Every now and then a client mentions they saw an ad, or heard from a family member who is good with computers, that a website can be hosted for a few dollars a month. That’s true. You can rent server space for about the price of a fancy coffee, and if you wanted to move your site there, nothing is stopping you. It’s a fair question to ask what the difference is, and the honest answer is that the server space is the smallest part of what you pay us for. The bigger part is the ongoing work that keeps your site running and the responsibility for fixing it when something goes wrong.
What’s actually under the hood
Your website looks like one thing to your visitors, but underneath it is a collection of code files working together. WordPress is the platform everything runs on. The theme is the backbone that controls how the site is built and laid out, and the plugins add the features, like your contact form, photo galleries, or search bar. Each of those pieces is written and maintained by a different developer or company, and each one releases updates on its own schedule. Some updates add new features, many fix compatibility problems, and a good number patch security holes that were found after the last release. A typical small business site might run a dozen or more plugins, so updates show up all the time.
WordPress does have an update button, and you can even set things to update on their own. The trouble is that all of those developers aren’t coordinating with each other. An update to one plugin can clash with another plugin or with the theme, and when that happens the result can be a broken page or a site that won’t load at all. If updates run automatically with nobody watching, a site can sit broken for days before anyone notices, which usually happens when a customer mentions they couldn’t find your phone number. That’s why we don’t leave your updates on autopilot. We run them, check that the site still works afterward, and fix any conflicts on the spot.
Why skipping updates doesn’t work either
The opposite approach, leaving everything alone so nothing breaks, creates a different problem. Outdated plugins and themes are the most common way websites get hacked. The people behind these attacks use automated tools that scan the internet for sites running old versions with known holes, so a small local business is just as likely to get hit as a large company. Once someone gets in, they can tuck malware into different corners of the site, send your visitors to spam pages, or in some cases lock you out of your own website. Cleaning that up means tracking down every piece of bad code, removing it, repairing whatever was damaged, and then patching the hole that let them in. It’s slow and detailed work, and it costs far more than keeping the doors locked in the first place. A brand new car can still get a flat tire, and the point is to have someone checking the tires before you’re stuck on the side of the road.
What we do for you
We run updates on a regular monthly schedule, but we don’t wait for the calendar when something is urgent. Our tools, along with notices from plugin developers, let us know when a security fix needs to go out right away, and we apply those between our regular rounds. Those same tools keep an eye on your site, so if it goes down there’s a good chance we’ll know before you do. Your site is also backed up every day, and we keep two weeks of those backups. If an update goes sideways or something gets damaged, we can roll your site back to a version from before the problem started.
If something does break, you don’t have to figure out what went wrong. You only need to let us know that something looks off, and we’ll take it from there. We work to have your site back up within a few hours, and within a day at the most, and that repair work is part of your hosting. You won’t get a separate invoice for it.
What changes if you host it yourself
If you move your site to budget hosting, the server will probably work just fine. What moves along with it is the responsibility. Running updates, testing afterward, watching for urgent security fixes, keeping backups, and troubleshooting when things break all become your job, or the job of whoever you hand them to. If something goes wrong and you need outside help, most web professionals, us included, bill that kind of work by the hour and fit it in around the clients they already support. That can mean your site stays down until someone has an opening.
It’s worth doing a little math here. Think about what one day of your site being down might cost you in missed calls or lost jobs, and then think about a week. For most businesses, one bad stretch costs more than the difference between our hosting and the cheapest option out there. What you’re really paying for is the freedom to not think about any of this and get back to running your business.
If you ever have questions about what’s been done on your site, or something just seems a little off, give us a call or send an email. You don’t need to know the technical words for it. We’re always happy to explain, and we’d much rather hear from you early than have you sitting there wondering.