If you've ever asked a web agency "what does the monthly fee cover?" and got a vague answer — you're not alone. Most $99/month "maintenance plans" sold to Melbourne tradies are 95% hosting, 5% "we'll deal with it if something major breaks". Here's what actually breaks on tradie sites, what proper maintenance should cover, and how to tell whether you need it.
What "$99/Month Maintenance" Usually Covers
Most of these plans break down roughly like this:
| What's included | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Your site sits on a server. Costs about $5–10/month at cost. |
| SSL certificate | Comes free with any modern host. $0. |
| "Backups" | Auto-backup feature most hosts include for free. Rarely tested. |
| "Security updates" | Auto-applied by the platform (WordPress core, etc.). Done by software, not the agency. |
| "Bug fixes" | Sometimes. Often "billed separately" when one actually happens. |
| Content updates | Almost never included. Or limited to "30 minutes/month" of vague support. |
So you're paying $99/month for $10/month of hosting and a vague promise. The work that actually keeps a tradie site bringing in leads — adding new project photos, replying to reviews, making sure forms still work, refreshing GBP — none of that is in the plan.
What Actually Goes Wrong on Tradie Websites
Real-world breakage we see across Melbourne tradie sites:
The silent killers:
- Contact form delivery fails — usually because an email provider tightened spam rules and the agency never updated the SMTP setup. Site looks fine. Leads vanish.
- SSL certificate auto-renew fails — Google flags the site as "not secure", organic traffic drops 30–50% within a week.
- Plugin or theme version out of date — site starts throwing errors, sometimes only on mobile, sometimes only on certain pages.
- Reviews go unanswered — Google's algorithm penalises businesses that don't engage, your map ranking slowly drops.
- Project photos never get added — your competitors who post weekly start ranking above you on "[trade] [suburb]" searches.
- Shopify products go out of stock and stay listed — for tradies who also sell merch, plans, or materials, this kills conversion and trust.
What Proper Maintenance Should Cover
If you're paying for ongoing maintenance, here's what should actually be in the plan:
- Active monitoring — alerts when something breaks (not waiting for you to notice and complain)
- Monthly content updates — at least one new photo set, one service or product change, refreshed GBP
- Reviews handled — replies written for you, fakes flagged, asks sent to recent customers
- Form delivery tested — actual test enquiries sent through your form to confirm they reach you
- Software updates — applied, then tested (not just blindly auto-applied)
- Hosting + SSL + backups — monitored, tested quarterly
- Monthly report — short, in plain English: traffic, leads, anything to flag
That's actual work — usually 2 to 4 hours per month per site, varying by how much content the tradie wants updated. At market rate, that's $200 to $500 of work per month, plus the hosting/infrastructure baseline.
Should You Pay for Maintenance at All?
Honest answer: not always.
When it makes sense
- Your site is bringing in real leads (more than 5 per month). Letting it break is leaking real money.
- You sell something online (Shopify, e-commerce). The store breaking on a Sunday afternoon costs you sales you'll never recover.
- You don't have time or interest in logging in to fix things yourself.
- You've had at least one "the form was broken for months" incident already.
When it doesn't
- Your site is a static brochure with very low traffic. There's not much to maintain because nothing's moving.
- You enjoy the admin side and have a system for checking your site monthly.
- You're early stage, on a tight budget, and getting leads through Google Business Profile alone — better to invest the $400/month in ads or photography first.
How Site Care Works
Our Site Care add-on is From $300 AUD / month, cancel anytime, no lock-in contract. It covers everything in the "proper maintenance" list above. If your site doesn't need that much each month (smaller scope), we'll quote you accordingly — we don't pad billing.
We don't insist on Site Care for every tradie we work with. About a third of our Website clients add it on, two-thirds don't. We tell you straight whether it's worth it for your case.
If your current $99/month plan is only giving you hosting and silence, you're not getting maintenance — you're getting a server bill in disguise. Either upgrade to something that does real work, or drop it and move your site to your own host for $10/month.
Free mockup in 48hrs. Pay only if you love it.