# What does WordPress maintenance actually include?

**Short answer:** Good WordPress maintenance covers updates to core, themes and plugins with a backup before each one, off-site backups, uptime and error monitoring, security hardening, performance checks, and someone to fix what breaks. Redesigns and new features are usually separate projects.

## The essentials

- Updates to WordPress core, themes and plugins, with a backup first and a check afterwards that key pages, forms and checkout still work.
- Backups stored off the server, so a hosting problem doesn't take your backups with it.
- Uptime monitoring, so you hear about downtime before your customers do.
- Error monitoring: PHP errors, failed scheduled tasks and failed emails.
- Security: removing unused plugins and accounts, reviewing who has admin access, and keeping PHP on a supported version.
- Performance: caching, database cleanup and checks on Core Web Vitals.

## What separates good care from an update button

Anyone can click Update all. The value is in what happens when something goes wrong: tracing why forms stopped sending, why pages time out under bot traffic, or why renewals stopped charging, and fixing the cause instead of the symptom.

## How often

Security updates should go on as soon as they're released and tested. Other updates, checks and reports can run on a weekly or monthly rhythm, depending on how busy the site is and how much it earns.

## What's usually not included

Redesigns, new features, migrations and large content projects are normally quoted separately, though a good care arrangement leaves some time each month for small changes.

## Related

- [WordPress care & maintenance](https://www.designnairobi.agency/services/wordpress-care.md)
- [Global Atlanta case study](https://www.designnairobi.agency/case-studies/global-atlanta.md)
- [Heritage Hills case study](https://www.designnairobi.agency/case-studies/heritage-hills.md)

Author: Eric Mutema, Full Stack Developer: Websites, Stores, Apps & AI (https://www.designnairobi.agency/). Web page: https://www.designnairobi.agency/articles/what-does-wordpress-maintenance-include.html