Your WordPress Questions, Answered
Frequently Asked
Questions
You’ve got questions about keeping your WordPress site secure, fast, and worry-free. I’ve got 14 years of answers. Still have questions? Drop me a line – I respond personally to every email.
Maintenance FAQ
Essential Care is perfect if you want professional maintenance without the extras. You’ll get bulletproof backups, enterprise-grade security monitoring with Patchstack, and safe updates – all the fundamentals that keep your site healthy and protected while you focus on your business.
Complete Care is for growing businesses that need ongoing improvements plus faster support. Everything from Essential, plus 2 hours of monthly development time to actually improve your site, support within 24 hours when you need help, and detailed monthly reports so you always know what’s happening with your site.
Premium Care is for complex sites that need maximum attention and priority care. You get everything from Complete Care, but with 4 hours of monthly development, VIP 12-hour support response, quarterly strategy calls to plan your site’s future, and proactive optimizations before you even know you need them.
Wondering which makes sense for you?
It comes down to how much you want me involved in growing your site versus just maintaining it. All plans protect your investment, but the higher tiers mean I can actively make your site better each month.
Essential Care – for when you need solid maintenance but can handle content updates and small changes yourself. Perfect for established sites that just need professional care.
Complete Care – for when you want me to help improve your site each month, not just maintain it. Those 2 development hours add up to meaningful improvements over time.
Premium Care – for when your site is mission-critical and you want maximum attention. Complex integrations, high traffic, or sites where downtime costs serious money.
Still not sure? Get in touch and I’ll help you choose the right level of care for your specific situation.
I aim to respond as fast as possible, typically within 24-48 hours (2 business days) for all support requests. But here’s the thing – if your site is down or there’s a security emergency, I’m available 24/7 and will jump on it immediately.
For Complete Care clients, you get priority support within 24 hours. For Premium Care, that’s bumped up to VIP 12-hour response because your site deserves maximum attention.
I work in CET/CEST (Frankfurt time), and when I’m handling your support request, I’m 100% focused on solving your problem – no back-and-forth delays, just efficient solutions.
Every plan includes the core protection your site needs: Smart Backups that actually work when you need them, Real Security with Patchstack monitoring that catches vulnerabilities before they become problems, and Safe Updates tested in staging before they touch your live site.
You also get uptime monitoring, Cloudflare protection, Core Web Vitals optimization, SSL management, complete site cleanup, activity logging, monthly reports, and premium plugin licenses – everything that keeps your site healthy and performing.
Complete Care and Premium Care add monthly development hours (2h and 4h respectively), so I can actually improve your site each month, not just maintain it. Plus faster support response times and detailed reporting.
Need something specific? Ask me directly what’s included for your situation.
Absolutely! Speed optimization and Core Web Vitals are core parts of every plan. When we start working together, I’ll optimize your site to hit Google’s “Good” range on all three metrics for both mobile and desktop, with special attention to your most important pages.
Unlike other companies that charge thousands every time you need Core Web Vitals work, this is included in your ongoing maintenance. If things slip as your site grows, I’ll jump back in to bring your scores back up at no extra cost.
I use a combination of Cloudflare Enterprise (included in all plans), proper caching, image optimization, database cleanup, and code optimization to make your site noticeably faster for your visitors. Most clients see significant load time improvements within the first month.
For Essential Care, I focus on security monitoring and critical patches, but you’ll handle most routine updates yourself.
For Complete Care and Premium Care, I take full responsibility for all updates. I test every single update in staging before it touches your live site – no automated bot job here. WordPress core, plugins, themes, everything gets the personal attention it deserves.
I also factor in knowledge from managing updates across all my clients. If I discover an issue with a specific plugin update, I’ll hold off on all client sites until it’s resolved. I typically wait 2-3 days before pushing new updates (unless they fix security vulnerabilities) to let any bugs get ironed out first.
Even with all these precautions, if something goes wrong, I’ll address it immediately – usually before you even notice.
I protect your site with Patchstack security – enterprise-grade vulnerability monitoring that identifies and mitigates security vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins, themes, and core before they can be exploited. This isn’t just malware scanning after you’re already infected – it’s prevention-focused security that stops attacks before they happen.
Patchstack applies virtual patches to vulnerable components, provides real-time threat monitoring, and maintains community IP blocklist of known attacker addresses. You get daily security scans, instant alerts if your site gets blacklisted, and hardening configurations that make your site much harder to hack.
I also implement WordPress-specific security hardening, secure login configurations, and monitor for suspicious activity. This multilayered approach makes your site a hard target rather than low-hanging fruit.
While my security measures make hacking much harder, if the worst happens, I’ll act immediately to restore your site. I maintain multiple backup points and will revert to a clean backup as fast as possible, then work to close whatever vulnerability was exploited.
I won’t leave you hanging – I’ll handle the cleanup, strengthen the security gap that was exploited, and get your site back online with minimal downtime. This is included in your maintenance plan, not an extra charge.
Of course! When you’re ready for me to take more off your plate, just drop me a line and I can upgrade you immediately. No lengthy processes or waiting periods.
Want to switch from monthly to yearly billing for the 10% discount? Same thing – just let me know and I’ll switch it at your next billing cycle.
For Complete Care and Premium Care, absolutely. I test every core update and change in staging before it touches your live site. No surprises, no “oops” moments, no downtime from broken updates.
For Essential Care, critical security updates get priority, but routine updates are handled differently since the staging setup is part of the higher service tiers.
I can work with any hosting provider – I’ve got 14 years of experience with WordPress across every type of hosting setup. However, if I find that your current host is limiting what I can do for your site’s performance or security, I’ll recommend better options.
I’m not tied to any specific host, so my recommendations are always based on what’s best for your site, not kickback commissions.
I focus on building long-term partnerships rather than trial periods or money-back guarantees. The goal is to be your WordPress expert for years to come, not just a short-term vendor.
That said, if something isn’t working out in the first month, let’s talk about it. I’d rather fix the issue and keep you as a happy long-term client than have you leave unsatisfied.
Yes, each site needs its own plan. Every site has unique needs, different plugin combinations, varying traffic levels, and specific optimization requirements. Separate plans ensure each site gets the dedicated attention it deserves rather than shared resources.
Power Hour FAQ
This completely depends on task complexity. Some clients get 20 small tweaks knocked out in 4 hours, others need the full time for one complex feature integration. Simple tasks like updating content, fixing broken links, or adjusting styling go quickly. Complex tasks like custom functionality, payment integration, or major layout changes take more time.
That’s exactly why I offer a free estimate – send me your task list and I’ll tell you what’s realistic in each time block. No guesswork, just honest expectations based on 14 years of WordPress development experience.
Power Hour is about maximum productivity in your booked time. I work through your list in priority order, so your most important tasks get done first. Any remaining tasks can roll into your next Power Hour session.
I’m completely focused during your Power Hour – no distractions, no other clients, just powering through your list as efficiently as possible. You get more done in a few focused hours than you’d typically see in weeks of back-and-forth with other developers.
Clear descriptions help me work faster and get more done. “Contact form not sending emails to admin” is much better than “fix contact form.” For each task, tell me the current problem and what you want the end result to be.
If you have examples or references (screenshots, competitor sites, specific functionality you’ve seen), include those. The clearer your task descriptions, the more efficiently I can work through your list.
After booking, we’ll schedule your Power Hour for a specific day within the same week if possible. I work in CET/CEST (Frankfurt time) and don’t need you to be available during the work – I focus completely on your task list without interruptions.
You’ll need to provide WordPress admin access (I’ll send secure instructions), then I get to work. When finished, you’ll get a detailed report of everything accomplished, any issues encountered, and recommendations for remaining tasks.
Think about your typical experience getting WordPress work done:
- Endless email chains discussing scope and pricing
- Waiting weeks for quotes on simple tasks
- Projects that drag on for months
- Surprise costs and feature creep
Power Hour flips this completely. You book time, list your tasks, and they get done. No scope discussions, no surprise costs, no endless back-and-forth. Just focused development work that powers through your to-do list.
It’s like having a senior WordPress developer drop into your team for a few hours and just… handle everything that’s been bugging you about your site.
Power Hour is for development and site improvement tasks, not cleanup work. I don’t handle malware removal, performance audits, or SEO audits in Power Hour sessions – those need dedicated focus and different processes.
Complex custom development projects that need planning, discovery, and multiple revisions also aren’t a good fit. Power Hour works best for tasks with clear requirements and defined outcomes.
If something on your list isn’t suitable for Power Hour, I’ll let you know during the free estimate and suggest better alternatives.
No guarantees on estimates – WordPress development always has variables that can’t be predicted until you’re hands-on with the code. But I give honest estimates based on 14 years of experience, and I work as efficiently as possible to maximize what gets done in your time block.
If a task turns out more complex than expected, I’ll let you know and ask how you want to proceed rather than just burning through your time on one item.
Absolutely! Many clients book monthly Power Hour sessions to keep their sites fresh and handle ongoing improvements. It’s like having a WordPress developer on retainer, but more flexible and cost-effective.
Regular Power Hour sessions are perfect for growing businesses that need ongoing site improvements but aren’t ready for a full maintenance plan or dedicated developer.
I usually schedule Power Hour sessions within the same week of booking, often sooner. I keep slots available specifically for Power Hour work because I know these tasks have been sitting on your list too long already.
Once scheduled, the work happens on the agreed date, and you get your completed task report the same day.
If you’re on Complete Care or Premium Care, you already get monthly development hours included. Power Hour is separate – it’s for when you need extra development work beyond your monthly allocation, or when you want to tackle a big list of improvements all at once.
Many maintenance clients use Power Hour for major site improvements or seasonal updates, then rely on their monthly hours for ongoing tweaks and maintenance.