What makes a good small business website in 2026: a practical checklist
Use this checklist to see how your website measures up in 2026: clear messaging, mobile speed, trust signals, search visibility, easy enquiries…
In short
Rockhopper Digital provides WordPress maintenance and support plans covering core, theme and plugin updates applied on staging, offsite backups tested by restoring them, security monitoring and hardening, uptime checks and monthly content changes. UK hosting is available, and inherited sites built by other developers are regularly taken on.
WordPress powers a large share of the web, which makes it a standing target. An unmaintained site is not stable, it is simply waiting. Most of the emergency work we see could have been avoided by an hour a month.
A website care plan covers the routine work that keeps a site safe and fast, and gives you a direct line when something needs attention. Plans run monthly, on sites we built and on sites we did not.
What support covers
- WordPress core, theme and plugin updates, applied on staging and checked before going live
- Offsite backups, tested by actually restoring them rather than assuming they work
- Security monitoring, hardening and malware cleanup
- Uptime and performance monitoring
- Small content and layout changes each month
- A direct line to the person who built the site
What a website care plan costs, and what it saves
Maintenance is cheap next to the alternative. A hacked site, a failed update or a fortnight offline costs more in lost enquiries and emergency work than a year of routine care.
Plans are monthly and quoted after we look at what you have, because a five-page brochure site and a WooCommerce shop taking payments are not the same job. There is no minimum term and you keep ownership of the site either way.
Taking over a site somebody else built
We audit first: what it runs on, what is out of date, what is broken and what is a genuine risk. You get a plain assessment and a priced plan, and we will tell you if the honest answer is a rebuild rather than maintenance.
Inherited and neglected sites
We regularly take on sites built by someone else, including ones where the previous developer has gone quiet. The first step is an audit: what it is running on, what is out of date, what is broken, what is a genuine risk.
You get a plain assessment and a priced plan. Sometimes the honest answer is that the site should be rebuilt, and we will say so rather than charging to maintain something that cannot be maintained.
Who will I be working with?
Martin Phillips, from the first conversation to launch day and after it.
Martin has over 25 years of design experience. He leads every project and stays your contact throughout, backed by a small team of SEO specialists and developers. There are no account managers, so nobody has to learn your business twice, and many clients have stayed with Rockhopper for years.
Martin provides personal friendly service at all times. He is flexible and open minded and happy to provide strategic advice as well as specific requests.
Common questions
What does website maintenance actually include?
Core, theme and plugin updates applied on staging and checked before they go live, offsite backups that are tested by restoring them, security monitoring and hardening, uptime and performance checks, and a set amount of small content changes each month.
Do you maintain sites you did not build?
Regularly, including sites whose previous developer has gone quiet. We start with an audit and tell you plainly what is worth fixing, what is urgent and what can wait.
Do you provide hosting?
Yes, on UK infrastructure suited to WordPress, with backups and SSL included. If you prefer to stay with your current host, we can work with that too, provided it is capable of running the site properly.
Do I have to have a support plan?
No. You own the site and can maintain it yourself or with anyone you choose. We recommend a plan for e-commerce, membership sites and anything taking payments or personal data.
What happens if the site goes down?
Monitoring alerts us, usually before you notice. Restoring from backup and diagnosing the cause is covered by the plan.
Have a question that isn’t answered here?
Send a message, or call for a proper conversation. Either way, you’ll be talking to Martin.
- Phone
- 07904 288451
- Based in
- Robertsbridge, East Sussex