More and more businesses are seeking professional support for their WordPress websites. This can come in the form of a long-term maintenance plan, or WordPress emergency support. But the scope – and quality – of these services can vary widely between providers, and between the individual plans they offer. With that in mind, it’s vital to choose the best WordPress support service for your individual needs.

In this easy-to-read guide, we’ll assess the problems that make professional support necessary, then we’ll explain the key features to look for when choosing between WordPress maintenance plans or repair services.

Why Do I Need Support?

Whether you rely on your WordPress website to sell products internationally, or to bring in calls from local clients, it’s vital to your success. That’s why the prospect of a glitch, hack or human error leading to extensive downtime is the stuff of nightmares.

Common Problems with WordPress Websites

WordPress is way ahead of the pack as the world’s number-one content management system. But despite its robust credentials and worldwide popularity, it isn’t flawless, and several common problems make WordPress support services vital

1. Hacks: WordPress is actually a very secure system, but its sheer popularity makes it a tempting target for hackers, who are constantly searching for vulnerabilities in the software. Hosting Facts recently reported that 90,000 websites are hacked every day. Alarmingly, 83% of those are WordPress websites.

2. WordPress plugin errors: The core of the WordPress system is feature-rich and capable, but it’s also supplemented by a breath-taking variety of plugins. Some of the top WordPress plugins power contact forms, chat widgets, ecommerce functions – and more. But essential as plugins are, they also increase the attack surface for hackers, as well as increasing the chances of software conflicts and other glitches.

3. Bad updates: Applying WordPress updates is one of the best ways to keep the system secure. Beyond simply updating the core WordPress software, it’s also important to update WordPress plugins and your theme. The security benefits of updating WordPress are undeniable, but these updates can occasionally cause unexpected problems of their own.

4. Human error: While human error isn’t a WordPress-specific issue, it is a significant cause of problems. WordPress is actually easier to use than rival content management systems, such as Joomla or Drupal. Even so, an inexperienced user may misconfigure the software or delete important files and data. If that same user has failed to create backups, then the loss could be permanent.

Learn more about other common WordPress problems, and how to avoid them.

WordPress Repair Services

In some cases, the need for a professional repair service is clear. In other cases, you may be tempted to try a DIY repair. However, before taking this path, you should honestly assess your level of ability – and the amount of time you can commit.

Professional WordPress repairs often represent a faster, safer, and more efficient solution than a DIY fix. This becomes especially important if your website is suffering from a serious problem that has made it inaccessible to visitors.

Some WordPress repair specialists charge by the hour – an approach that can quickly prove costly. Others apply a simple flat fee for their repairs – offering greater peace of mind for you, as the client.

Hacks and Malware

If your website has been hacked, attempting to resolve the problem yourself is risky. Hackers are often subtle in their approach, and may deliberately weaken your website from within – perhaps creating a ‘backdoor’ to make future attacks easier.

The hackers could discreetly implant malware to undermine the integrity of your website. That malware could do anything, from stealing login credentials to infecting your visitors’ home computers. As the website’s owner, your response to the crisis could determine its severity. With your business’ reputation at stake, a professional WordPress repair service is the only viable solution.

Unfortunately, repairing a hacked WordPress website can be complex. The appropriate fix depends on the extent of the hack, and the actions the hackers have taken. It’s best to get a personalised quote for this kind of service, as this will ensure that the repair is conducted comprehensively, without any corners being cut.

WordPress Maintenance Plans

Many business owners are motivated to take out website maintenance contracts, in order to prevent problems before they occur. But there’s much more to choosing the best WordPress maintenance plan than simply searching for the lowest monthly fee. Instead, you should look at the services provided, and ensure that these cover the key maintenance tasks laid out below.

WordPress Maintenance Tasks

1. Initial WordPress repair services: Too many business owners only realise the importance of WordPress maintenance when they’re hit by a problem. Ideally, your maintenance contract should cover the cost of an initial repair, if required.

2. WordPress health check: Whether new or old, it’s common to find that WordPress websites have undetected issues. These may undermine their stability or performance over the long term, so a thorough health check at the outset of a maintenance plan could avoid problems later on.

3. Security tweaks: Hackers prey on easy targets, so applying simple security tweaks hugely reduces the chances of a breach. We recommend the installation of a malware scanner, firewall and brute-force-attack blocker, while hardening the login system also makes sense.

4. Cloud backups: Accidents happen, but when they involve vital files and data, the consequences can be costly. The best WordPress maintenance plans should include the creation of routine scheduled backups, as standard.

5. WordPress updates: The core WordPress system receives a steady stream of updates. It’s important to ensure that these updates are applied, and applied correctly – with no compatibility issues.

6. WordPress plugin updates: Plugin vulnerabilities can undermine the security of the whole system, giving attackers an easy point of entry. WordPress maintenance should include plugin updates to mitigate these threats and address performance issues.

7. Security scans: Early identification of vulnerabilities is the best way to prevent a breach. Running WordPress security scans on a routine schedule is the surest way to identify vulnerabilities, before hackers exploit them.

8. Regular reports: It’s your website, and while you might want to outsource your WordPress maintenance, you still deserve to be kept informed. A good plan will include regular reporting.

Beyond the Basics

Many WordPress support plans for SMEs are focused on the basics listed above. And many small-business owners will find that these plans cover their needs perfectly. Owners of larger businesses and ecommerce websites may require a wider range of WordPress support services. (These advanced services can also benefit small-business owners willing to invest a little more money for total peace of mind).

1. Live uptime monitoring: More advanced plans often include 24/7 uptime monitoring. This is especially valuable for those businesses that rely on their website as their primary sales channel or point of contact with clients.

2. WordPress theme updates: Your theme determines the visual and user-experience aspects of your website. Keeping it updated is a valuable extra step for optimal performance and security.

3. Website changes: Your website may need to evolve over time to stay fresh and reflect changes in your business. The best WordPress maintenance plans will include a set time allocation for regular tweaks.

4. Tune-ups: Slow page-load speeds aren’t always a sign of a serious fault, but they are a turn-off for visitors – and for the search engines. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get a faster loading WordPress website, and a simple tune-up is often all it takes to remedy this annoying issue.

5. SEO: Search Engine Optimisation is the process of optimising a website to boost its appeal to the search engines. Put simply, if your content is presented in the best way, and your site works optimally, then the search engines could reward you with a better position in their search-results pages.

WordPress Emergency Support

There are many cases where an emergency WordPress repair service may be needed. This is especially true if your website has gone down completely, or if essential functions like your contact form or ecommerce store are unavailable. With this in mind, it’s well worth checking whether your support provider offers WordPress emergency support.

One-time emergency fixes should always be available for a fee, but you may wish to take out an advanced WordPress maintenance contract that covers emergency repairs. Although maintenance plans are designed to prevent problems, it’s reassuring to have access to professional on-demand help, in case an issue slips through the net. Finally, it’s important to check the details carefully here, since some providers limit their WordPress emergency support to a fixed number of repairs.

Next Steps

This guide should have given you clarity about how to choose the best WordPress support services. Here at WP Tech Support, we offer a diverse range of maintenance plans and repair options, suited to businesses of all shapes and sizes. We can provide anything from a one-time fix, through to a comprehensive website maintenance contract. These contracts have been carefully tailored to cover the key aspects of WordPress maintenance, with options for various levels of support.

To give your website the TLC it deserves, explore our WordPress support plans and WordPress emergency fixes, or contact our team to discuss any questions you may have. We look forward to working with you.