Web Design
How to Register a .com.au Domain
How to get a .com.au domain: eligibility, choosing a name, registering it, WHOIS privacy and the .au direct option if you have no ABN.
Website maintenance cost depends on how much of the work you hand over. At Rock Solid Marketing, ongoing care plans cost $275 + GST a month for small sites, $395 + GST a month for 5 to 10 page sites and $549 + GST a month for online stores and complex sites, each for a minimum of 6 months. If you only need occasional changes, you can buy blocks of hours at $175 + GST an hour instead.
How much does website maintenance cost?
Here’s how our website maintenance pricing works, so you can see exactly what you pay for:
| Plan | Price | Suits | What’s included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront hours | $175 + GST an hour, in blocks of 3 or 5 hours | Occasional changes | Content edits, news posts, new staff or services, pages and menu items, SEO tweaks, with a log of time kept |
| Basic | $275 + GST a month (minimum 6 months) | 3 to 5 page sites | Framework and plug-in updates, backups, security checks and content maintenance |
| Essentials | $395 + GST a month (minimum 6 months) | 5 to 10 page sites | Everything in Basic, plus SEO optimisation, hosting, and domain and SSL renewal |
| Premium | $549 + GST a month (minimum 6 months) | Online stores and complex sites | Everything in Essentials, plus store and payment settings, an SEO health check and audit report, and a one-hour call each month |
Upfront hours don’t cover technical support, domains, hosting or security; those are quoted separately. You’ll find the full details on our website care plans page.
How much is website maintenance per month?
For most small business sites, website maintenance per month is the care plan fee plus nothing else, because the plan covers the routine work. With us, that’s from $275 + GST a month. If you choose Essentials or Premium, hosting and domain and SSL renewals are included too, so the monthly fee covers more of your running costs in one place.
How much should website maintenance cost?
The right price for website maintenance should match what your site needs. A 5-page brochure site needs regular updates, backups and security checks; an online store also needs its payments, products and checkout watched closely. When you compare website maintenance fees, check what each provider actually does each month, how quickly they respond, and whether hosting and renewals are included. A low price that doesn’t include backups or security checks isn’t a saving.
What does website maintenance include?
A good maintenance plan usually covers:
- Software updates: the website platform (such as WordPress), themes and plug-ins, tested so they don’t break the site.
- Backups: regular copies of the site stored away from the server, so it can be restored.
- Security checks: scanning for malware and fixing weak spots.
- Content changes: updating text, prices, staff, photos and opening hours.
- Hosting and renewals: keeping the hosting, domain and SSL certificate paid and working.
- SEO and reporting: on higher plans, checks on how the site is performing in search.
Why do websites need maintenance?
Websites are software, and software changes. The platform, themes and plug-ins release updates to fix bugs and close security holes, browsers change, and your business information changes too. Without maintenance, sites slowly break, slow down and become easier to hack. Our WordPress maintenance guide explains what’s involved in more detail.
Why is website maintenance important?
Because the cost of not doing it is usually higher. A hacked or broken website can mean lost enquiries, a clean-up bill and damage to your reputation while it’s down. See what to do if your website has been hacked. Regular maintenance also keeps your information accurate, which matters to customers and to Google.
What are the ongoing costs of running a website?
Beyond maintenance, the ongoing costs of running a website usually include:
- Hosting: ours starts from $400 + GST a year (included in the Essentials and Premium care plans).
- Domain name renewal: paid every year to keep your address.
- SSL certificate: often included with hosting.
- Premium software: some themes, plug-ins, booking or email tools charge their own subscriptions.
- Marketing: SEO, ads or content if you want the site to bring in more enquiries.
For the cost of building a website in the first place, see our guide to how much a website costs.
Do you need a website maintenance plan?
Not necessarily. If you’re comfortable updating your own site, taking backups and keeping on top of security, you may only need occasional help, and blocks of hours at $175 + GST an hour suit that. A plan makes sense when nobody in the business has the time or know-how, when the site brings in a lot of your enquiries, or when it takes payments. If occasional hours will do the job, we’ll tell you before you sign up.
How to compare website maintenance charges
Website maintenance charges are hard to compare because providers bundle different things. Before you choose, ask each one:
- What exactly is done each month, and is there a log or report?
- How often are backups taken, where are they stored, and have they been test-restored?
- Are hosting, the domain and the SSL certificate included, or billed separately?
- How many content changes are included, and what does extra work cost?
- What’s the minimum term and notice period?
- How fast do they respond if the site goes down?
The lowest web maintenance cost isn’t necessarily the best value: a plan with tested backups and quick support usually costs less than one emergency repair. The same goes for website management cost more broadly, where someone also writes and updates your content.
What we see when sites go without maintenance
When a business brings us a website that hasn’t been looked after, we check the same things first: how out of date the software is, whether there’s a recent backup, whether the SSL certificate and domain are paid up, and who holds the logins. The answers tell us whether the site can simply be brought up to date or whether it needs repair first. Sites with current backups and a clear record of logins are much quicker and cheaper to fix.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost money to maintain a website?
Yes, even if you do it yourself: there’s hosting, a domain renewal and your own time. Paying someone to maintain it costs more each month but saves your time and lowers the risk of the site breaking or being hacked.
Is website maintenance cost the same as hosting?
No. Hosting is the space your website lives on; maintenance is the work of keeping the site updated, backed up and secure. Some plans bundle both: our Essentials and Premium care plans include hosting.
Are website maintenance costs in Australia charged with GST?
Our prices are shown excluding GST, so GST is added on top. Check whether a quote includes GST before comparing website maintenance costs in Australia.
Can I cancel a website maintenance plan?
Our care plans have a minimum term of 6 months. Check any provider’s minimum term and notice period before you sign up.
The short version
Website maintenance cost with us starts at $275 + GST a month for a small site (minimum 6 months), with higher plans that include hosting, SEO checks and store support, or $175 + GST an hour if you only need occasional help. Whatever you choose, make sure updates, backups and security checks are covered.
If you’d like to talk about looking after your website, book a free 30-minute discovery call.
