affordable website maintenance
Keep your site fast, secure and discoverable — without breaking the bank.
A clear, action-first playbook for small businesses and trades to maintain SEO, security, and performance month-to-month. Use the weekly and monthly checklists to protect leads and improve rankings with minimal cost.
Quick SEO audit & fixes
Start with a short audit you can do in under an hour. The goal: find and fix the highest-impact issues that stop Google from sending you traffic.
1-hour SEO checklist
- Google Search Console: Verify property and check "Performance" → top queries (last 3 months). Note pages with impressions but low CTR.
- Page titles & meta descriptions: Update any page missing a title or with duplicate titles. Keep titles ~50–60 characters, descriptions ~120–155 characters and clear call-to-action.
- Headings: Ensure each page has one H1 and structured H2/H3 for readability and keyword relevance.
- Alt text: Add descriptive alt attributes to images (use keywords naturally).
- Sitemap & robots: Confirm sitemap.xml exists and is submitted in Search Console; check robots.txt for accidental blocks.
Low-effort, high-impact fixes
- Fix titles and meta descriptions for top 10 pages (most impressions).
- Improve internal linking: link from high-traffic pages to service pages you want to rank.
- Add schema for local business (address, opening hours, phone).
- Publish one short FAQ block on key service pages to win featured snippets.
Tools (mostly free)
- Google Search Console — query data & index coverage
- Google Analytics / GA4 — traffic and conversion tracking
- Keyword Surfer / Ubersuggest — quick keyword ideas
- Screaming Frog (free mode) — find missing titles, meta, and broken links
Action plan: first 30 days
- Connect Search Console & Analytics and verify sitemap.
- Identify top 10 pages by impressions and fix titles + meta.
- Add or improve local schema and ensure Google Business Profile is up-to-date.
- Publish one "service + FAQ" page targeting a local keyword (e.g., "emergency plumber [suburb]").
- Set up a simple monthly report: impressions, clicks, top pages (can be automated via Search Console).
Security basics for small sites
Security doesn't need to be expensive. Focus on these core controls that stop the majority of attacks and keep customer trust intact.
Immediate actions (under 1 hour)
- Enable HTTPS: install an SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt is free).
- Use strong passwords and enable 2FA for admin accounts.
- Ensure admin login is not public / use login rate-limiting.
- Remove unused plugins or themes; keep only what you need.
Weekly & monthly tasks
- Apply CMS, plugin and theme updates (preferably on staging first).
- Run a malware scan (many hosting providers include free scans).
- Confirm backups completed and test a restore quarterly.
Budget-friendly security tools
- Cloudflare (free plan): DDoS protection, DNS, WAF options
- Wordfence or MalCare (free tiers): malware scanning for WordPress
- UptimeRobot (free): monitor downtime and get alerts
- Hosted backups (site snapshots) from your host — prefer automated daily or weekly snapshots
Practical policy: the 3-2-1 backup rule
Keep 3 copies of your data, on 2 different media, with 1 copy stored offsite. For most small sites that means: live site + daily host snapshot + weekly external backup (e.g., cloud storage).
Performance improvements: quick wins
Faster sites convert more visitors and rank better. These are low-cost changes that deliver measurable gains.
Optimize images
Use a bulk image optimizer (e.g., Squoosh, TinyPNG) and serve WebP where supported. Avoid uploading massive images — resize to display size.
Enable caching
Use a caching plugin (WordPress) or host-provided caching. Set long browser cache headers for static assets (images, CSS, JS).
Use a CDN
Cloudflare's free plan or your host's CDN will significantly speed up delivery and reduce bandwidth spikes.
Technical tweaks (low cost)
- Enable Brotli or gzip compression on the server.
- Defer non-critical JavaScript and inline critical CSS for fast first paint.
- Remove unused plugins and third-party scripts (each script adds milliseconds).
- Implement lazy loading for below-the-fold images and videos.
Measure & repeat
Use PageSpeed Insights (mobile and desktop), Lighthouse, or WebPageTest to track improvements. Record baseline scores before changes so you can prove impact.
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=https://your-site.com
Automation & affordable tools
Automate repetitive tasks so maintenance doesn't eat your time. Here are practical, low-cost services and how to use them.
Free or low-cost automation
- Uptime monitoring: UptimeRobot (free) — get email/SMS downtime alerts.
- Backups: Host snapshots + weekly external backup to Google Drive or S3 (automate via plugins or host).
- Security scans: Weekly automated scans (many hosts include this).
- Reporting: Automate a monthly Search Console + Analytics summary via built-in reports or simple dashboard tools.
How Congero helps (if you want hands-off)
Congero offers fully-managed sites for a flat monthly fee. That includes hosting, automatic updates, security monitoring, and monthly analytics—so you get the benefits of automation without setup or ongoing time cost.
- Instant updates via text—no technical skills needed
- Local SEO handled automatically (meta, schema, sitemaps)
- Zero lock-in subscription (cancel anytime)
Weekly & monthly maintenance checklist
A practical cadence you can follow with time estimates. Most items are quick and can be done by a busy owner or outsourced affordably.
Weekly (10–20 minutes)
- Check uptime alerts
- Look for spam or strange contact form messages
- Confirm backups completed
- Quick check of top-performing pages in Search Console
Monthly (30–60 minutes)
- Apply CMS/plugin updates on staging then production
- Run PageSpeed Insights on key landing pages
- Review Search Console for indexing errors
- Rotate passwords / check admin users
Quarterly (1–2 hours)
- Full SEO content review: update outdated pages
- Test backup restore on staging
- Audit user accounts & permissions
- Check core vitals in Google Search Console
How to document changes
Keep a simple log (Google Sheet or Notion) with date, change, reason, and author. This makes troubleshooting faster if something breaks after an update.
Budget-friendly maintenance plans
Here are sample budgets so you can pick a level that fits your business.
DIY (Minimal spend)
- Free tools (Search Console, PageSpeed, Cloudflare free)
- Manual updates & backups via host
- Time cost: expect 2–6 hours / month
Hybrid (outsourced tasks)
- Automated backups + uptime monitoring
- Pay-as-you-go updates or a few hours of managed support
- Time savings: minimal weekly checks
Fully managed
- All updates, security, backups & performance tuning handled
- Monthly analytics and SEO tweaks included
- Congero example: managed websites for a predictable monthly fee with unlimited updates
Choosing the right level
If your time is worth more than $50/hr, outsourcing maintenance is almost always cheaper than doing it yourself. Consider a hybrid or fully-managed plan to protect leads and prevent downtime.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I update plugins and themes?
Will caching or CDN break my site?
What’s the single best investment for site maintenance?
Can I maintain SEO myself and outsource security?
Keep your website working for your business
Follow the simple checklist above or hand it off to a team that will manage updates, security and SEO for a predictable monthly price.
All plans include domain, hosting, SSL and monthly analytics. No lock-in contracts.
