Website Maintenance Plan: Do I need one?


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Do I need a maintenance plan?

Most likely, your organization will be fine without a maintenance plan. We will always be around for those tasks that you may need help with. Web maintenance plans are best suited for organizations that are growing fast but do not have the designated staff yet due to budgeting or the workload. If this is the case Young Seagull can be your integrated team – filling your needs in the interim.

As of 2010 we started developing our websites with content management system technology to ensure our clients can maintain their websites without the need for significant technical skills. Depending on the long term needs and budget of our clients we offer different content management solutions such as WordPress, Drupal.

If content management is so easy, why do I need a maintenance plan?!

You absolutely do not need a maintenance plan. Our goal is to integrate content management system in a way that you can control your website without having to outsource it. Most of our clients choose to manage their website on their own and we fully encourage this.

In the mean time over the years we’ve characterized some of our customer’s maintenance needs into several different maintenance plans:

Plan A: I have limited staff and I only need updates every now and then

This is the most common maintenance plan that we work with. In this scenario, we work on an hourly basis to make updates. Guaranteed turnaround time is 24 hours. Below are a few examples of the tasks we help our clients with:

  • Addition – deletion of pages, new/events, featured announcements
  • Addition of documents such as PowerPoint presentations, manuals, etc.
  • Online fill-able PDF files
  • Formatting of advanced content like tables and charts
  • Graphics design tasks like cropping and sizing photos, adding new image galleries
  • Addition of new plug-ins, online forms, order forms, registration forms
  • Layout updates to the website

Plan B: We need regular updates but don’t have the staff to support us

For clients that have a dedicated need for service, we can provide fixed dedicated hours. We generally ask for a minimum of 8 hours per month of work. We will be able to perform advanced customizations and integrations such as:

  • Regular plug-in updates
  • Once a month backups
  • Developing custom plug-ins or extending existing plug-in functionality
  • Online newsletters,  e-mail campaigns
  • Addition of new plug-ins (polls, questionnaires)
  • Content writing to enhance the content of your website
  • Manipulating imagery with graphic programs such as Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
  • Search engine optimization services
  • Detailed reports of your Google analytics data and optimization of your site to help optimize your visitors experience in line with your organization’s goals
  • Shopping cart management
  • Online workshop maintenance

Guaranteed turnaround time: 24 hours/365 days

“Rollover plans” – means we do not charge overages. Some months we expect a bit more work, others a bit less. By giving us the opportunity to provide a dedicated resource we return the favor by reducing your risk in unexpected fees.

Plan C: I need someone to keep my site secure, update the system and take backups

We recommend our clients use a hosting provider they feel comfortable with. If you would like to host with us we can incorporate your needs in to your hosting plan.

With this plan we generally ask minimum of 4 hours per month.

Also as a third option we can manage your relationship with your hosting provider for a nominal surcharge.