You got a website built. Somewhere along the way, updating it became your job — logging into WordPress or Squarespace, hunting for the right block, second-guessing whether you’re about to break the layout, all to change a phone number or swap a photo. If that’s not how you want to spend an afternoon, you’re not stuck with it. There are a few genuinely different ways to get out of that seat.
Why you ended up doing it yourself
Most small business sites are built on a CMS or drag-and-drop builder — WordPress, Wix, Squarespace — precisely so the owner can make edits without calling a developer every time. That’s a real feature for some people. But “can edit it yourself” quietly turns into “have to edit it yourself” the moment nobody else is doing it, and a lot of business owners never actually wanted the job in the first place — they wanted a website, not a second piece of software to learn.
Option 1: Pay someone per edit, as needed
The simplest fix: whoever built your site (or any freelancer) will usually make small changes for an hourly or per-job rate. No ongoing commitment, you pay only when something needs changing.
The downside is friction. Every update means writing an email, waiting for a quote, waiting for it to get done — and if changes are frequent, the invoices add up faster than a flat monthly or annual fee would.
Option 2: A proper maintenance plan (if you’re staying on your current platform)
If you’re on WordPress specifically, staying put and paying for a maintenance plan is worth knowing about — it should cover backups, plugin and security updates, and a small allowance of content changes, all for one monthly fee. It solves the “who’s watching this” security problem WordPress carries, but you’re still on WordPress, still paying every month indefinitely, and the plan is only as good as what’s actually in it.
Option 3: Move off the platform entirely, and pay one annual fee for hosting and updates
The option most people don’t know exists: migrate off WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace onto managed, static hosting, and get a set number of content updates included in one yearly price — no CMS left to patch, no plugin update to forget, no per-edit invoice. We built Site Care Plan around exactly this, for people who don’t want ongoing DIY or ongoing per-edit billing: we host it, you get three updates a year included, and if you’ve still got time left on your current hosting or domain, you don’t pay twice for it.
This suits people whose sites genuinely don’t change much — a few photos, an hours update, a new team member’s bio — rather than sites that need constant, active management.
How to actually decide
Ask yourself two things:
- How often does anything on your site actually need to change? A handful of times a year points at Option 3. Every week or two points at either doing it yourself, or a more hands-on retainer than any of these three cover.
- Do you want to stay on your current platform, or would you happily never see a WordPress login screen again? If it’s the latter, migrating is worth the one-off hassle for the ongoing peace of mind.
A Richmond retailer who updates opening hours twice a year and swaps a product photo occasionally doesn’t need the same setup as someone running weekly promotions — the right option isn’t the same for every business, and it’s worth being honest about which one you actually are before picking.
The common thread across all three: none of them require you to become the person who understands how your website works. That was never really the job you signed up for.