Updates, backups, and uptime monitoring — so a plugin update doesn't take your site down at 2am.
What's included in WordPress maintenance?
Core WordPress maintenance covers core/plugin/theme updates tested on staging before going live, automated daily backups, uptime monitoring, and security patching. Dotance's plans start at monthly core updates + backup verification and scale up to same-day emergency fixes.
WordPress sites break for one boring reason more than any other: someone updated a plugin without testing it first. We stage every update, test the site, then push live — so "just a routine update" never turns into a support ticket. Backups run automatically and get spot-checked (a backup nobody has verified restores is not a backup). Uptime monitoring alerts us before your client notices the site is down, not after.
What's included: monthly core/plugin/theme updates via staging test, daily automated backups with monthly restore verification, uptime monitoring, and a fixed monthly bug-fix allowance.
Common Problems We Fix
White screen of death after a plugin update.
Almost always a PHP fatal error from a plugin conflict or version incompatibility. Fix: restore from the pre-update backup immediately (site back up in minutes), then diagnose the conflict on staging before retrying the update.
My site was working yesterday and now it's just gone/showing an error.
Common causes: expired hosting, exhausted PHP memory limit, or a corrupted .htaccess from a caching plugin. Fix: check error logs first (not guesswork), restore the specific broken component, not the whole site if unnecessary.
I'm scared to update anything because it might break the site.
This fear is rational if updates have never been tested on staging — but it also means the site is running increasingly outdated, insecure software. Fix: staging-tested monthly updates remove the "reason not to update," which is the actual risk.
My backup plugin says it's backing up but I've never actually restored one.
An unverified backup is a false sense of security — many only discover a backup is corrupted/incomplete during an actual emergency. Fix: monthly restore-to-staging test as a standing part of the maintenance plan.
Site is randomly slow or down and I don't know why.
Often invisible until a client complains. Fix: uptime + performance monitoring that alerts before your customer notices, not after.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if an update breaks my site?
We roll back to the pre-update backup immediately and diagnose the conflict before retrying — most plans include this as part of the monthly fee, not billed as an emergency.
How often do you check backups actually work?
Monthly restore tests to a staging environment — a backup that's never been restored is a guess, not a safety net.
Do you cover security patches too?
Yes — critical security patches are applied same-day, outside the normal monthly update cycle.
What if my site is already broken right now?
We offer one-off emergency fixes outside a maintenance plan — no need to commit to a retainer just to get unblocked today.
Do you host the site too, or just maintain it?
Maintenance is independent of hosting — we can work with your existing host (Hostinger or otherwise) or recommend one if needed.
How fast do you respond to a down-site emergency?
Same-day for active maintenance clients; response time for one-off emergency requests depends on current workload, confirmed at time of request.