What does a website care plan include? (And what it costs)

If you are weighing SkyerWorks' plans specifically, the pricing page lists all three and the business websites page explains the build they follow. The rest of this guide applies to any care plan, from anyone.

What a care plan usually includes

A care plan covers what a website needs every month whether or not anything on it changes: somewhere to live, someone watching it, copies of it, and updates to the software underneath it.

Hosting

The server space and bandwidth the site runs on. "Standard hosting" means the plan's default tier; whether it suits your site, given its traffic, size and any special software, should be settled before you sign. At SkyerWorks, hosting suitability is agreed in the proposal.

Monitoring

Checking that the site is up and responding. Without it, the first person to notice an outage is a customer.

Backups

Regular copies of the site so it can be restored after a mistake, a failed update or a hosting problem. Ask how often they are taken and how far back they go.

Software maintenance and security patches

Updating whatever the site runs on. A site built on a content management system with a stack of plugins needs patches often; a hand-coded site has far less to update, which is one reason it costs less to look after. "Applicable" maintenance means whatever your site actually needs.

Update hours

Many plans include a block of time for small changes: a new price, a swapped photo, a schedule change, a new pin on a map. The two things to check are how many hours you get and what happens to the hours you do not use.

Support and response expectations

How quickly a message gets a reply and how quickly a problem gets fixed. Get this in writing. At SkyerWorks, response expectations are agreed in the proposal.

What a care plan usually does not include

A care plan keeps a site running and lightly updated. It does not usually cover redesigns, new features, copywriting or large content projects, and it never covers the things you buy from other companies.

• Redesigns and new features. These are projects, priced as projects. At SkyerWorks, new features and redesigns are quoted separately.
• Copywriting and content production. Writing new pages or producing photos is separate from updating what exists.
• Domain registration. A yearly fee paid to a registrar, and it should be in your name.
• Paid third-party services. Booking software, email, payment processing and form tools are separate subscriptions; in a SkyerWorks proposal they are listed so you know what is yours and what is rented.
• Work beyond the included hours. Usually billed hourly; at SkyerWorks it is $100 an hour.

Three ways to keep a website running

The real comparison is not plan against plan. It is a builder subscription, a typical agency care plan and a one-person studio's plan, and they differ most in what you own at the end.

A builder plan pays for a platform, an agency plan for a team, and a SkyerWorks plan for the person who built the site.

Red flags in a care plan

Four things should make you pause: a domain that is not in your name, no way to export the site, hours that expire without anyone telling you, and response times nobody will put in writing.

• You do not own the domain. If the provider registered it in their name, your address depends on your relationship with them. Ask for the registrar login or a transfer before you sign anything else.
• There is no export, or the files are not yours. A plan that is the only way to keep the site alive is a subscription to your own website. Ask what you receive if you leave.
• Hours expire silently. Some plans reset hours monthly, some roll them over, and some never say. Either model can be fair; the problem is not knowing. SkyerWorks' hours reset monthly and do not roll over, and that is stated before you sign.
• Response times are vague. "We usually get back quickly" is not a term. Ask for the expectation in writing for a question and for an outage.
• You cannot tell what "maintenance" means. Ask what software the site runs on and what gets updated. If the answer is nothing, you may be paying for a service the site does not need.

Ownership questions to ask before you sign

Six questions settle most of it.

1. Whose name is the domain registered in, and do I have the registrar login?
2. If I cancel, what do I get: the files, the database, the images, the content?
3. Where is the site hosted, and can I move it?
4. What exactly is updated each month, and how often are backups taken?
5. Do unused hours roll over, and what does extra work cost per hour?
6. What is the response expectation for a question, and for an outage?

At SkyerWorks the answers are: your name; your design, content and domain after final payment, with the shared map engine licensed to you for your site, forever; standard hosting with suitability agreed in the proposal, and you may host elsewhere; applicable software maintenance with monitoring and backups; hours reset monthly and extra work is $100 an hour; response expectations are written into the proposal.

When you do not need a care plan

If the site is hand-coded, rarely changes and you are comfortable arranging hosting, you may not need a care plan at all.

On a SkyerWorks business website your design, content and domain are yours after final payment, so you can host it anywhere. A wedding website includes 12 months of standard hosting in its $1,000 price; after that, standard hosting renews at $180 a year, and a care plan is only worth adding if you expect ongoing changes. A plan earns its fee when the site changes often, when it runs software that needs patching, or when an outage would cost you customers.

What SkyerWorks' plans include

Three plans: $79 for Hosting & care, $149 for A little more help with up to 1 hour of content or map updates each month, and $299 for Room to grow with up to 3 hours.

Update hours reset monthly and do not roll over; new features and redesigns are quoted separately; hosting suitability and response expectations are agreed in the proposal. The full list of starting prices is on the pricing page, and the business websites page explains the build these plans look after.

Questions about care plans