Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing WordPress Site Maintenance

Whether you are thinking of outsourcing WordPress development or outsourcing your WordPress site maintenance, you need to know the right questions to ask. This post covers the key points and “questions to ask before outsourcing WordPress site maintenance” so you can find a provider who will keep your site secure and running smoothly.

Quick Summary

• What services are included in a WordPress maintenance package? Updates, backups, security, performance optimizations?
• How experienced is the maintenance provider? History, past performance, and whether they can cater to your needs.
• How do they handle emergencies, communication, security, backups, testing environments, and pricing?

What’s Included in the Maintenance Package?

A WordPress maintenance service should be all-encompassing, covering everything from the routine – updating the WordPress core, plugins, themes – to the specific – weekly updates, 24/7 support, and uptime monitoring.

But don’t just read the surface-level package descriptions. Dig deeper. Does the maintenance package include:

• Daily backups for data recovery?
• Advanced services like speed and mobile optimization for complex sites?
• Premium security tools and malware removal to protect your asset?

How Experienced is the Maintenance Provider with WordPress Sites?

Experience separates a beginner from a pro. For your WordPress site, you need a provider who knows WordPress core files and can optimize them for performance.

Ask about their history with WordPress sites and how long they’ve been doing this. Providers like WPBeginner Pro Services, who have been in business for over 16 years, are the kind of expertise you should look for.

Besides their length of service, consider the following when evaluating a maintenance team:

• Their past performance in specific maintenance tasks
• Can they offer custom solutions
• Do they service agencies and freelancers, meaning they have a package that may fit your needs

Can you provide references or case studies from similar clients?

Before you commit, ask for proof of their past work. References or case studies are the behind-the-scenes magic and the icing on the cake. Look into how many similar clients they’ve worked with and the results of those projects. Have they kept the sites running smoothly and securely?

This isn’t about right or wrong answers but about making sure there’s an alignment between the provider’s capabilities and your expectations. A provider who shows off their portfolio is confident in their work, and that’s music to your ears.

How Do You Handle Emergencies and Downtime?

Downtime is an unexpected pause everyone hates. It’s important to know how a provider handles such disruptions. Ask about:

• Emergency support team
• 24/7 monitoring
• Response times
• Can they troubleshoot various WordPress errors from 404 to 500

A provider’s ability to handle emergencies can be the difference between a minor hiccup and a major issue. Make sure they have:

• A good IP transfer process in place so handovers between team members are quick and seamless
• Data protection in place
• Can keep your site live during emergencies

How Do You Manage Project Communication?

Communication is like the baton of a conductor that keeps everyone in harmony. Without it you risk communication breakdowns. A good support and maintenance provider will have systems in place to manage project communication using tools that promote transparency and responsiveness. Expect regular email updates, support ticket system and access to project management tools so you’re always in the loop with your site’s maintenance.

Automated reports on critical metrics like uptime, performance, and security status can give you a regular snapshot of your site’s health, like a performance review. This level of detail prevents data silos and keeps the information flowing between you and your maintenance provider.

What Security Measures Do You Use?

Security should always be the shining star. In the WordPress world, this means:

• Malware scanning and vulnerability checks
• Themes and plugins are up to date, reducing security vulnerabilities
• Strong password policies and 2FA

Ask about the provider’s process for having systems in place to protect your site. Some of the things to ask are:

• File permissions set to secure levels
• Security audits and updates
• Data encryption
• Firewall
• Intrusion detection and prevention systems

How Often Do You Back Up and Where?

Backups are the safety net that ensures continuity even when things go wrong. Ask about the backup process. Are they automated for quick restore, or are manual backups also an option? The frequency of backups, daily, weekly, or monthly, should match your site’s needs and the risk involved.

As for storage, backups should be like a fully stocked inventory table – available in multiple locations. Make sure the provider uses cloud storage or third-party services like Dropbox or Google Drive to store your backups. This ensures data redundancy, and you won’t lose valuable data if something unexpected happens.

Do You Test Updates in Multiple Environments?

Before you apply anything, there’s a trial run. Same with website updates. A provider should have multiple environments – development, staging and production – to test updates before they go live. This way your live site remains a smooth performance, free from bugs and downtime.

Ask if they mirror your live site in a staging environment to test everything from core updates to new plugins. The closer these environments are to your live site, the more confident you are that your site will perform well with tested changes. Providers like Valet who do this show they care about keeping your site in the spotlight for all the right reasons.

How Do You Keep Up with Web Changes?

Keeping up with web changes is like keeping up with the latest music trends – it’s essential for top performance. WordPress maintenance providers must have their technical knowledge up to date and have their finger on the pulse of web changes.

Whether it’s new features like Headless WordPress architecture for dynamic solutions or Google’s Core Web Vitals for better user experience, staying current is not optional. In this case, WordPress maintenance is key to a smooth WordPress site.

It’s not just about being current; it’s about continually refining and improving your website maintenance for better performance. Make sure your provider uses structured workflows like those provided by a Source Code Management tool like Git to manage updates and changes.

What’s Your Pricing, and Are There Any Hidden Fees?

When the bill arrives, will you be pleasantly surprised or shocked by the extra charges? Understanding the pricing structure is purely financial. Website maintenance costs can vary wildly, and you need to know what’s included in the monthly or annual fees. Will tech support fees serenade you or hit a sour note?

Ask for a breakdown of costs and be wary of hidden fees not included in the initial quote. Outsourcing can be cost effective compared to an in-house team but only if you know the full score. A transparent pricing model means you won’t get any surprise bills and you can budget for your site’s maintenance.

Do You Have a Disaster Recovery Plan?

While applause is great, what about a plan for when things go wrong? A disaster recovery plan is your backstage crew, ready to jump in when something goes haywire. This plan is more than just regular backups; it’s a structured approach to get your site back up and running quickly and smoothly in case of a disaster.

Make sure your provider has a full disaster recovery plan with backup verification to confirm your safety copies are good. It should cover all aspects of website recovery from hardware failures to accidental damage so you never lose valuable data.

A detailed plan is included in your encore so your website can keep performing no matter what.

How Will You Improve My Website’s Performance?

The best part of any website is the performance. It’s the encore that keeps your audience coming back. Regular maintenance is key to your site performing well. From optimising images to reduce load times to cleaning the database to improve website performance a good support and optimisation provider knows all the tricks.

Using caching, a Content Delivery Network (CDN), and minimizing external embeds are all part of the show to deliver performance and improve search engine rankings. Your provider should do regular reviews and remove unnecessary plugins to keep your site lean and mean so it’s ready for the standing ovation it deserves.

FAQS