Paying Too Much for Website Maintenance? Here’s What You Should Be Paying For

Every year the invoice comes. “Website maintenance: RM___.” You pay it, because the website must stay online. But if somebody asked you what exactly that money covers, could you answer?

Many owners can't. Not because they're careless, but because nobody ever broke it down for them. Let's do that.

What you might be paying for every year

“Maintenance” is often one number covering several different things. Here they are, one by one.

Domain name

Your website address. It must be renewed every year. As an example, my prices are RM70 a year for .com, RM80 for .com.my and RM120 for .my. Other providers charge differently, but this should always be a small, clear line on your bill.

Hosting

The server that keeps your website online. Prices depend on how big your website is, how many visitors it gets and how often it's backed up. For example, my hosting packages are:

• Premium: RM350 a year, with weekly backup.
• Platinum: RM650 a year, more storage, weekly backup.
• Ultra: RM950 to RM1,250 a year, more storage and daily backup.

All of them include SSL security, migration, hosting management and support. A normal business website usually doesn't need the biggest package.

SSL security

The padlock in the browser. It should be included with hosting today. If it's a separate expensive line, ask why.

Updates

If your website runs on WordPress or a similar system, the core, theme and plugins need updates from time to time. This protects against security problems. It's real work, but for a normal website it shouldn't be a huge cost.

Backups

Copies of your website, so it can be restored if something goes wrong. Ask how often backups are made and whether you can get a copy. A backup nobody can restore is not much use.

Security

Monitoring, firewalls, malware checks and cleaning. Websites with many plugins need more attention here, because every plugin is another door.

Paid plugins and licences

Some websites use premium plugins or themes with yearly licences. These are real costs, but you should know which ones you have and whether you actually need them.

Content changes

Updating text, photos, prices or adding projects. Some plans include a few changes. Some charge per change. If you're paying for many small changes every year, it may be cheaper to learn to do them yourself.

Support

Someone to call when something goes wrong. This is valuable. But “support” should mean they actually reply and fix things, not just a line on the invoice.

What I've seen in real websites

A few examples from websites I've worked on. I'm not naming anyone's previous provider. The point is the lesson.

Nick Curtain had been paying around RM3,000 every year for many years, and still didn't have full ownership of their catalogue website. After moving to a cleaner setup with full ownership, the yearly running cost became much lower, and the staff were trained to edit the catalogue themselves.

VKAS, a law firm, was paying more than necessary for hosting and maintenance, and didn't really know how to manage the website. After the revamp, running costs went down and the staff could manage it themselves.

UniCAM had around 70 plugins on their WordPress website, and it had been hacked. More plugins means more updates, more risk and more maintenance work. After the rebuild, it ran with around 11 plugins and became much easier and safer to maintain.

Signs you may be paying too much

• You pay one big yearly number and nobody can break it down.
• Every small change is charged on top of the maintenance fee.
• You're paying for hosting much bigger than your website needs.
• You've paid for years, but you don't have your own admin login or a backup.
• The website is slow or keeps having problems despite “maintenance”.

If several of these sound familiar, it may be time for a calm conversation with your provider. Or a second opinion.

Questions to ask your current provider

• Can you break down my yearly fee: domain, hosting, maintenance, licences?
• What exactly is done each month or year for this fee?
• How often is my website backed up, and can I get a copy?
• Which paid plugins or licences am I paying for?
• Are small content changes included?
• Do I have my own admin login?

Don't let the domain expire

One more thing that can turn into a big cost: a domain left to expire. With my own pricing, restoring an expired domain within 7 days is RM200 plus renewal. Between 7 days and 2 months, it's RM950 plus backup recovery. Registry fees are separate. That's why I remind my customers on WhatsApp about a month before their domain expires. Whoever manages yours, make sure somebody is watching the date.

What fair maintenance looks like

You should know what you pay for, why you pay it, and what you'd lose if you stopped. If you can't answer those three, ask. Good providers are happy to explain.

Want to check who controls what first? Read you paid for the website, but do you actually own it? If your website is old and expensive to keep alive, these 10 signs it may need a revamp can help. And you can see my full pricing on the domain and web hosting page.