates with a backup and testing, off-server backups, PHP version changes, small changes, and repairs after bad updates. I bill hourly at 35€, with no flat fee for months when nothing is done. I do not sell hosting or plugin licences; my part is the work on the site.
I build new sites on a modern stack that need a fraction of the upkeep, and each comes with six months of free support. I have lived in Slovakia for over ten years and have launched 12+ sites for Slovak companies, such as Krása štúdio OK with booking through Telegram. I work as a Slovak s.r.o. and issue a faktúra with an IČO.
Details on the website repair service page. If you want to know what state your site is in today, the free audit returns results within 3 working days.
Need a new website?
A company site, an online shop or a booking system. Most projects ship within 15 working days.
