Taking Over and Maintaining an Existing Website

When we take on a website

When the person who built the website no longer responds or has stopped working with you. When the website is slow, but you like how it looks and do not want a new one. When the form does not deliver enquiries and you do not know how long it has been that way. When WordPress has not been updated for years and you are afraid to touch it. When you simply want someone to look after it so you do not have to think about it.

We take on websites and online stores built with WordPress and WooCommerce, custom-coded websites and hosted platforms when they provide access. We do not take on a website without seeing it from the inside: the review is the first step and is included in the proposal.

The review

We make a backup and check: which versions the system and plugins are running, when they were last updated, whether the form works and where enquiries arrive, how large the home page is and why, whether any pages return errors, what Search Console says, whether Google Analytics 4 counts enquiries, what the hosting is like and whether it is sufficient, who has access and where from. On one website, the home page was almost six megabytes, including four megabytes of images and more than one megabyte of scripts from eight external services; on another, all 19 pages had the same title in Google.

We send you a list of our findings, sorted by importance: what needs to be fixed immediately, what can wait and what would be good to address. Each item has a price if it is a one-off fix, or a note that it is included in the monthly maintenance.

Priority-based fixes

First, we deal with broken forms and errors that visitors can see, because every day without them means a lost enquiry. Then speed: lighter images, fewer scripts, caching and, if necessary, better hosting. Next, we update the system and plugins, always after creating a restorable backup. Finally, the small things: broken links, missing titles for Google and an old phone number in the contact details. Every fix is listed in the proposal with its price before we make it.

What the monthly maintenance includes

The same as for websites we built ourselves: updates after a backup, a copy every night on a separate server, automatic checks that the website is responding, checks that forms are delivering enquiries, and minor content changes on request. We also add Google Ads or Meta tags when you start advertising; one client contacted us for exactly this reason because they could not find where to add the tag in the dashboard without breaking something. The price is €100-€350 per month, depending on the scope, and the proposal states exactly what it includes.

What it does not include

A new design and structure, which are a redesign and come with a separate proposal. New features: bookings, an online store, a portal or an integration with a new system. Ongoing work on Google rankings and article writing. Advertising. Third-party fees: the domain, hosting if it remains with your provider, paid plugins and hosted platforms. If the review shows that the code cannot be maintained reasonably, we will tell you and propose a new website; the old Lichtgitter Bulgaria website was more than ten years old, and the right solution there was a new website, not repairs.

You keep control of access

The domain, hosting and administrator access remain in your name. We receive a separate administrator login so we can work, and record all access details in one place, which we hand back to you. If you decide to stop the maintenance, you can do so from the following month; you receive the latest backup and everything remains with you as it was, just organised.

What we need to get started

The website address and one or two sentences about what is not working or what concerns you. Administrator access to the website, hosting and domain; if you do not know where they are, we help you find them, because the domain is in your name and the registrar restores access to you. Where form enquiries should be sent and who on your team will contact us about changes. With this, we make a backup and carry out the review, then send you the prioritised list and proposal. The website does not go down for a single day during this process.