Most small business sites in New Mexico get launched and then ignored. Hours change, plugins age, PHP versions fall behind, and the contact form dies on a Saturday. The owner finds out when a customer says they tried to reach you and couldn’t.
A maintenance plan is the unglamorous work that keeps the site online, recoverable, and current. Here is what that work should include — and what it should not pretend to include. Current TGS tiers are on the website maintenance page. Albuquerque businesses can use the same model on Albuquerque website maintenance.
What Should Be in the Plan
Software updates, done on purpose
On WordPress that means core, plugins, and themes. On any stack it means keeping PHP and related software current enough to stay secure. Updates should be applied on a schedule, after a quick compatibility check — not clicked blindly the night before a busy Monday.
TGS managed hosting already includes managed updates on Business and Pro plans. A care plan on top of that is for sites that need extra eyes, content edits, or a site we did not originally host.
Red flag: “You just click Update in WordPress.” That is how themes and plugins take a live site down.
Backups you can actually restore
A backup that has never been tested is a hope, not a plan. You want copies on a regular cadence — daily is the right default for most small business sites — stored somewhere other than the same cheap server. Someone should know how to roll back if an update or a hack lands.
Ask: “If the site vanished tonight, how old would the restore be, and who would do it?”
Uptime, SSL, and basic security
SSL should be on and renewing itself. Logins should not be the factory default. Malware scans and uptime monitoring catch problems before your customers do. When the site goes down, someone who knows the stack should get the alert — not just an email you see on Monday.
This overlaps with hosting. That is why “the designer also hosts the site” is often the cleanest setup for a five-person shop. One throat to choke. One number to call. Pair care with the right server on managed web hosting. The pricing argument is in managed hosting vs $5/month hosting.
Included on TGS hosting: free SSL, backups on a published retention window, and monitoring. Higher plans add more history and faster response.
A bucket of hours for real-world edits
Hours change. A new service gets added. A photo is outdated. The form stops sending to the right inbox. A useful plan includes a set number of content or support hours each month so those fixes do not require a new project quote every time.
Be clear on the rules: unused hours usually do not roll over, and extra hours bill at an overage rate. That is normal. What is not normal is a “maintenance” invoice that never lists what was actually done.
Good plans: a short monthly note — updates applied, backups verified, hours used.
What maintenance is not
A care plan is not a redesign. It is not a new booking system, a new shop, or a full local SEO campaign. Those are projects with their own scope — web design and local SEO. Mixing them into “maintenance” is how both sides get resentful.
It is also not a substitute for a bad host. If the server is slow, no amount of plugin updates will make the homepage feel fast on a phone.
Separate the work: host for speed and uptime, maintain for safety and small changes, project-work for anything new.
Do you need a plan?
If the site is a static brochure that never changes and lives on managed hosting with automatic backups, you may only need hosting. If it is WordPress, takes payments, or is the main way people reach you, you need a plan — yours or someone else’s.
Owning a site has an ongoing cost. That is part of what a website should cost in New Mexico. If the live site is already hurting conversions, start with 5 signs your website is costing you customers.
Already have a site someone else built? TGS takes over existing WordPress and custom HTML sites. We need login or FTP access, review the stack, and put it on a monthly cadence. See maintenance plans or ask for a look at your current setup.