Website Maintanence

There is always some discrepancy about this subject: as someone who has designed a website for a client, how much site maintenance are you obligated to give – either as an ongoing basis, or per project? Sometimes a client needs a lot of maintenance, and sometimes you get the computer saavy person that can hold their own when it comes to site updating, and may only call occasionally for assistance.

After much trial and error, I developed the following standard for my business:

I offer my clients packages. Higher paid web development packages for new sites offer anywhere from 2-6 hours of free troubleshooting per month for x amount of months (dependent on client assessment at the time of closing the deal). Generally I find this covers basic questions that you may be approached with from time to time during a new project. Many clients simply need a proper training on how to use their new website. If you offer materials that they can refer back to, such as videos, and cheat sheets, you will eliminate a great deal of back and forth question and answering.

Outside of that, if I get approached by someone who simply needs someone to keep up changes to their website on a regular basis, I offer a web maintenance package. Packages start at $100/month and depend on the estimated amount of time spent per month on the site. This is great for two reasons: it gives the client peace of mind that they have a professional individual to handle their site. It allows you to mentally carve out a chunk of time to devote to this project, instead of having to unexpectedly assist someone in a plea for help. I have a sheet of paper that I give all prospective clients that outlines what my maintenance package offers, and I always offer to customize it to suit their individual needs.

Many clients that want me to maintain their site, more often then not end up approaching me about adding some sort of functionality to the site, whether it be a contact form, social media button, etc. I have an ‘A La Carte’ offering, where I will be more then happy to implement that feature, for a set, one time price. This is a must, as too often I have found myself spending hours on adding some functionality to a website where a client was paying a set monthly maintenance fee. The hours I devoted to adding the functionality were the same amount as I normally spent maintaining the site, plus I had my general maintenance duty on top of that; so in the long run I realized I was undercutting myself.

Content management makes up a large majority of website maintenance today. With the recent popularity of content management platforms, many people find they are too overwhelmed, don’t have enough time, or simply not savvy enough to properly maintain their site on a regular basis. If you don’t already, I would recommend offering this as an additional perk to your new or existing client base.