Secure, Maintain and GROW Your Business Online

WordPress websites are inexpensive to build because they rely on open source software (aka "WordPress core") but the nature of open source code also means that it can be vulnerable to malicious attacks, spam, and malware (to name a few) if not properly maintained.

WordPress, theme / framework developers, and plugin developers release security patches and updates often. It is imperative that these updates are run soon after they are released to ensure the security and functionality of a WordPress website.

But you also do not want to run updates without fully vetting them for conflicts or without knowing what else might be contained in the update package ("vetting"). In addition, sometimes certain updates need to be run in a specific order and that knowledge is not usually displayed in a warning on the WP dashboard.

Updates can easily break a website and could require a rollback of the update and/or a full revert to a backup of the site. For these reasons (and about a dozen more) updates are best handled by someone with knowledge of your site structure, the plugins and themes in use, and who knows what to watch out for.

Here's the deal. We've all seen advertisements for dirt cheap hosting. And for most simple, brochure sites without a lot of traffic, those hosting solutions may be sufficient. But if you are running a high traffic site, e-commerce, membership or any other "heavy lifting" integrations, you need more than bargain basement hosting.

Pretty much ANYTHING you want done on your site that we deem can be completed in under 30 minutes!

Examples: color adjustments, minor font changes, simple layout changes (aka basic CSS); adjust, create, or troubleshoot forms; small updates to widgets or menus; content changes; simple cut-and-paste blog posts; social syndication (send post to Facebook, Instagram, etc.); communications or questions via email about your website

Time does not rollover or accrue.

The monthly support, site update, and consulting call time functions as a retainer for us to reserve time in our monthly maintenance and development schedule to address our clients needs as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Whatever you request of us that fits within the allotted time will be completed that month in order of priority.

These are *optional* calls for our clients on certain maintenance tiers. We can discuss any aspect of your website, e-commerce, digital marketing strategy, lead generation - whatever you would like to strategize around, get support or input for, or could use some professional coaching and advice.

This is your time and it's entirely up to your discretion as to whether or not you want to use the time, how you want to use it, and how often we have these calls. The time doesn't bank or roll over but if we have a shorter call one month and a longer call the next, you are typically covered over our regular hourly rate for consulting.

Please be aware that we don't schedule these calls for you, we know you are busy and we are too! This time is just here for you whenever you need it. Just shoot us an email and we'll set up a call!

We call them "calls" but really it could be a lengthy email exchange, text messages, etc. - this time covers pretty much any contact we have with you outside of the basic technical maintenance of your site or minor updates. The whole point of this block of time is to make your developer accessible to you without the fear of hourly billing and a ticking clock.

Additional work that is generated from these meetings but is not covered by your ongoing maintenance plan will be billed hourly with a courtesy discount.

Support included in the personal plan is in relation to your site maintenance, uptime, or security.

Examples:

• Website is down
• Receiving spam through the website
• Messages aren't coming through on forms

Most other things are covered by the Site Update or Support Task time.

Please note that providing email support that is not related to the above examples is considered Site Update or Support Task time - e.g. asking questions about marketing, SEO, etc.

Priority support means two things.

First - the part you don't see: we are very closely monitoring your site(s) for potential issues and uptime. We are proactively taking measures to ensure that your site remains functional and accessible for your visitors. We are taking extra care and being extra especially vigilant on your behalf. Most of the time we have taken care of any problems before your site goes down.

Second - the part that you experience: we are dedicated to responding to our customers as soon as possible. If you have a problem with your site, let us know and we will address it asap. If your site is down, we are on it! Nights, weekends, holidays, we will get you up and running as soon as humanly possible (there are some things that are out of our control, such as server outages or natural disasters).

We try to respond to any non-urgent or non-maintenance related requests within 72 hours, Monday through Friday. If there is an emergency, we will respond as soon as possible.

Please note that email service support is not provided as part of website maintenance. Email support is best provided by your email platform - usually Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, or the 3rd party you may have licensed your email service though such as GoDaddy.

The reason for this is that we would have to charge more to offer email platform support and we don't want to do that as you are already paying for 24/7/365 support through these platforms.

We can answer simple questions regarding your email service and can help with things like adding security (in the form of DKIM, SPF, and DMARC records to your domain DNS) but for actual email support please contact your email provider.

Our Website Maintenance Plans renew automatically on the last day of the month with the automatic payment method currently on file for your account (credit card or bank account). Please note that automated payments are required for us to keep our costs low.

Due to the time it takes for us to set up your site in our system, our maintenance plans require a 3-month minimum commitment, after that your plan converts to month-to-month.

To change your billing information, please use the self-service tools on the invoice you receive monthly. For support updating your payment method, please email us at support@wirebirdmedia.com.

Please read our full Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

Upgrades can be done at any time and will be prorated.

If you want to downgrade your plan or need to cancel your services, we require a 30-day advance notice due to prepayment of applications and services that we use to deliver various aspects of our maintenance plans and so that we can properly wrap up any projects we have in progress for you.

Please email us at support@wirebirdmedia.com to change or cancel your plan.

Please see additional information in our Terms and Conditions.

Our maintenance services are tailored to provide what the bulk hosting companies don't offer - hands-on maintenance specially tailored to your site (including complex integrations such as e-commerce, memberships, forums...) - and PERSONALIZED 24/7 support.

We continually monitor your hosting for you and alert you to any problems or potential issues, giving you piece of mind that your site investment is secure. We proactively monitor for patterns of server problems and will move your site - without downtime - if necessary. Never worry about hosting again!

Before we update anything on your site we take a complete backup (they often only do the database which doesn't ensure a full recovery), vet the update for any potential conflicts, roll out each update INDIVIDUALLY, and ensure your site comes out clean and shiny.

Our plans also offer additional services and customized coaching to our clients to help accelerate and grow their business online. Offering far more value than simply hosting.

Why we recommend AGAINST the "managed" WordPress services offered by the large shared hosting companies: 

Shared hosting companies blindly roll out WordPress core, theme, framework and even plugin updates without working to minimize conflicts or ensuring that the update didn't break a page or function, or even worse, take down your entire site! In addition, these companies often do not take proper backups (one at a time on a random interval) and cannot restore your site back to where it might need to go - e.g. if something happened to your site Friday night and you didn't notice until Monday, they may not be able to fix it for you. We don't like those odds so we don't play that game.

We've found over the years that when we send monthly reports they are almost never read so, in the interest of keeping our fees down, we have stopped doing regular reporting.

If at any time you would like a current report on the status of your site, it's ongoing care, or have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out!

We have sophisticated tools in place to help us track everything that is happening on your website at any given time and would be happy to show you the work that we do!