A website needs checking every month: broken links, working contact forms, page speed, and whether your content is still accurate. That's it for most small business sites. If you're being told to check fifteen things a month, you're probably reading advice written for WordPress, and most of it won't apply to you. If you're not sure whether you even need a website yet, start with do I need a website for my small business?; this post picks up once it's live.
The Monthly Checklist
| Check | Why it matters | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| Every contact form and "Call Now" button | A broken enquiry form is a lost customer who never tells you | 5 min |
| Page speed on mobile | A slow page on a phone loses visitors before they've read anything | 5 min |
| Broken links (internal and outbound) | Dead links frustrate visitors and tell Google your site isn't maintained | 10 min |
| Opening hours, prices, phone number | Out-of-date details on the site erode trust fast, especially for local searches | 5 min |
| Google Analytics / Search Console | Spot a sudden drop in traffic or clicks before it becomes a bigger problem | 10 min |
| New reviews or projects to add | Fresh proof keeps the site convincing, not just correct | 10 min |
Thirty to forty-five minutes a month covers it. None of that requires technical knowledge, and none of it needs a developer, unless something's actually broken.
What to Ignore
This is the part most checklists skip, because padding the list makes maintenance sound like it needs a paid plan to manage. Some of it genuinely doesn't apply to every site:
- Plugin and theme updates. This only applies if your site is built on WordPress or a similar plugin-based platform. Custom-built sites, like the Vite and React build we made for Mark Thompson (Leeds) Ltd, have no plugins to patch and no theme to go out of date. If your site is built this way, you can skip this entirely.
- Manual malware scans. Again, a WordPress-specific risk, driven by its huge install base and plugin attack surface. A modern, custom-built site has a far smaller attack surface to begin with.
- Daily backups. Weekly is enough for a small business brochure site that doesn't take payments or bookings directly through the CMS. Daily backups matter for e-commerce or anything processing orders.
- SSL certificate checks. If your host manages this (most do, including us), you'll never need to look at it.
If most of what you're paying for under "website maintenance" is WordPress patching, ask what it would cost on a platform that doesn't need patching. It's a fair question.
What Happens If You Skip It
Nothing dramatic, usually. A maintained site doesn't suddenly break. What actually happens is slower: a form stops delivering emails silently, a price goes stale, a page starts loading a second slower each month until visitors start leaving before it finishes. None of it shows up unless you're checking.
We rebuilt Mark Thompson (Leeds) Ltd's site from zero enquiries to 16 leads in month one, and it's still producing 25+ leads a month because the site has stayed maintained, not just built once and left. The build gets a site ranking. Upkeep is what keeps it converting.
What Should Be Included in a Website Maintenance Plan
If you're paying someone to build or host your website, ask exactly what "maintenance" covers before you sign anything. At minimum it should include:
- Hosting and uptime monitoring
- Security patches (where relevant to your platform)
- A fast response if something breaks, not a ticket queue
- Technical SEO basics kept in order: sitemap, metadata, page speed
Hosting, ongoing maintenance and technical SEO are part of some of our website plans and packages, and we'll tell you exactly what yours covers before you sign. Whoever looks after your site, keep the technical side in order, because a site that isn't technically sound undermines everything else you do with it, including any SEO you pay for. If something breaks on a site we look after, we respond within 1 business day, usually faster.
A Simple Monthly Habit
Put thirty minutes in your calendar on the same day every month. Click every form, check the site on your phone, glance at the numbers in Search Console. That's genuinely most of what "maintenance" means for a small business site. The rest is either your host's job or doesn't apply to your platform at all.
If you're not sure what your current site needs, check your domain and business email setup is still correctly configured too. It's a common thing that quietly breaks and gets missed in a maintenance check. And if you're weighing up what a site should cost to build and keep running in the first place, see how much does a website cost for a small business in the UK?
Want your site properly maintained without the WordPress-style admin overhead? Get in touch for a free 30-minute strategy call, or see what's included in our website plans.
FAQs
How often should I update my website?
Check the practical things, forms, speed, broken links and out-of-date details, every month. Content updates (new projects, prices, services) should happen whenever something actually changes, not on a fixed schedule.
What happens if I don't maintain my website?
Nothing breaks overnight. Forms quietly stop delivering, prices go stale, and page speed creeps up, all of which cost you enquiries without any obvious warning sign.
Does a non-WordPress website still need maintenance?
Yes, but far less. A custom-built site on a modern framework like Vite and React has no plugins or themes to patch, so maintenance is mostly about content accuracy, forms and performance, not security patching.
Is website maintenance included when Marketing Handled builds my site?
It depends on the plan. Some of our website plans and packages include hosting, ongoing maintenance and technical SEO, and others don't, so we set out exactly what's covered before you commit. One-off builds can add aftercare from £85 a month.
Can I maintain my own website?
For most of the checklist, yes. Checking forms, links and page content takes no technical skill. The exceptions are hosting-level security and performance, which is why we offer that rather than leaving it to the client.