You’ve paid for the website, it’s gone live and everything’s working as it should.
So that’s it, right?
Not quite.
Websites need looking after. Software changes, browsers update, content needs tweaking, security needs monitoring and, every now and then, something decides to stop working for no particularly helpful reason.
Which leads to the question we hear a lot: how much does website maintenance cost?
As a rough guide, small-business website maintenance in the UK commonly sits somewhere around £50 to £150 per month, with ecommerce websites and sites that need more regular development support often costing more.
Current published UK plans vary quite widely depending on what’s actually included, which is why comparing the monthly figure alone doesn’t tell you much.
The real answer depends on the website.
Here’s what you’re actually paying for.
What does website maintenance include?
Website maintenance isn’t one job.
At a basic level, it’s about keeping the website secure, stable and working properly. Depending on your site and the package you have, that might include software updates, backups, security monitoring, fixing bugs and making smaller changes to content or functionality.
Then there’s the more hands-on stuff.
Maybe your team needs a new page adding. A form needs changing. You’ve launched a new service and need the website updating. Something isn’t displaying properly on a particular device.
That all falls under the wider maintenance conversation too.
It’s worth checking exactly what’s included when you're comparing website maintenance costs, because a £50-a-month package and a £250-a-month package might both be called “website maintenance” while offering very different levels of support.
What affects the cost of website maintenance?
The biggest factor is usually how complicated the website is.
A fairly simple brochure website with a handful of pages is going to need less attention than an ecommerce site processing hundreds of orders every day.
If your website includes bookings, customer accounts, payment gateways, third-party integrations or bespoke functionality, there are simply more moving parts to keep an eye on.
The platform matters too.
A WordPress website using a large number of third-party plugins can require regular updates and testing to make sure those plugins continue working together.
At Surge, we now build a lot of our brochure websites using Statamic, partly because its setup gives us fewer dependencies and more control over the finished site. We use AeroCommerce for many of our ecommerce builds for similar reasons around flexibility and control.
That doesn’t mean one platform never needs maintenance. Every live website needs looking after. It just changes what that maintenance looks like.
Is website hosting included?
Sometimes. Sometimes not.
And this is where quotes can get a bit confusing.
Website hosting is where your website actually lives. You’re paying for the infrastructure that makes it available when somebody visits your domain.
Website maintenance is the work involved in keeping that website healthy and up to date.
Some providers bundle the two together. Others charge separately. Neither approach is necessarily wrong, but make sure you know what you’re comparing.
A very low monthly price might simply cover hosting and automated backups. A higher maintenance package might include hosting alongside monitoring, updates and actual developer time when you need something changed.
Ask what's included rather than comparing the headline number.
Do I actually need website maintenance?
Technically, you could launch a website and leave it alone.
We just wouldn't recommend it.
Think about how much changes around a website after it launches. Your business evolves. Staff change. Services change. Browsers and devices change. Third-party systems update. Security threats don't exactly take a year off either.
Then there are all the smaller jobs that gradually build up.
An old team member is still on the About page. Your opening hours have changed. A contact form is going to the wrong email address. There's a service you've offered for six months that still isn't mentioned anywhere on the website.
None of those necessarily needs a complete redesign. They just need somebody keeping on top of things.
A website shouldn't be something you launch and forget about.
What happens if you don't maintain your website?
Sometimes, nothing.
For a while.
That's what makes website maintenance easy to ignore.
A website can sit there looking perfectly fine while software becomes outdated, backups stop running or little problems start building up behind the scenes. You only notice when something actually breaks.
And that's usually when sorting it becomes more painful.
You could end up dealing with security problems, broken functionality, poor performance or a website that's become increasingly difficult to update because nobody has touched it properly in years.
There's an SEO side to it too. Broken links, technical issues, slow performance and outdated content can all become problems over time. Regular maintenance gives you a chance to catch them before they become much bigger jobs.
Monthly maintenance or pay when something breaks?
Paying for work as and when you need it can make sense for very simple websites.
If your site barely changes and you’re comfortable handling most updates internally, you might not need a large monthly package.
The problem comes when your website is important to how the business operates.
If it generates enquiries, takes payments, handles bookings or connects with other systems, waiting until something breaks before thinking about support is a bigger risk.
Monthly website maintenance gives you ongoing cover and, depending on the package, access to development time for the changes that inevitably crop up.
It also means somebody already understands the website when you need them.
That's a lot easier than trying to find a developer for the first time because your checkout has stopped working on a Friday afternoon.
What do we do at Surge?
For websites we build, the support doesn't suddenly disappear on launch day.
Our current website process includes a three-month warranty period after launch, giving clients time to settle into the new site and get smaller tweaks sorted. After that, clients can move onto our hosting and maintenance package, which keeps the website hosted, supported and maintained, with development time available for ongoing updates.
That matters because websites change after they go live.
You learn how customers use them. The business introduces something new. Marketing campaigns need landing pages. SEO work uncovers opportunities. Something that made perfect sense during the build might need tweaking six months later.
Having ongoing support means the website can move with the business rather than slowly falling behind it.
So, how much should you budget for website maintenance?
For a straightforward business website, around £50 to £150 per month is a sensible starting point when researching the UK market. More complex websites, particularly ecommerce sites or those needing regular developer input, can easily sit above that.
But don't choose a maintenance package based on the monthly figure alone.
Ask what's included.
Is hosting covered? Are backups monitored? Who deals with security updates? Do you get any development time? What happens if the website breaks? How quickly can somebody actually look at it?
Those answers tell you far more than the price on its own.
If you're planning a new website, it's worth thinking about maintenance before the site is built, not after it launches. Take a look at our Website Design, Website Hosting and Website Maintenance services to see how we approach the whole thing.
