What happens to a website after launch
Launch day is the healthiest a website will ever be, unless somebody keeps it that way.
The quiet decay
Nobody warns you that a website ages like machinery, not like print. The software it stands on gets security patches monthly. Browsers change. The form that sent you enquiries can stop working after an update and tell no one. Meanwhile the content drifts out of date one small fact at a time, and Google notices that nobody is home.
What breaks first
In our experience it is almost always one of three things: the contact form (silently), the software version (invisibly, until it is a security hole), or the truth of the content (a price, an hour, a person who left). None of them announce themselves. All of them cost customers before you find out.
What looking after a site actually involves
The unglamorous checklist: updates applied promptly, backups taken and actually tested, certificates renewed, forms test-fired, speed checked, and the small content changes made the week they are needed rather than the quarter after. Two hours of diligence a month, roughly, done by someone who knows the site.
The three ways to get it done
Do it yourself (free, but it will lose to running the business every single week). Pay ad hoc when things break (feels cheap, is not, because you pay in downtime and diagnosis). Or put it on a plan with whoever knows the site best. We charge £75 to £125 a month for ours, rolling monthly, and publish exactly what is included on the pricing page.
The question to ask any builder
Before you sign anything, ask: what happens in month two? A good answer names the person, the tasks and the price. A shrug means you are buying a launch, not a website. Ask us the same question any time, and see also whether you need a new site at all.