WordPress Maintenance – Security and Performance

WordPress is the world’s leading content management system. Many great WordPress sites exist, including famous ones like Zillow, Realtor.com, and WhiteHouse.gov. However, there are also many insecure and less inspiring sites, such as the notorious Panama Papers breach. Free software attracts a wide range of skill levels. Consequently, the WordPress experts at Watermelon Web Works have extensive experience in securing websites. Our Security & Performance (S&P) plan prioritizes site security and ensures quick load times. Additionally, each site we maintain has a “Golden Metric” that we measure and constantly improve to perform better at what matters most to you. Isn’t that why you wanted a website?

To add even more value to our Maintenance, Security, and Performance clients, we include 256-bit SSL encryption (single-site, Comodo SSL certificate, a $99 value). We also provide several premium plugins (Gravity Forms, Advanced Custom Fields, Generate Blocks Pro, and more). Moreover, premium plans include access to MOZ SEO/Marketing Pro (a $400 value).

Keeping Your WordPress Site Healthy

One of our most popular services is WordPress Maintenance, Security & Performance. It is perfect for website owners without an in-house web team. We track key metrics tailored to your site and business goals. We also integrate software updates into your site’s ecosystem to keep it healthy and secure long-term.

WordPress is a powerful and user-friendly content management system. Therefore, you can expect your WordPress website to stay modern and up-to-date for years, even with a completely different design if needed.

Your WordPress website is a valuable asset worth maintaining. That is why we choose WordPress as a primary development tool. It’s a multi-million dollar piece of software available for free. Indeed, many agree with us—27% of the internet runs on WordPress. Sites like Sony Music, CNN, Google Ventures, and the New Yorker magazine all use WordPress.

Popularity Makes WordPress a Target

Because WordPress is open source (the source code is freely available and may be redistributed and modified), it is a popular target for malware, hacking, and other online threats. These can cause significant problems for site owners. Consequently, we offer our clients a monthly package that includes security updates for the WordPress core and site plugins (and APIs where applicable).

WordPress Security and Performance Packages, Features, and Pricing

We offer a monthly plan for WordPress websites of all sizes. See all package details and pricing here.

Consistently Awesome Organic SEO Results

Once your site’s software is up-to-date, it’s usually easy for us to maintain. We apply the remaining time in the WordPress Maintenance, Security & Performance monthly allocation to digital marketing and SEO. Consequently, we generally achieve excellent results with our organic SEO methods. Our aim is to give you much more value than what you pay for.

Our standard WordPress Maintenance, Security & Performance package includes:

1. Review and optimization of your site’s personal “Golden Metric.” This is a unique measurement of your site’s established goals, often conversion for a specific form, page, or revenue metric.
2. Detailed scan for malware and correction of any issues. This acts as insurance against unexpected problems. If you have a monthly service package with us, we charge nothing to mitigate such problems.
3. Detailed scan for error logs, reporting existing issues, and recommending corrective actions.
4. Updating, configuration, and testing of WordPress core and plugins. Generally, having the latest version of all plugins and software is best. However, customizations may require specific versions. We ensure compatibility with the installed WordPress version each month.
5. Updating the site’s theme and identifying the need for replacements or updates to maintain device compatibility where necessary.
6. Perform W3C code validation to ensure new content/code meets World Wide Web Consortium standards. This is important for forward compatibility and search engine recognition of targeted content.
7. Review of Google Search Console reported issues. This includes mobile usability auditing, sitemap installation and monitoring, structured data review, crawl errors review and analysis, and other search engine health checks.
8. Review of disk space and bandwidth usage to ensure the hosting package is appropriate. We investigate and correct any issues (core dump files, error logs, etc.).
9. Review of site performance. We apply gzip compression and browser caching if appropriate. We run performance analyses and provide recommendations to improve performance.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Updates:

1. Competitive analysis: compare your site to similar ones and replicate what works using our excellent tools. It’s ethical to look over your internet shoulder.
2. Establish and monitor search engine ranking and listing goals. This includes reports on page rank, traffic, etc., using our toolset developed over 16+ years.
3. Ongoing SEO work includes local business optimization, page content keyword analysis and recommendations. This includes file names, header markup, keyword density, schema.org markup for addresses/business names/etc., competitive analysis, and recommendations.
4. Off-site optimization and maintenance. This includes social media, directories, and business resources like Google Business and similar services.

Monthly Reports on Your WordPress Site

Each month, we provide a detailed report on the above items and recommendations.

We work with each client individually to determine appropriate goals and business success factors for their site. Get in touch to discuss what will work best for your site.