As you know, we’re dog lovers here at Technology Therapy Group. There’s a lot that goes into caring for dogs. Every day means a walk, food, water, playtime, and treats. And every now and then, our dogs need special care. The Fourth of July fireworks can overwhelm our canine companions, and more than a few of our team members had to take special steps to be sure their dogs were safe and happy over the holiday. It’s not a concern every day – thank goodness! – but it’s an issue that has to be dealt with as it arises.

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Business websites have a lot in common with dogs. While they don’t need food and water, websites do need regular care to stay at their best. It’s important for business owners to understand that this maintenance is an expected part of having a website and that this applies to every website, built on every platform. There is no such thing as a maintenance-free website.

Sometimes the maintenance tasks have to happen because the tools used to build your website have changed. Plugins and other features sometimes upgrade, require reinstallation, or just stop working entirely. When this happens, your website isn’t working the way it needs to and maintenance work is required.

In other situations, the maintenance work is because you want to take good care of your business. Just like you take your dog for a walk to keep them happy and healthy, tasks like adding new images to a website, updating copy, and giving new employees the ability to log into the website to make changes as required are all necessary routine maintenance tasks.

When you’re choosing a web hosting company, make sure you know what maintenance and support services are included in the price of your hosting, and which ones you will have to pay for in a separate contract.  This is important information to have so you can do an apples to apples comparison when choosing web hosting providers.