What website maintenance includes (and what it costs)
Draft outline — do not publish as-is. Section map for a partner to fill with first-hand expertise and only real, published figures. No invented metrics, clients, or testimonials. Flip
drafttofalseonce the prose is written and verified.
The most under-defined line item
One honest framing line: “maintenance” is where most contracts go vague. Here is what a real plan covers, so you can tell a retainer from a placeholder.
What a care plan actually covers
Mirror the published support inclusions — a shared request queue and monthly plan, content and CMS updates, dependency patches with release checks, monitoring triage, performance and accessibility spot checks, written release notes, an in-house escalation path, and a quarterly operating review.
Why a fixed monthly fee, not hourly
Argue the model: ad-hoc hours make every small fix a negotiation and hide the real cost. A fixed monthly fee keeps the site owned and the turnaround predictable — the same logic as what fixed-fee actually means.
What it doesn’t cover
Set the boundary honestly: care is not a redesign or a net-new build. When the work is a new project, it gets scoped as one — point to the business website tier.
So what should you pay?
Cite the real published figure: our care plans start at $300/mo. Close by inviting the reader to tell us what’s live and what needs attention first.
Up-link: /services/support (+ the relatedService aside). Lateral: /services/business-website. Proof / convert: /journal/what-fixed-fee-actually-means, /contact.