In Brief
DIY works well if you have 2-4 hours per month and feel comfortable with basic technical tasks
Professional help costs £50-£150 per month and removes the technical burden
The key maintenance tasks are updates, backups, security monitoring, and performance checks
Complex sites with WooCommerce or multiple plugins benefit most from professional attention
Choose based on your available time, technical confidence, and how much your website matters to your business
Your WordPress website needs regular attention to stay secure and working properly.
Updates arrive constantly, backups need managing, and security threats keep evolving.
So should you handle all this yourself, or pay someone else to do it?
This is a genuine dilemma for small business owners. DIY maintenance saves money but demands your time and attention. Professional services cost more but give you peace of mind.
Neither option is universally “better” – it depends entirely on your situation.
This article breaks down exactly what WordPress maintenance involves, what each approach requires from you, and how to make the right choice for your business.
By the end, you’ll know which path makes sense for your circumstances.
Table of Contents
What WordPress Maintenance Actually Involves
Before comparing your options, you need to understand what maintenance actually means. It’s not just clicking “update” occasionally.
Regular Updates
WordPress receives updates throughout the year. Some are minor security patches. Others are major releases with new features. Your plugins and theme also release updates independently.
Keeping everything updated matters because outdated software creates security vulnerabilities. Hackers specifically target known weaknesses in old WordPress versions and popular plugins. Each update you skip makes your site a slightly easier target.
Updates also fix bugs and improve compatibility. Running old versions can cause features to break or conflict with each other.
How to Update WordPress Safely: Step-by-Step Guide
Backups and Security
Your website needs regular backups stored somewhere safe. If something goes wrong, whether from a failed update, a hack, or a hosting problem, backups let you restore your site quickly. Without them, you could lose everything.
Security involves more than just keeping things updated. You need monitoring for malware, protection against brute-force login attempts, and awareness of suspicious activity. A hacked site damages your reputation and can take days to clean up properly.
Site speed deserves attention too. Slow sites frustrate visitors and hurt your Google rankings. Regular performance checks help catch problems before they affect your business.
The DIY Approach to WordPress Maintenance
Managing your own WordPress site is entirely possible. Millions of business owners do it successfully. But you need to understand what’s involved.
What You’ll Need to Do
Weekly tasks (30-60 minutes):
- Check for and apply plugin updates
- Review any security notifications
- Check your site loads correctly after updates
- Monitor spam comments if you have a blog
Monthly tasks (1-2 hours):
- Apply WordPress core updates
- Update your theme
- Check your backup system is working
- Test your contact forms and other important features
- Review your site speed
- Remove unused plugins
Occasional tasks (as needed):
- Troubleshoot problems when something breaks
- Research and fix compatibility issues
- Renew your domain and hosting
- Review and update passwords
Realistically, DIY maintenance takes 2-4 hours per month when things run smoothly. Problems can add significantly to this. A failed update that breaks your site might cost you a whole afternoon to fix.
Skills Required
You don’t need to be a developer, but you do need:
- Comfort with the WordPress admin dashboard
- Willingness to research solutions when problems occur
- Ability to follow technical instructions carefully
- Patience to troubleshoot issues methodically
- Confidence to make changes (while knowing when to stop)
The biggest risk with DIY maintenance is getting stuck. Updates occasionally cause conflicts. Plugins sometimes break. When this happens, you need either the skills to fix it yourself or the budget to call in emergency help.
If the idea of your site showing a blank white screen fills you with dread, DIY maintenance might not suit your temperament.
The Case for Professional Maintenance
Professional WordPress maintenance means paying someone to handle the technical work for you. Services typically cost between £50 and £150 per month, depending on what’s included.
What Professional Services Include
Most maintenance packages cover:
- All WordPress, plugin, and theme updates
- Regular automated backups with off-site storage
- Security monitoring and malware scanning
- Uptime monitoring (alerts if your site goes down)
- Testing after updates to catch problems
Some services also include minor content changes, performance optimisation, or a certain number of support hours for questions and small fixes.
Professional providers test updates before applying them. They keep backups ready to restore your site within minutes if something goes wrong. They understand how different plugins interact and can spot potential conflicts before they cause problems.
WordPress Uptime Monitoring: Keeping Your Site Online
When Professional Help Makes Sense
Professional maintenance is worth considering if:
Your site is business-critical. When your website generates leads, bookings, or sales, downtime directly costs you money. Professional maintenance reduces that risk significantly.
You run WooCommerce or complex plugins. Online shops and sites with membership systems, booking features, or extensive integrations have more moving parts. More plugins and features mean more chances for something to break.
Your time is valuable elsewhere. If you bill £50 per hour for your services, spending 4 hours on maintenance each month costs you £200 in lost earnings. A £99 maintenance plan suddenly looks economical.
You don’t enjoy technical tasks. Some people find website management satisfying. Others find it stressful and confusing. If you’re in the second group, paying someone else makes perfect sense.
You’ve been burned before. If you’ve experienced a hack, a broken site, or lost data due to missing backups, you already know the value of proper maintenance.
How to Decide Which Option Suits You
Neither DIY nor professional maintenance is inherently better. The right choice depends on your specific circumstances.
Questions to Ask Yourself
How much time can you genuinely commit? Be honest with yourself. If website maintenance will always fall to the bottom of your to-do list, it won’t get done properly. Neglected sites become vulnerable sites.
How confident are you with technical tasks? There’s no shame in admitting technology isn’t your strength. Understanding your limitations is sensible, not weakness.
How complex is your site? A simple brochure website with a contact form has different needs than an online shop processing payments. More features mean more maintenance requirements.
What happens if your site goes down? If a day of downtime would cost you hundreds of pounds in lost business, professional maintenance is probably worth the investment. If your website is useful but not business-critical, DIY might be fine.
What’s your budget? Professional maintenance costs money. If £100 per month would strain your budget significantly, DIY might be your only realistic option for now.
Making Your Decision
Here’s a straightforward way to think about it:
Choose DIY maintenance if: You have available time each month, feel reasonably comfortable with technology, run a simple website, and don’t mind learning as you go. Just commit to actually doing it regularly.
Choose professional maintenance if: Your time is limited or better spent elsewhere, you find technical tasks stressful, your site is important to your income, or you’ve had problems in the past. The monthly cost is an investment in reliability and peace of mind.
Consider a hybrid approach if: You want to stay involved but need backup. Some business owners handle routine updates themselves but have a professional available for emergencies and annual health checks.
Whatever you choose, the important thing is having a plan. WordPress sites need regular attention. Ignoring maintenance isn’t a valid third option – it just delays problems until they become emergencies.
If you’re currently doing nothing, start somewhere.
Either block out time in your calendar for DIY maintenance or get quotes from professional services. Taking action now prevents bigger headaches later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Check for plugin updates weekly. Apply them promptly unless you have a specific reason to wait, such as compatibility concerns with a major update. Security updates should be applied as soon as possible. Most updates take only a few clicks and complete within minutes.
Yes, this hybrid approach works well for many small businesses. You might handle routine content updates and basic checks yourself while paying a professional for monthly security audits, performance optimisation, and emergency support. Discuss this arrangement upfront with any provider.
A proper backup lets you restore your site to its previous working state. This is why backups before updates matter so much. Professional services take backups automatically and can restore quickly. DIY users should use a plugin like UpdraftPlus and test restoring at least once.
UK WordPress maintenance services typically charge between £50 and £150 per month. Basic plans around £50-£75 cover updates, backups, and monitoring. More complete packages at £100-£150 often include support hours, performance optimisation, and priority response times.
Automatic updates work well for minor WordPress releases and security patches. They’re generally safe for simple sites with few plugins. However, complex sites benefit from manual updates with testing. If you enable automatic updates, make sure you have reliable automated backups running too.
Security breaches are the most serious risk. Hackers actively scan for WordPress sites running outdated software with known vulnerabilities. A hacked site can spread malware to visitors, send spam, or display embarrassing content. Cleaning up afterwards costs far more than regular maintenance would have.
You need basic computer literacy and willingness to learn, but not programming skills. The WordPress dashboard is designed for non-technical users. You should feel comfortable following instructions, researching problems online, and knowing when something is beyond your abilities.
Ask about: What exactly is included? How quickly do they respond to emergencies? Where are backups stored? Do they test updates before applying them? What happens if an update causes problems? Can you see monthly reports? Are they UK-based with UK business hours support?
Yes, switching is straightforward. A professional provider will typically audit your site first, fix any existing issues, then begin regular maintenance. If your site has been neglected, expect a one-off cleanup fee before ongoing maintenance begins. Most providers handle the transition smoothly.