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ROILift’s website maintenance services keep the site you built running the way it ran on launch day: fast, secure, and live. Plugin and core updates tested before they deploy. Security monitoring that catches vulnerabilities before they become breaches. Performance tracking against the Core Web Vitals targets the site shipped with. Uptime monitoring with real-time alerts. And monthly reporting that shows your site’s health in numbers, not in ‘everything looks fine.’
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Website maintenance services keep a live website updated, secure, performant, and backed up on an ongoing basis. ROILift’s website maintenance services cover plugin and core updates (tested on staging before production), security monitoring and patching, Core Web Vitals tracking, daily backups, uptime monitoring, and monthly health reporting. The retainer that keeps the project-based investment from degrading the month after the developer leaves.
Ongoing retainer that keeps your website updated, secure, performant, and backed up. The discipline that prevents the slow degradation most sites experience after the developer leaves
Any business with a live website that depends on uptime, performance, and security. Especially WordPress sites (which require the most active maintenance due to plugin and core update frequency) and any site handling customer data, payments, or lead forms
Not a development retainer. Maintenance keeps the site running as built. New features, redesigns, and structural changes are development projects scoped separately. The maintenance agreement above draws the line
Plugin and core updates (tested and deployed), security scan results, Core Web Vitals report, uptime report, backup verification, and any content changes used from the monthly hours
| Covered under the maintenance retainer | NOT covered (requires a separate project scope) |
|---|---|
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Plugin and core updates: tested on staging, applied to production, compatibility verified. If an update breaks something, the fix is included |
New features: a new page template, a new integration, a redesign of an existing section. These are development projects scoped and priced separately |
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Security monitoring: malware scanning, vulnerability alerts, firewall configuration, SSL renewal, PHP version management |
Security incident response for breaches that require forensic investigation, data breach notification, or infrastructure rebuild. Scoped as an emergency engagement |
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Performance monitoring: Core Web Vitals tracked monthly against launch-day targets. Degradation diagnosed and fixed within the retainer |
Performance optimization requiring structural changes (theme rebuild, server migration, CDN reconfiguration). Scoped as a development project |
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Daily backups: automated, off-site, tested monthly for restorability. Restoration included if needed |
Disaster recovery for total hosting failure requiring infrastructure rebuild. The backup provides the data; the rebuild is scoped separately |
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Content changes: [VERIFY: 1-2] hours per month of minor content updates (text edits, image swaps, page additions using existing templates) |
Content production: writing new pages, producing new imagery, creating new content types. That sits at /content-marketing/ or as a separate content scope |
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Uptime monitoring with real-time alerts and first-response within [VERIFY: 15-30] minutes for downtime events |
Hosting management beyond what the maintenance retainer covers (server scaling, infrastructure changes, hosting migration). Scoped separately |
This boundary matters because the most common maintenance frustration is scope ambiguity: is a broken contact form a maintenance fix or a development project? The agreement answers that before the first invoice.
A website that launched perfectly will degrade without maintenance. Website maintenance is the discipline of keeping the site current with an environment that won’t wait for you.
WordPress releases core updates every year. The average WordPress site has 20-40 plugins, each releasing updates independently. Every update is a potential compatibility break: a plugin update that conflicts with another plugin, a core update that deprecates a function the theme uses, or a PHP version change that breaks legacy code. ROILift tests every update on a staging environment before applying it to production. If the update breaks something, the fix is handled within the retainer. If the update is skipped (because the risk outweighs the benefit), the decision and the reasoning are documented.
The diagnosis and the fix are included in the retainer because performance degradation is a maintenance problem, not a development problem, as long as the fix doesn’t require structural changes to the theme.
Every website maintenance services retainer ships the same monthly deliverables.
Maintenance requirements differ by platform because each platform has different update frequencies, different security surfaces, and different hosting models.
| Platform | Maintenance intensity | What's specific to this platform |
|---|---|---|
|
WordPress |
Highest. Core updates, plugin updates, theme updates, PHP version management, and database optimization all require active attention. The average WordPress site needs [VERIFY: 15-25] update decisions per month |
Plugin compatibility testing before every update. Database optimization (clearing post revisions, transients, orphaned metadata). PHP version migration when hosting depreciates old versions. WordPress is the platform that needs maintenance most and gets it least |
|
Shopify |
Lower. Shopify handles hosting, security patches, and platform updates. Maintenance covers theme updates, app compatibility, and performance monitoring |
App stack audited for deprecated or abandoned apps. Theme updates tested against custom Liquid modifications. Checkout flow verified after Shopify platform updates. Product feed health monitored for Merchant Center compliance |
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Webflow |
Lowest. Hosted platform handles most infrastructure concerns. Maintenance covers CMS content updates, integration monitoring, and performance tracking |
Custom code embeds monitored for third-party script changes. Form integrations verified. CMS collection structures maintained as content scales |
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Custom (Next.js, headless, static)
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Variable. Depends on the technology stack, hosting setup, and integration complexity |
Dependency updates (npm packages, framework versions). CI/CD pipeline monitoring. API integration health checks. Hosting and CDN configuration management |
These are the standards the maintenance retainer holds the site against. The targets are the same as the build targets because the purpose of maintenance is to keep the site at launch quality.
| Metric | Target | What maintenance does when it degrades |
|---|---|---|
|
LCP |
Under 2.5 seconds (same as launch target) |
Diagnosed: which update, which image, which script caused the regression? Fix deployed within the retainer if the cause is a plugin, image, or configuration issue |
|
INP |
Under 200ms |
JavaScript audit: which plugin or script is blocking interaction? Update, replace, or defer |
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CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) |
Under 0.1 |
Layout shift source identified: late-loading image, web font, or dynamically injected content. Fix applied at the template level |
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Uptime |
99%+ monthly |
Any downtime event logged with cause, duration, and resolution. Recurring causes escalated to hosting provider or flagged for infrastructure change |
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Security vulnerabilities |
Zero known unpatched vulnerabilities |
Updates applied within [VERIFY: 48] hours of a security patch release for critical vulnerabilities. Non-critical patches applied in the monthly update cycle |
|
SSL certificate status |
Valid and auto-renewing |
Expiration monitored. Renewal triggered [VERIFY: 30] days before expiration. If auto-renewal fails, manual renewal completed same day |
Our Total
Completed Work
The website maintenance services retainer at ROILift runs on a monthly cycle with weekly automated checks and quarterly deep audits.
Plugin, theme, and core updates reviewed. Critical security patches applied immediately. Non-critical updates staged and tested. Staging environment used for every update before production deployment. Update log started for the monthly report.
Core Web Vitals checked against launch targets. Any degradation diagnosed. Backup restorability verified. Database optimized (WordPress: post revisions, transients, orphaned metadata cleaned).
Monthly content change hours used at your direction. Uptime monitoring patterns reviewed: any recurring issues identified and addressed. Third-party integration health verified (CRM forms, email platform connections, analytics tracking).
Monthly maintenance report delivered: updates applied (with version numbers), security status, CWV scores with trend comparison, uptime percentage, backup status, content changes completed, and any recommendations for the coming month. If a plugin needs replacing, a hosting upgrade is advisable, or a development project is recommended, the report names it with reasoning.
Website maintenance services at ROILift include plugin and core updates (tested on staging), security monitoring and patching, Core Web Vitals tracking, daily backups with monthly restore tests, uptime monitoring, hours of monthly content changes, and a monthly health report. Retainer-based with monthly deliverables.
Less than WordPress, but yes. Shopify handles hosting and platform security, but theme updates, app compatibility, checkout flow verification, and product feed health still need active monitoring. The maintenance scope on Shopify is lighter and priced accordingly.
Yes. No long-term contract required; prior notice. When you cancel, the site keeps running as-is. Nothing switches off. No ‘maintenance mode’ page. The update log and documentation transfer to your team or your next provider.
Yes. Most maintenance clients come to ROILift with a site built by someone else. The onboarding includes a full site audit: plugin inventory, security assessment, performance baseline, and hosting review. Any issues discovered in the audit are documented with a fix plan and timeline.
Hosting is the server the site runs on. Maintenance is the work done on the site itself: updates, security, performance, backups. ROILift provides maintenance, not hosting. The retainer works with any hosting provider (WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways, SiteGround, or your current provider). If a hosting change is recommended, it’s scoped as a separate migration.
Book a maintenance call. 30 minutes on what platform your site runs on, what state it’s in, and what the retainer would cover. If the site needs a rebuild before maintenance makes sense, we’ll say so and recommend the right path.
Book a maintenance call: 30 minutes, site audit review, scope recommendation.
Receive a proposal with platform, scope, monthly deliverables, and pricing.
Onboarding: full site audit in week one, first maintenance cycle in week two.
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