Laura Topalli
G
Rated 5 out of 5
Paul really is the real deal and knows what he is talking about. If you need someone to help your online presence, I wouldn't go to anyone else but Paul.
Website maintenance cost is the total of five line items: hosting, software updates, backups, security monitoring and developer time for fixes. The first four protect the business and should never be dropped. What varies most is the fifth, plus the extras stacked on top that many small sites never use.
Written from the maintenance work we do every week on the WordPress sites we host.
Whatever a provider calls the package, these are the pieces you are actually paying for.
| Line item | What it covers | Can you skip it? |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | The server, SSL certificate, caching and uptime monitoring | No; only the size is negotiable |
| Software updates | WordPress core, theme and plugin releases, checked after each one | No; outdated plugins are the usual way sites get hacked |
| Backups | Scheduled copies of files and database, plus one before every change | No; they are cheap insurance |
| Security | Malware scans, firewall rules and login protection | No, though basic protection is often bundled with hosting |
| Developer time | Fixes, small edits, new sections and troubleshooting | Partly; pay for what you use |
Upkeep for a site we built and host is covered on our website hosting and maintenance service page.
Size and complexity matter more than page count. A five-page brochure site with a handful of plugins needs far less attention than a store, a booking system or a site with a members area, because every moving part is one more thing an update can break.
Traffic is the second driver. Our servers are matched to how busy each site really is, so a quiet brochure site is not billed like a busy online store with heavy daily traffic.
If any of these show up on your invoice, ask what they do for you specifically.
Annual licences for sliders, form builders or add-ons nobody has opened since launch.
A server plan built for heavy traffic when the site gets a modest number of visits a day.
Paying monthly for changes you make twice a year; hourly or per-task fixes often cost less.
Two or three overlapping scanners slowing the site when the host already runs one.
Dashboards that repeat what Google Analytics and Search Console already show for free.
Five plugins doing one job; replacing them with one small custom plugin can cut both cost and load time.
We do the work ourselves rather than passing it to an outside vendor, so whoever applies an update already knows how the site was built. Each update is followed by a check of the live pages, and broken layouts or plugin clashes are fixed the same day they are found.
When Dawley Logistics moved to our hosting, every old link kept working. Bringing a site over from another host costs nothing extra for clients on a rebuild or monthly SEO plan.
Behind a quiet invoice sits routine work that nobody notices until it stops.
A fresh backup is taken, then plugin, theme and core releases go on one at a time, in an order that avoids known conflicts.
Key pages, forms and the phone button are opened on desktop and mobile to confirm nothing shifted or stopped working.
Uptime alerts, malware scans and certificate renewals run continuously, and anything flagged gets a plain-language note.
Hosting, domain, licences, retainers and any agency fees, with renewal dates.
Write down what each charge protects or produces. Anything without an answer is a candidate to cancel.
Confirm backups exist, updates are current and someone is watching for malware.
Choose between a monthly block of hours and paying per task, based on how often you actually need changes.
Speed problems that survive this review are usually a build issue, which our page speed optimization work addresses directly.
Paul really is the real deal and knows what he is talking about. If you need someone to help your online presence, I wouldn't go to anyone else but Paul.
Search Strength help me our when it came to my SEO. I knew nothing about SEO and had no idea how important it was to my business. 10/10
Paul is a very bright person. His knowledge about AI and SEO is impeccable. Look forward to working with him.
Want more people to find your business? Paul is your guy!
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Search Strength SEO is the real deal. He’s an SEO guru who helped get our website ranking and has been great to work with throughout the process. What I appreciate most is how transparent he is—straightforward pricing, clear
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I had a great experience with Search Strength SEO, they help in growing and improving our customers. I would recommend them to anyone!
Great service and super fast!
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We had such a great experience with the Search Strength SEO team! They made our website look better than ever and handled our Google Business Profile setup flawlessly. Everyone was kind, responsive, and extremely thorough.
Anytime we had a question or needed help, they were right there. We’re so grateful for everything they did for us!
Paul helped me get my website setup in less than 24 hours! Turned out amazing and would highly recommend using them. Thanks Paul and team!
Very good at what they do and super responsive. Paul is awesome. 10/10.
I’ve recently started working with the team at Search Strength SEO, and I couldn’t be more impressed. They bring a rare blend of deep professional expertise and down-to-earth customer service that’s truly refreshing. Not only do
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The Search Strength team has been incredible to work with. They know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to optimizing a Google Business Profile. Our visibility and engagement here in Tampa have noticeably improved thanks to
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Working with this team has been an absolute pleasure. Their communication is top-notch — always quick to respond, clear, and proactive. They truly understand SEO and deliver high-quality work that drives results. From technical
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Usually both: hosting and upkeep are billed monthly, while domain names and some plugin licences renew once a year.
Yes, if you are comfortable running updates, checking the site afterward and restoring a backup when something breaks. Most owners would rather spend that time on the business.
Plugins fall behind, security holes stay open and small errors pile up. The longer a site goes untouched, the more work it takes to bring it back safely.
Cheap shared hosting usually covers only the server. Managed hosting from the team that built the site typically adds updates, backups and fixes.
Those platforms fold hosting and updates into the subscription, but you give up control. When our clients come from one of those builders, the WordPress rebuild and the hosting switch are handled together, with the move folded into their project.
Several builds in our recent client work moved to our server, Dawley Logistics among them.
Yes, we will say honestly whether switching would help.
Steven McVicker, CTO here and a partner in the ownership of Search Strength SEO, manages the hosting environment and the update routine described here. Paul Weidner, the founder, reviewed the sections on budgeting.
Both of them work from New Tampa in Tampa, FL. The maintenance approach has not changed as the client list has grown across Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin. Client reviews are on our Google listing.
Send us a copy of your current hosting and maintenance invoices. We will mark what protects your site and what you can cancel.