WordPress Maintenance & Management Features

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

Every so often, the WordPress core development team pushes new updates of the WordPress core software files to add features, fix bugs, make improvements and improve the overall security of WordPress.

Some — but not all — web hosts automatically update your WordPress files for you. The problem with this is that the new WordPress code may not be compatible with some of the plugins that are installed on your site, causing them to stop working, resulting in display errors, or making your site completely non-functional. And that’s no good for your business!

We take a different approach. Compared to other services who use automated tools to update WordPress, SierraHosts only offers Managed WP Core Updates. We run a backup and then manually inspect your website before and after your core WP files are updated to ensure that everything on your site continues to work as expected. If anything breaks on your site as a result of a WordPress core update, we roll it back to the previous working version before (hopefully) anyone even notices.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

Like WordPress core files, the developers of your site’s WordPress plugins will occasionally push new updates to fix bugs and make improvements. Typically, plugin updates have no averse affects. But they can, and this could cause an important feature on your site, such as a contact form, to stop functioning properly.

Our approach to updating your site’s plugins is the same as WP core updates: with Managed Plugin Updates your WordPress plugins will be updated manually, one-by-one, and your site will be inspected before and after each update to ensure that everything works as it should. If it doesn’t, we’ll roll your plugin back to the previous working version.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

Less frequently, WordPress themes also need to be updated. Our Managed Theme Updates ensure that your site will look and function the same as it did before the update.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

All WordPress sites use the default /wp-admin path for logins — and hackers know this! One of the best ways to prevent hack attempts on your site is by changing the default login path to a unique one that only you and your team know. We’ll set up a custom login path on your site to prevent these type of intrusion attempts.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

Off-site backups are an important part of every website security plan. Your website will be backed up on a regularly recurring schedule to a web server that’s separate and independent from your main server. In case anything happens to your main server, your back-ups stay safe and secure in another location.

Essential plans feature one backup per month, which is suitable for sites that don’t require frequent content changes. Plus plans feature twice monthly off-site backups and are best for sites that have content changes at least once per week. Pro plans feature weekly backups, suitable for websites with frequent website changes and updates.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

Accidents happen. Maybe your assistant accidentally deletes some critical WordPress files. Or your web server’s hard drive gets damaged and loses your website files forever. No need to fear. We’ll restore your website using the most recent off-site backup to get you back online fast.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

A Monthly Work Report will detail everything we did on your site during the month as part of your WordPress Maintenance Plan.

Included in: Essential Plus Pro

One of the very first things we do once you sign up for a WordPress Maintenance Plan is run an Initial Malware Scan to check your website for viruses and other malicious code to ensure that its not infected or corrupted in any way. In the event we find a problem, we’ll let you know and propose a corrective course of action for your website.

Included in: Plus Pro

Security is only as strong as your weakest link. In the event that your website gets hacked or compromised, a Malware Scan will identify it so that we can remove it and restore your site back to proper working order.

Included in: Plus Pro

Firewall + Brute Force Security protection adds another powerful layer of security to your WordPress site. A web application firewall quickly blocks known attack vectors prior to site file & database loads, and brute force protection limits and then blocks repeated, incorrect login attempts to your WordPress Dashboard.

Included in: Plus Pro

Need to copy and move your WordPress website to a new web host? We’ll take care of it so you can avoid the mistakes and technical headaches that are common for those not familiar with WordPress migrations.

Included in: Plus Pro

Made a mistake that broke your site? Something not working the way it should be? Don’t worry. Our Plus and Pro plans have you covered with Tech Support & Fixes. Just let us know what’s wrong and we’ll get on it. Plus plans include up to 30 minutes of technical support and fixes each month. Pro plans include one hour of tech support and fixes each month.

Included in: Plus Pro

Don’t lose sales and visitors to a non-functioning website. 24/7 Uptime Monitoring Alerts keep a constant eye on your website and notify us when your website fails to load due to a web hosting or website problem. Recurring uptime problems are a red flag and could indicate that better hosting is required for your website.

Included in: Plus Pro

Studies show that 50% of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less, and that they will abandon a site that doesn’t load within 3 seconds. Page load speed is also an important factor in search rankings. An Initial Performance Audit report will show you how fast your website loads and what can be improved to make it load faster. If you want your site to be at the top of it’s game, you can’t afford to overlook this critical performance data.

Included in: Pro

Need occasional changes made to your page content? How about optimizing and adding new images? Maybe you need help with formatting and publishing new posts to your blog on a regular basis. Just let us know what Content Updates are needed and we’ll handle it for you. If you need additional time beyond the first hour, we can set up a custom content management plan that suits your specific publishing needs.

Included in: Pro

Broken links on your website cause user frustration and can result in negative consequences for your site’s search engine rankings. Check + Repair Broken Links will keep an eye on your links and let us know when they’re broken so that they can be fixed in a timely fashion.

Included in: Pro

Over time, your WordPress database can get clogged up with old data that can slow down your site’s overall performance. Our Clean + Optimize Database service will free up space on your web server and keep your database running smoothly for optimal performance and visitor satisfaction.

Included in: Pro

How do you know if your website is a successful part of your business? You can’t measure what you don’t track. That’s why Google Analytics Setup is a must for every small business website. Analytics provides detailed insight about your site’s visitors and their locations, most popular pages, traffic sources, user flow, drop-off points and more. The data it provides is a gold mine that provides insight into how to make your website a more profitable part of your business.