WordPress Maintenance: What Should a Contract Cover?

A WordPress maintenance contract helps prevent a site from gradually degrading: security, performance, and reliability are hard to maintain without regular follow-up. Here's what a serious contract should cover.

Regular updates

WordPress core, themes, and plugins need to be updated regularly to fix identified security flaws. A good maintenance contract specifies a clear update frequency, along with testing after each update to make sure no feature is broken.

Automated backups

Regular backups, stored somewhere other than the hosting server, allow the site to be quickly restored in case of a technical issue or attack. Check that the contract specifies backup frequency and the restoration time in case of an incident.

Security monitoring

Beyond updates, good maintenance includes active monitoring: intrusion attempt detection, regular malware scans, and a quick response in case of an alert. This point matters especially for an e-commerce site that handles payment data.

Support and small changes

• A set amount of monthly time dedicated to small content or layout changes.
• A guaranteed response time in case of a breakdown or malfunction.
• A regular report summarizing the actions taken on the site.

Choosing your maintenance provider well

What's generally not included

A standard maintenance contract typically covers neither major new feature development, nor a graphic redesign of the site, nor fixing issues caused by third-party plugins not validated by the provider. These limits should be clearly stated in the contract to avoid any misunderstanding once a need exceeds the initially agreed scope.

It's advisable to review the contract at least once a year, to make sure it still fits the site's traffic and evolution, especially if new features have been added in the meantime.

Asking for an example of a maintenance report already provided to another client also helps gauge, concretely, how thorough and consistent the proposed follow-up actually is, beyond the promises made in a sales pitch.

A specialized freelance WordPress developer can cover all these points in a clear, transparent contract. Our complete WordPress guide and our WordPress category cover other best practices. You can post your maintenance need to receive proposals tailored to your site.