WordPress developer, your job is to create beautifully designed and high-functioning sites for your clients. However, a website is only as successful as it is properly maintained after launching.
Offering website maintenance services benefits both you and your clients. For you, it provides a predictable revenue stream. At the same time, it increases the value of your services by making it easier for clients to ensure their sites remain secure and perform optimally.
In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of offering website maintenance and what it encompasses. Then, we’ll share some helpful tips and guidance on how to launch your new services. Let’s get started!
The Benefits of Offering WordPress Maintenance Services to Clients
You already know the importance of keeping sites properly maintained. From fixing broken links and monitoring security to updating themes and plugins, the performance of a site hinges upon regular upkeep. These are tasks you’re likely well-versed in. Your clients, however, may not be.
There are many benefits to offering website maintenance services to your WordPress clients. First, it ensures that the site you worked so hard to create continues to perform as it should. This minimizes the risk of something breaking due to improper upkeep, lightening your customer support requests.
Website maintenance services also provide an additional source of income. They enable you to carve out a steady, predictable, and reliable stream of work. If your clients are happy with these services, it can also lead to additional opportunities for work through references.
Finally, many WordPress maintenance tasks can be automated. This means you can add multiple clients’ sites to your workload without a huge increase in the time and energy required to do your job well.
How to Offer Website Maintenance Services to Clients (5 Key Tips)
Deciding to offer maintenance services to clients is just the tip of the iceberg. There are several other choices to consider before launching your new offer. Below are five tips for making your future maintenance service proposals successful.
1. Decide which tasks to include in your maintenance plans
Maintenance packages can vary widely between providers. In order to make sure you and your clients are on the same page, you’ll need to explicitly state what you’re offering.
Some popular WordPress website maintenance services include:
Core WordPress updates
Theme and plugin updates
Website backups
Security monitoring
However, if you want to take your website maintenance services to the next level, you may consider add-ons such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), analytics reports, and content updates. These tasks are less commonly found in maintenance packages, and therefore can help differentiate you from competitors.
To decide which services to include, consider what your clients need most as well as what will be easiest for you to incorporate into your current workflow. You’ll also want to assess opportunities for automation.
For example, signing up for a free brel enables you to streamline many WordPress maintenance tasks for multiple sites:
The BREL website.
You’ll gain access to our collection of both free and premium add-ons, such as Sucuri security scans, automated backups, Safe Updates, and more. You can then monitor and manage multiple client sites from one dashboard.
2. Make sure your clients are clear on the importance of site maintenance
As a WordPress developer, you know the risks that come with poor site maintenance. However, you can’t assume the same of your clients.
Some customers may perceive WordPress maintenance as unnecessary. They could be more focused on keeping their costs low and dismiss the idea of spending money to maintain their sites.
However, your clients will be more likely to subscribe to your services if they understand what they’re risking if they don’t. Communicating the importance of proper maintenance from the beginning of a client project can be helpful.
For example, you could include a section in your project contract requiring clients’ signatures to opt-out of your maintenance plan. This small step could give them enough pause to reconsider the seriousness of it.
To do this, you can use a contract creation tool such as ContractSafe:
The ContractSafe website homepage.
This contract management platform helps you create, customize, and store client contracts in one place. It also includes a reminder feature, which could be useful for alerting you when a contract is about to expire.
3. Choose wording and terminology that’s easy to understand
Web development terminology is like a second language to you. However, it’s important to remember that it can be confusing to your clients.
Therefore, when proposing a website maintenance service plan to your clients, it’s more effective to speak in layman’s terms so they can clearly understand the advantages. There’s no need to get highly technical or complicated with your proposal.
Often, you can simplify the language by boiling it down to each task’s basic purpose. Instead of calling it a maintenance package, you may consider labels such as ‘Website Care Plan’ or ‘Support and Protection Plan.’ Just this minor tweak helps inform the client what they’re paying more for.
