Operating a website is not a ‘set and forget’ process. Software updates will be required and design and content changes will be necessary to insure that your business is continually promoted in the best manner.
We can help you.
WordPress Website Security
The leading cause of website security problems is out-of-date software. While the WordPress core software files are rarely found to have security issues, when they are discovered, the team developing WordPress will immediately release an update to fix the problem. Additionally, the WordPress development team will also release core updated 3-4 times per year which both add WordPress functionality and patch minor bugs in the system.
Third-party developers – individuals and companies – provide software packages that work with the WordPress software to increase website functionality and to provide a starting point for your website design. These developers will also provide periodic updates that will usually accomplish both feature updates and security patches.
Hackers see WordPress as a lucrative target because it is so widely used. One method they use to gain access to or control of a website is to monitor updates to popular software packages used by WordPress sites. They analyze the updates to see what has been fixed which, if not updated, they could exploit to gain website access. Then they use ‘web crawlers’ to search websites on the Internet which have those software packages and have not updated to the latest version. That process then generates a list of websites that they can target.
Our WordPress Website Maintenance Service
As part of our standard website services contract, Sierra Web Solutions, LLC. offers a monthly maintenance rider. Our maintenance fee is a flat rate of one hour of website work at the rate specified in the website service contract. The one hour minimum will permit us to install updates of software packages used on your website for which you have a license, provide a complete website backup stored off-site (not in your hosting account) and minor modifications or media/content changes which you provide. If the volume of work exceeds the one hour minimum, additional work is charged at the hourly rate specified in your contract.
We check for minor software updates each day and weekly check the operation of your website and record changes and access records. When a major WordPress update is released, such as from version 5.7 to 5.8, we first check the effect of the update on your site’s operation before we apply the WordPress update to your live website to make sure that third-party software packages remain compatible with the new update.
If the maintenance service rider is not activated, the website owner will be responsible for updates to WordPress software, plugins and themes used on the website.