Ann Arbor, MI Website Maintenance Services

What is Involved in Maintaining Ann Arbor, MI Websites

We see web maintenance as a reactive support service where we provide your Ann Arbor business with the right web developer resources to fix just about any problem. These are some examples of website issues that Ann Arbor website support firms might fix:

• Updating your website platform.
• Keeping apps and plugins updated for better security and functionality.
• Adding new web pages as you release new information.
• Writing new blog content to help you stay fresh.
• Rearranging your Ann Arbor site's navigation menu.
• Improving page speed to help you pass Google Core Web Vitals.
• Taking backups of your website's files and databases.
• Changing the look and feel of your website.
• Troubleshooting Google Search Console coverage issues.
• Enhancing technical SEO with structured data, open graph tags, etc.
• Providing a solution to any other website problem.

Those services are just a taste of what Ann Arbor web maintenance might look like. In fact, Ann Arbor website maintenance is basically anything a web developer or digital marketer does to your website.

Reactive Ann Arbor Website Support

Most Ann Arbor website owners wouldn't want a web developer messing around with their site without their permission. That's why we consider web support a reactive service. You can count on our agency to keep your Ann Arbor website running smoothly. There are some web maintenance services we can provide your Ann Arbor website in a proactive manner though.

View Ann Arbor Website Maintenance Pricing

Proactive Ann Arbor Website Support

For website owners in Ann Arbor interested in a proactive management service for some of their website upkeep requirements, we are happy to accommodate! There are several website maintenance services, including platform upgrades, app / extension updates, website backups, performance monitoring, and broken link monitoring, that our website maintainers can handle in a proactive manner.

View Ann Arbor Website Management Pricing

If you live in Ann Arbor, you probably love the Michigan Wolverines basketball team. Go Michigan Wolverines! In addition to supporting Ann Arbor-area websites, our web support company also offers Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Sterling Heights, Taylor, and Troy small businesses and large corporations help with their websites.

Who Needs Web Maintenance in Ann Arbor, MI

There will come a time when every Ann Arbor website needs some sort of maintenance. It's just that the internet changes all the time. However, we don't charge a lot for Ann Arbor web maintenance, so you'll be able to afford it! There are a few reasons why a website in Ann Arbor might need maintenance:

• When a hosting provider upgrades their servers, they may remove older versions of PHP that your Ann Arbor website was originally developed to support. When this happens, you need to refactor your application or upgrade to a newer framework that supports the newer PHP version. There's no way you can expect custom web functionality to work forever.
• When an ecommerce platform or a content management system releases new versions, they eventually must deprecate the old versions so their teams can focus on maintaining the newer technologies. This recently happened to Magento 1.x ecommerce store owners who were forced to migrate to Magento 2.x, or an alternative ecommerce platform, because Magento 1.x had reached an “End of Life” status and would no longer be maintained or updated by Magento. As a result, Magento 1.x ecommerce businesses in Ann Arbor were looking for ecommerce developers to help migrate their websites.
• Whenever a website owner falls victim to malware or some other form of malicious activity, the website needs to be cleaned of malware and reviewed for security exploits. This is time-consuming, and often happens when the website owner isn't paying attention to the first two website maintenance examples.
• To ensure future visitors to your Ann Arbor website receive accurate information about your organization, products, or services, your Ann Arbor website content needs to be refreshed. Keeping your Ann Arbor website up to date is key to its success.

Above and beyond just updating something, there are plenty of reasons why a website might need maintenance. Plan your budget and schedules for website support and maintenance based on your Ann Arbor business's potential future needs.

How We Perform Ann Arbor, MI Web Support

It's our job to understand your website support needs, schedule your work in a timely fashion, and follow up with your Ann Arbor business after the work is done.

Most Ann Arbor web maintenance services start with an email from the website owner. Your email gets routed to our ticket system and automatically gets assigned to your project manager. We can then work on the ticket without delay, which leads to faster turnaround and easier internal communication.

The process for Ann Arbor website maintenance services that come from phone or chat is similar. The support request is entered into our ticket system by the person in the conversation with you, which allows the work order to be routed to the most appropriate web developer on our team.

Example Web Support Service List for Ann Arbor, MI Businesses

After the launch of a website, we're often asked for detailed examples of Ann Arbor website support requests. We've performed these Ann Arbor web maintenance services in the past, and would be happy to do it for you too!

Simple Ann Arbor Website Updates

Changes to your Ann Arbor website could be as simple as updating a paragraph, swapping images, or adding a new page. This is just normal, routine web maintenance to keep content fresh for both search engines and visitors.

Ann Arbor Page Speed Improvements

Let us check your Ann Arbor website for hosting, caching, image optimization, console errors, broken links, poor database queries, and other potential problems that might be impacting your page speed. This will help improve page load times, which are beneficial to user experience and search engine optimization.

Platform Upgrades / Security Patches

It's important to keep your Ann Arbor website updated if it runs on a CMS like WordPress. Updates help improve security and functionality - and they're usually quick, so it might be a simple task.

Extension / Plugin Updates

It's important to update plugins and extensions on your Ann Arbor website if they were developed and maintained by a third-party. The idea is similar to updating the CMS platform since it fixes security and functionality problems.

Fixing Search Console Issues

Did Google Search Console tell you about a coverage problem? If so, we'll look at the coverage issues, fix them, and update you on the status. Make Google happy, and you'll rank higher throughout Ann Arbor and beyond!

Setup Structured Data

When you search Google organically, have you noticed reviews or prices in the search results? This is brought to you by structured data, which is a standardized way of describing the content on the web page, whether it be of a local business in Ann Arbor, and ecommerce product or some other common data type.

Add Open Graph Tags on Your Website

By adding Open Graph Tags to your website, digital platforms can better understand the content of your page, which improves its appearance on social media.

Add Google Tag Manager

Interested in using Google Tag Manager for managing custom scripts? That won't be a problem! We'll happily install Google Tag Manager on your Ann Arbor website and teach you how to use it.

Setup Conversion Tracking

Tracking conversions is important if you want to understand the benefits of online advertising for your Ann Arbor website. It'll help you understand where your conversions come from, like direct traffic, referral links, organic search, or paid ads.

Image Compression (Optimization)

Are large images slowing down your Ann Arbor website? That won't be a problem! We can run all your images through our image compression tools and even setup recurring image compression for newly added images in the future!

Setup Live Chat

Is your website ready for live chat? If you'd like us to recommend the best live chat system for your Ann Arbor business, install the tracking code, and customize the design for your branding, we can do it!

Review Error Logs for Issues

Do you have a lot of error_log files on your hosting account? To stop recurring error messages, we can diagnose the problem and update programming code.

Reduce Spam with reCaptcha

To reduce unwanted submissions on your Ann Arbor website, we can setup an invisible or checkbox reCaptcha.

Install a Caching Plugin

Looking to install a caching plugin on your Ann Arbor website, but not sure how to configure it? We can help recommend caching plugins, or just install and configure them for you!

Send Website Emails Over SMTP

To help improve email deliverability, we can configure your contact form and website platform to send emails through an SMTP account instead of PHP mail.

Restrict IP Addresses

Have you been getting fake orders, contact submissions, or live chats from a particular network? Our team can help set up IP restrictions so your website doesn't get hit with as much malicious traffic.

Run Website & Database Backups

Is it time to make a backup of your Ann Arbor website? Let us help you create one-time or scheduled backups that you can store locally or offsite.

Create a Testing Website

When you're doing a major upgrade or extension installation, you should set up a development or staging site first. Whenever you need help with creating and managing your development site, just let us know!

Create A/B Testing Rules

Do you prefer to make design changes based on statistical data regarding how users interact with your Ann Arbor web page? We can help you run A/B testing to help you decide which design or content layouts are best.

Create 301 Redirects

Are you launching a new website or removing pages from your website? You will want to create 301 redirects for your Ann Arbor website to prevent broken pages from hurting your SEO. Having broken pages will cost your Ann Arbor business a lot of organic traffic if they aren't fixed with 301 redirects. We are happy to help you resolve broken pages through the creation of 301 redirects within .htaccess files, nginx templates, and CMS plugins.

Train You on Your Website

Do you need help learning how to make changes to your Ann Arbor website? If your Ann Arbor site was developed in a platform we work within, such as WordPress or Shopify, we'll be happy to help!

The Platforms We Maintain for Ann Arbor, MI Websites

With years of experience developing websites for Ann Arbor businesses (and those in other areas of the country), our web designers and web developers have been immersed in multiple platforms. Nevertheless, mastering a handful of platforms is better than trying to be an expert on everything. Because of that, we tend to service only these platforms for Ann Arbor websites:

• Ann Arbor WordPress Website Maintenance
• Ann Arbor WooCommerce Web Support
• Ann Arbor Shopify Website Support

In the past, we provided website maintenance and support for Joomla and Magento platforms of Ann Arbor businesses. However, we chose not to use those platforms so our web maintenance experts could focus on training and support within the more popular platforms.

Questions to Ask Ann Arbor, MI Website Maintenance Agencies

Ask the Ann Arbor website support company some questions about their services before you sign up for a package. By doing this, you'll be able to better understand your future experience with their premium Michigan web maintenance services before you submit payment or provide website access. You can ask these simple questions:

• Can you tell me how you handle website security? Do you run website security scans for clients?
• When can I expect an average Ann Arbor website maintenance request to be completed?
• Do you outsource your Ann Arbor web support services?
• How much might it cost to maintain an average Ann Arbor website?
• Do you have minimum deductions or minimum billable expenses for Ann Arbor website updates?
• What are your normal hours of operation?
• When there are new updates on my platform, will you let me know?

If you ask these questions to a Ann Arbor website services agency, you'll gain a better understanding of the future relationship, the security of your website, and the turnaround time for important maintenance requests.

Ann Arbor, MI Web Maintenance Plans and Tips

Companies in and around Ann Arbor often ask us for a website maintenance plan to establish routines and procedures. Whether it's your website, hosting, or domain name, we'll make sure your Ann Arbor business has a web support plan to ensure optimum performance.

Read through this list of annual Ann Arbor website support tasks to consider:

• Message your web hosting firm to see if they have upgraded servers you can switch your website to for faster page speeds.
• Check if your website platform is releasing a major upgrade in the near future which will require a major overhaul of your website.
• Attempt to restore a website backup to ensure the data being stored is sufficient for full recovery. Also make sure you are storing backups in a remote location away from Ann Arbor.
• Take a look at the websites of your competitors (even those outside Ann Arbor) to see if you're missing out on anything.
• Perform a full security review of your website to ensure nothing has been compromised or left vulnerable.
• Verify structured data, open graph, and social links are all working properly.
• Remove any unnecessary 3rd party tracking, live chat, or heat map scripts that may have been installed in the past.
• Take down any unnecessary development or staging sites.

Read through this list of semi-annual Ann Arbor web maintenance tasks to review:

• Make sure you have access to your domain name and it's not about to expire. When you have to renew your domain name, this will come in handy.
• Check your hosting account credentials and make sure it's not about to expire.
• Make sure you have access to your DNS.
• Find out if your SSL certificate will expire soon.
• Make sure you have remote backups outside Ann Arbor and that your website backup schedule is working.
• If you have an automated image optimization service, verify it is working properly.
• Check if the website is throwing any console errors.

Read through this list of monthly Ann Arbor web maintenance tasks to review:

• Check for broken links on your website, which negatively impact user experience and SEO.
• Check for website performance issues from recent updates or changes on the website.
• See if there's anything wrong being reported within Google Search Console.
• Update some of your service pages or blog articles to keep your website fresh.
• Take a look at your website platform and extensions for any available updates.

The Cost of Website Maintenance Service in Ann Arbor, MI

The starting price for our Ann Arbor website maintenance services is $119.50/hour, but we offer discounts for pre-purchased blocks of time that bring the rate as low as $99.95/hour. We also offer website management for Ann Arbor websites, starting at $50/month, if you'd like the peace of mind knowing a company is proactively upgrading your site.

To get started, if you are new to our web maintenance company, we'll need you to pre-purchase a block of time which includes a discount on our hourly rate. If you are an existing client in Ann Arbor, you are welcome to choose monthly billing at our higher hourly rate or continue to pre-purchase time and receive discounted hourly rates for your website updates.

If you pre-purchase a block of time for your Ann Arbor web maintenance services, you will be happy to know there are no contracts, there are no hidden fees, the time never expires, and there are no minimum deductions for small website update requests. Please keep in mind we rarely see tasks take less than 10 minutes, since the process of reviewing an email or taking a phone call, checking on whatever was asked, providing some form of feedback, and then logging the task usually takes at least 10 minutes of time. To keep you informed of the time usage on your pre-purchased block of web maintenance time, you will receive a monthly email update letting you know how much time remains on your account.

What is Considered Billable Time?

When talking with prospective Ann Arbor website maintenance clients, we are often asked what is considered billable time. You will find the answers to vary greatly within the website support industry. In some situations, you may find a website maintenance company in Ann Arbor to charge a much higher hourly rate, but not bill out for communication and organization. Likewise, there are website support companies in Ann Arbor who charge a more affordable hourly rate, but also bill out for most communication and organization. This is the approach we take. To help provide clarification, let's go over some examples of what we consider billable time when it comes to maintaining and supporting your Ann Arbor website.

Here are examples of what is considered billable time:

• Reading through lengthy emails to understand what is being requested.
• Preparing responses to lengthy or complex email messages.
• Helping you figure out your domain name or web hosting provider.
• Scheduling your website maintenance to be completed by the best team member.
• Talking with you on the phone about ideas or tasks you want to discuss.
• Reviewing completed work for quality control purposes.
• Providing you training on how to handle administrative tasks.
• Researching unique solutions to difficult questions you present our team.
• Providing more detailed time usage reports, beyond the automated monthly update email.
• Helping you figure out email client issues within Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.
• Almost any other task not specifically mentioned in the list below.

Here are examples of what is not considered billable time:

• Talking with you about personal matters, such as the weather, a recent vacation, or a sporting event.
• Responding to simple email messages that don't require research or lengthy feedback.
• Handling accounting-related tasks, such as invoice generation, payment confirmations, etc.

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