A website is never finished. It needs looking after.

A website feels like something you build once and forget. In practice it is closer to a shopfront: the sign, the opening hours and the door all need to keep working, or customers quietly go elsewhere.

The problems are usually small, and that is exactly why they go unnoticed.

• Content goes stale. Services change, prices move, a team member leaves. A site that still describes last year's business makes a visitor wonder whether anyone is still answering.
• Forms and buttons break. A contact form that fails silently is the most expensive fault a small business can have, because you never see the enquiries you lost.
• Links stop working. Pages get renamed, outside links disappear, and visitors land on error pages.
• Contact details change. A new phone number or office address needs to change everywhere, not just on one page.
• Domains expire. If the domain registration lapses, the whole site can disappear. Renewal dates are easy to miss when nobody owns the job.

None of this is dramatic. It is simply the steady work that keeps a site credible. If you are still deciding what kind of site you need in the first place, our page on small business websites is a good place to start.

"Maintenance" is a loose word, and different providers use it differently. In general it covers some mix of the following.

Keeping it running

Making sure the site is published, reachable and loading properly, and that the domain stays connected to it.

Keeping it accurate

Updating wording, details and offers when your business changes, so the site always matches what you actually do.

Keeping it working

Checking that contact routes, such as call and WhatsApp buttons and enquiry forms, still deliver messages to you.

Keeping it safe

Looking after the technical side so you do not have to think about it. How much of this a provider handles varies, so it is always worth asking exactly what is included before you sign up with anyone.

When we build a website for you on the Website.sg plan, we also publish it and keep it running. You do not need to arrange anything yourself, and the site is not something you are left to manage after launch. That is part of the S$97 a month, alongside the custom design and build.

Your own domain name is connected to the site for you. The domain itself is bought separately, in your own name, so it stays yours.

We would rather be straightforward than vague: the exact details of day-to-day upkeep, such as how requests for changes are handled, are best confirmed with us directly before you start. Message us on WhatsApp and ask whatever you want to know. You can see how the whole arrangement fits together on our website design cost page, and how the build itself works on website development.

Whether the site is ours or not, here is a short checklist you can run in about ten minutes. Do it on your phone first, since that is where most of your visitors will be.

1. Type your business name into Google. Does your website come up, and does it look right?
2. Open the site on your phone. Does it fit the screen and read comfortably without pinching or zooming?
3. Tap the phone number. Does it start a call? Tap the WhatsApp button. Does it open the right chat?
4. Send a test enquiry through the contact form. Does it arrive in your inbox, and how quickly?
5. Read every page once. Are the services, prices, hours and address still correct?
6. Click each menu item and a few links inside pages. Does anything lead to an error?
7. Check when your domain name is due for renewal, and that the renewal contact is an address you read.
8. Look at the footer. Is the year, business name and registration detail still accurate?

If two or three of these fail, the site has drifted. That is normal, and it is fixable. It is also the clearest sign that someone needs to own the job.