"I Just Want Someone to Look After My WordPress Site" — Here's What That Costs and What You Get

You didn't start a business to babysit a website. You started it to cook, or build, or advise, or sell the thing you're good at. Somewhere along the way you ended up with a WordPress site, and now it sends you emails about updates and you're not totally sure the backups are working.

If you've typed "someone to manage my WordPress site" into a search box, you're not behind. You've just noticed that a website needs someone watching it. The question is who.

Should I actually hire someone?

Honest answer: it depends on what the site is for.

Yes, probably, if any of these are true:

• It's how customers find you. If people land on your site and call or book from there, downtime and broken pages cost you real money — even if you never see the number.
• You've had a scare. A hack, a morning where the site was just gone, or an update that broke your contact form. Once it's happened, you know it can happen again.
• You're spending evenings on it. If "check the website" is on your weekend list, that's time you could sell or spend with your family.
• Nobody knows the login. Your original designer set it up years ago, the hosting renews on a card you half remember, and there's no one to call.

Maybe not, if:

• It's a hobby site you genuinely enjoy tinkering with. If updating plugins on a Sunday morning is relaxing, keep doing it.

For most owner-run businesses, though, paying someone to look after the site is the same decision as paying someone to do the books.

Your three options, plainly

There are really three ways to do this. Each is right for somebody.

1. A freelancer you trust

Often the cheapest route, and it can be the best one — if you have someone who reliably answers. A good freelancer knows your site's quirks and will often work for a modest monthly amount or by the hour.

The risk is the person, not the skill. Freelancers get busy, change careers, or simply stop replying. If you go this route, make sure you (not they) hold the hosting account, the domain, and an admin login.

2. An agency retainer

Agencies are thorough: a proper process, documented work, a team rather than one person. If you have a large or complicated site — an online store, custom features, integrations — a retainer can be exactly right.

The trade-offs: it typically starts around $150 a month, hosting is often a separate bill, and as a small business you may be one of the smaller accounts. Attention tends to follow the size of the retainer.

3. A managed host with a care plan

This is the middle path, and it's what we do at Site Schema. The site lives on hosting we run, and looking after it is part of the deal. One predictable monthly amount, hosting included, and a real person to email or call when something feels off.

In plain words, here's what "looking after it" means each week:

• We keep WordPress, your theme, and plugins updated, and check the site afterward.
• We take a backup every night and keep it somewhere the site isn't.
• We keep the SSL padlock valid and run security protection and monitoring.
• We watch uptime around the clock, so if the site goes down we usually know before you do.
• We keep the site fast with caching, and send a short weekly report in plain English.
• We move your site over from wherever it is now, free.

Our plans run Solo $25, Studio $35, and Growth $50 per month, each for a single site with hosting included. We're a small New England team in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, looking after around fifty small-business sites — most of them in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The honest limitation: a care plan keeps the site healthy and online. Redesigns, new features, and big content projects are separate work — with us or whoever you like.

What to ask before you hire anyone

Whichever route you take, these questions separate the people who will actually look after your site from the people who will just send an invoice.

1. Do you take backups — and have you ever restored one? Anyone can say "yes" to the first half. Ask when they last actually restored a site and how long it took.
2. Who do I call at 9pm when the site is down? Get a name and a method. "Submit a ticket" is fine if someone reads it.
3. What happens if I leave? You should be able to take your site, domain, and backups with you without a fight.
4. Is hosting included, or a separate bill? Two providers means two people who can say "that's not us."
5. What's not covered? Every plan has edges. Better to know now that design changes or new pages are extra.

If the answers come back clearly, you've probably found someone good — a freelancer down the road, an agency, or a host like us. If they hedge, keep looking. Your website is how a lot of people meet your business for the first time; it deserves someone who'll pick up the phone.