Website maintenance

What does website maintenance usually include?

Website maintenance splits into two jobs: keeping the site online and keeping its content accurate. The first covers renewing your domain, hosting and security certificate, applying security updates and making backups. The second covers editing content such as prices, photos and notices, and checking that links still work.

Agencies use different names for it, like "maintenance," "upkeep" or "managed operations." What matters is not the name but what they actually do, how many times and how fast. Use the table below to check the items in a quote one by one.

The first few months after launch need the most attention, and after that the work shifts to regular checks. In the first month, problems show up that only appear once customers start using the site: typos, missing photos, line breaks that look off on phones. Ask in advance whether these early fixes fall under maintenance or under the revisions in your build contract.

How much does website maintenance usually cost?

Maintenance costs vary far more with what's included than with any market rate. Two plans with the same monthly fee can be worth completely different amounts depending on whether hosting is included and how many edits you get.

The more features your site has, the more there is to look after. A website with booking, payments and member accounts has more parts to check and more places where things can go wrong than a one-page site that simply introduces your business, so it usually costs more.

ISSYMO sets a maintenance fee for each plan: KRW 50,000/month for the Landing Website, KRW 100,000/month for the Custom-Feature Website Basic, and KRW 200,000/month for Standard, which adds search and AI growth management.

When you compare quotes, don't just line up the monthly fees. Work out the total cost for 1 full year. A low monthly fee can end up costing more if you pay for hosting and the domain separately and are charged for every edit. On the other hand, if the plan bundles services you won't use, ask whether you can choose only what you need.

• Whether hosting and domain costs are included in the fee or paid separately
• How many edits you get per month, and what counts as a "small edit"
• How long edits take to go live after you ask, and how fast they respond to outages
• How many features need regular checks, such as booking and payments
• Whether search visibility reports or content writing are included

What should a website maintenance contract include?

A contract should spell out what the agency won't do just as clearly as what it will do. Most disputes happen right on the line between "Isn't this just a small edit?" and "That's new work."

The most common mistake is letting the domain be registered in the agency's name. If you lose touch with the agency, getting your own business's address back becomes hard. Agree from the start that you can receive the admin accounts and the source code too.

Read "unlimited edits" carefully, too. Usually only small edits like swapping text or photos are unlimited, while new pages or features are often billed separately. Writing down two or three examples of what counts as a small edit cuts down on misunderstandings.

• What's included and what's excluded (e.g. adding new pages, redesigns and new features are billed separately)
• How many edits per month, and whether unused edits roll over to the next month
• The usual turnaround for edits, and the response time for urgent issues like the site being down
• How often security updates and backups happen, where backups are stored and for how long
• Whose name the domain and hosting accounts are in, and who pays for them
• The cancellation terms, and how you get the source code, content and accounts after cancelling
• Whether you receive a log or report of what was done each month

Should I maintain my website myself or hire someone?

If you can edit text and photos yourself in the admin panel, you can easily handle content updates on your own. But tasks that need technical know-how, such as domain renewal, security updates, backups and server problems, are safer left to a professional.

The deciding question is: who can fix it when something breaks? If you can't immediately think of who to call on the day your website suddenly won't load, that part is better handed off.

For example, a florist might upload seasonal product photos herself and leave the server and security to an agency. Splitting the work this way keeps both costs and response times in check. If you split it, write down on one page who handles what.

If you decide to manage it yourself, there are dates you must put on your calendar: your domain expiry date, your hosting payment date, and one day a month to tap through your whole website on your phone from start to finish. Keeping just these three prevents most "it suddenly stopped loading one day" accidents.

How do I switch maintenance providers or stop maintenance?

When you switch providers, the safe order is to get the accounts and original files first and cut the connections last. If you do it the other way around, your website can be down for days or your inquiry emails can go missing.

1. 01Log in to your domain registrar yourself and check whose name the domain is in and when it expires.
2. 02Check whose name the hosting account is in, the payment method and the next billing date.
3. 03Get the source code, the original photos and text, and a database backup, and keep them in your own storage.
4. 04List all outside accounts, such as the admin panel, map listings, analytics tools and inquiry email, and change their passwords.
5. 05After handing over to the new provider, click through the home page, contact form and booking yourself to make sure they work.
6. 06Once everything works, revoke the previous provider's access and close out the contract.

How does ISSYMO maintenance work over a month?

ISSYMO maintenance runs in a simple cycle: request, done, monthly report. Send us a one-line email or call, like "Please update the price list," and we usually make the change within 1–2 business days and let you know with a link to the updated page.

The edits we made that month, the results of security, backup and speed checks, and your search and AI visibility numbers are summarized on one page and sent to you on the first business day of the next month. Adding several new pages, a complete redesign, or new features like booking or payments are outside maintenance, so we quote those separately.

There's no contract term, so once you ask to stop, you won't be charged from the next billing date. On request, we organize and hand over your source code and content, and transfer domain management rights to you.