Scoping a maintenance plan
What should a website maintenance plan include and how do I write the scope?
Write down exactly what yearly care includes (technical management, agreed updates, security, support), how much of each, how fast you respond, and what costs extra.
What you will be able to do
Write a yearly maintenance scope that says what your care plan covers, how much of each, how fast you respond, and what costs extra.
Before you start
- Work through Setup fees and recurring care so you know your care cost and fee.
- Open the maintenance scope template.
Why this matters
To you, "maintenance" might mean updates and backups. To the client it might mean "I can ask you for anything, forever." A written scope lets you say, warmly, "That is outside care, here is a quick quote," and point to the line you both agreed. Without it, every refusal feels personal.
It also protects your margin, because care only pays when the work is bounded. Never call a plan "unlimited" when there are real limits. As an example offer, take around $1,000 a year for agreed maintenance alongside a setup fee of around $2,500. The word that matters is "agreed".
Step by step
Tick each step as you do it. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
Split the scope into four sections
In the maintenance scope template:
- Technical management: hosting, domain and DNS management (where you manage them), SSL, uptime monitoring, backups.
- Agreed updates: software and plugin updates, small content edits, with quantities.
- Security: patching, monitoring, access reviews, what happens after an incident.
- Support: how the client asks, when you answer, how fast you respond.
Write technical management as checks you will do
"Uptime monitored around the clock. Backups weekly, kept 90 days, restore tested quarterly. SSL renewal monitored." If you cannot do something reliably, leave it out.
Put quantities on agreed updates
Write "up to N small edits per year, where a small edit is a text change, image swap or similar on an existing page, under 30 minutes." Choose N from your care cost, not from what sounds generous.
Describe security honestly
Say what you do (updates within a set time, two factor on admin accounts, quarterly access review). No one can promise a site will never be compromised. You can promise patching, watching and a quick response, including restoring from backup.
Set support channels and response times
One channel, such as a support email or form, so requests do not arrive by text at 10pm. A response time in business hours or days, and what counts as urgent (site down, form not sending) versus normal (a photo change). A response time is when you reply, not when the work is done.
Write the "not included" list
New pages, features, redesigns, copywriting beyond small edits, third party subscriptions, fixes for changes the client made, anything at another provider (like their email host). Out of scope work is quoted before it starts.
Add renewal, cancellation and ownership terms
State the term (for example one year, renewing unless cancelled with notice) and what happens on cancellation: the domain stays in the client's name, and the site comes down at the end of the paid term. To own the site and take it with them, they pay a one time buyout fee you agree upfront and write here (for example, around the setup fee). Then you hand over files and access. Clear exit terms make clients more comfortable saying yes.
Read it as the client
Pretend you own a bakery and have never heard of DNS. Remove jargon. If a line could be read two ways, rewrite it.
Example
A care scope for a small accounting firm in Tampa. All quantities and times are illustrative.
YEARLY WEBSITE CARE (illustrative scope)
Technical management
* Hosting set up and managed on a plan we choose and pay for.
* Uptime and page content monitored around the clock, alerts to us.
* Backups weekly, kept 90 days. We test a restore every quarter.
* HTTPS certificate monitored and renewed.
* Domain stays in your name. We manage DNS with your permission.
Agreed updates
* Software and dependency updates applied monthly.
* Up to 12 small edits per year. A small edit is a text change,
photo swap or similar on an existing page, under 30 minutes.
Security
* Updates applied within 7 days of release, sooner for urgent fixes.
* Two factor authentication on all admin accounts.
* Access reviewed quarterly.
* If the site is compromised, we restore from the latest clean backup
and tell you what happened.
Support
* Requests by email to our support address.
* Reply within 1 business day. Site down: reply within 4 business hours.
Not included (quoted separately before work starts)
* New pages, features or redesigns
* Writing new copy beyond small edits
* Third party subscription costs
* Email hosting, which stays with your current provider
Term
* 12 months, renews yearly unless either side gives 30 days notice.
* On cancellation the site comes down at the end of the paid term.
The domain stays yours.
* To own the site and take it with you, pay the one time buyout fee
of [$amount]. We then hand over site files and access within 14 days.
Bad version: "Unlimited updates, unlimited support, 24/7, we handle everything." A two person studio cannot deliver that, so it is a promise you will break.
Common mistakes
- Vague edits. "Content updates" without a definition invites a redesign as an "update".
- Promising perfect security. Promise the practices and the response, not the outcome.
- No support channel. Requests scattered across text, email and social messages get lost.
- No exit terms. Clients hesitate when they do not know how to leave. State cancellation and the buyout fee plainly.
Try it yourself
Use the maintenance scope template to write a full care scope for one real or illustrative client. Check every quantity against your care cost, then read it aloud as the client and rewrite any jargon.
Deliverable: a one to two page care scope ready to attach to a proposal.
Time: about 40 minutes.
Resources
- Maintenance scope template the structure used in this lesson
- Website proposal template attach the scope to your proposal
- Setup fees and recurring care check scope against your care cost
- Explaining recurring care to clients how to present this scope
Finished this lesson?
Mark it complete to track your progress through the course.
Last reviewed October 18, 2026. Prices, laws and tool terms change, so check current terms before you rely on any figure.