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One-time maintenance

One-time website maintenance: a fixed-fee catch-up for a neglected site.

Short answer: one-time website maintenance is a single, fixed-fee job that brings a neglected site up to date: the update backlog cleared safely, backups set up, security checked and quick speed wins applied. No monthly plan required. It fixes today's problems, not next month's.

Reviewed by Naveen Kumar, founder & lead engineerUpdated

Get a fixed-fee quote Compare with monthly
Quoted before work starts No monthly commitment
PricingFixed feeQuoted in writing before any work.
CommitmentNoneNo plan or contract required.
Response< 1 dayFor the quote and every question.
HandoverWrittenA report of everything done.

What's included

What a one-time maintenance
catch-up covers.

The exact scope comes from a free written assessment of your site, so the quote covers what your site actually needs rather than a generic package.

Update backlog, cleared safelyCore, theme and plugin updates applied on a staging copy first, in order, with conflicts resolved before going live.
A working backupA full off-site backup taken before anything changes, and a backup routine set up so you're not left without one.
Security check & clean-upMalware scan, unused admin accounts removed, abandoned plugins replaced and basic hardening applied.
PHP & hosting checkPHP version, hosting limits and SSL checked, with anything urgent flagged in writing.
Quick speed winsOversized images, missing caching and obvious bottlenecks fixed. Deeper performance work is quoted separately.
Forms, links & a written reportForms tested, broken links fixed, and a report of everything that was done and what still needs attention.

The honest limits

What one-time maintenance
doesn't protect against.

A catch-up leaves the site in good shape on the day it finishes. From the next day, the clock starts again.

Next month's vulnerabilitiesNew security patchesPlugins keep releasing fixes for newly found vulnerabilities. Without ongoing updates, the site slowly falls behind again.Not coveredafter handover
Outages after handoverNobody monitoringOnce the job is finished, nobody is watching uptime, SSL expiry or backups unless you set that up.Not coveredafter handover
Emergencies laterNo response targetIf something breaks later, it's a new fixed-fee job, without a response target.New quoteeach time

How it works

From neglected site to
up to date, in three steps.

1Free

Written assessment

We review the live site: platform, update backlog, backups, security and speed. You get the findings in writing.

2Quote

A fixed fee, agreed first

A scope and a fixed price for the catch-up. Nothing starts until you agree it, and nothing is added afterwards.

3Handover

Done, then documented

The work is done staging-first, then handed back with a written report of what was changed and what to watch.

One-time or monthly

When one-time maintenance
is the right choice.

One-time makes senseA site that rarely changes, takes no payments and that nobody depends on day to day, or a site you're about to replace.
Monthly makes senseA site that brings in enquiries or sales, or one that's been hacked before. The catch-up is step one, not the finish line.Monthly maintenance →
Most common pathA one-time catch-up first, then a monthly plan to keep the site where the catch-up left it.Compare plans →

Pricing: one-time work is quoted as a fixed fee after the assessment. Starting prices for fixes and projects are on the pricing page.

Does your site need it?

Signs a site needs a
one-time catch-up.

Dozens of pending updatesThe dashboard shows a long list of updates nobody has dared to apply.
An old PHP versionYour host has emailed about retiring the PHP version your site runs on.
No backup you can findNobody knows where the last backup is, or whether one exists.
Plugins you don't recogniseUnused, abandoned or duplicate plugins left behind by previous developers.
Security warningsA browser, Google or your host has flagged something on the site.
Nobody has logged in for monthsThe site has been left running since launch, and nobody is sure what state it's in.

Questions, answered

One-time maintenance:
common questions.

What is one-time website maintenance?

A single, fixed-fee job that brings a neglected site up to date: updates cleared safely, backups set up, security checked and quick speed wins applied, with a written report at the end. No monthly plan required.

How much does one-time website maintenance cost?

It's quoted as a fixed fee after a free written assessment, because the work depends on how far behind the site is. Starting prices for fixes and projects are on the pricing page.

How long does a catch-up take?

It depends on the size of the backlog and any security clean-up needed. The timeframe is stated in the quote before you agree to anything.

Is one-time maintenance enough?

For a site nobody depends on, it can be. For a site that brings in enquiries or sales, it only fixes today: new vulnerabilities appear every week, so the site starts falling behind again the day after handover.

Will updating everything at once break my site?

It can, which is why updates are applied on a staging copy first, in order, with conflicts fixed before anything goes live. A full backup is taken before any change.

Can I move onto a monthly plan afterwards?

Yes. A one-time catch-up followed by a monthly plan is the most common path, and the catch-up means the plan starts from a clean site.

What if you find malware during the catch-up?

You're told immediately, and the clean-up is quoted before it's added to the job. Nothing extra is billed without your agreement.

Do you do one-time maintenance on Webflow and custom sites?

Yes. WordPress, WooCommerce, Webflow, static HTML and custom-coded sites. The scope differs by platform, and the assessment sets it out.

Do I need to give you my hosting login?

Usually admin access to the site and access to hosting or a hosting control panel. You keep ownership throughout, and access can be removed as soon as the job is finished.

Can you do the catch-up without taking the site offline?

Yes. The work is done on a staging copy and moved to the live site at an agreed quiet time, so customers don't see a half-updated site.

What do I get at the end?

A written report of everything changed, what was found, what's still worth doing, and a backup you can restore from.

Start here

Get a fixed-fee catch-up quote.

Send the URL. We'll tell you what's covered, what it costs, and what — if anything — needs fixing first, in writing.

  • 1We look at the live site: platform, size, and current update/security status.
  • 2You get written findings plus a plan recommendation and the reasoning behind it.
  • 3You decide what happens next. No follow-up sequence if you don't reply.

Free website assessment

Three fields on purpose. We reply within one business day, and we don't add you to a mailing list.

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