01The site is up and running. What costs remain?
Development is complete, the site is up and running, customers can view services and send tickets.
It seems that the main costs are behind us.
In fact, any website needs infrastructure and periodic maintenance.
Even if the company does not change the content for months, the server continues to work, the domain needs to be renewed, and the software needs to be maintained.
Let's consider what exactly the site owner pays for after launch.
02Domain name
Domain – The address at which users find your site.
For example, cligora.com.
Usually, a domain is registered for a certain period, after which you need to renew the registration.
The cost depends on the domain zone, registrar and renewal conditions.
Special attention should be paid to automatic renewal. If a company accidentally loses a domain, it can lead to the unavailability of the site and corporate mail.
03Hosting or server
The site files, database, and server logic must be hosted somewhere.
To do this, they use hosting, VPS, or other server infrastructure.
For a small corporate website, a simple tariff is often enough.
But if a project has personal accounts, a large database, integrations, or a significant number of users, resource requirements increase.
When choosing hosting, you need to consider not only the price.
Stability, backups, technical support, and the ability to increase resources are important.
04Technical Updates
Code that works today won't necessarily stay relevant in a few years.
PHP versions, libraries, browsers, and third-party services are changing.
For example, a site can use a payment service or an API of an external platform. If the provider changes the integration rules, the functionality will have to be adapted.
Updates are also necessary to fix the vulnerabilities identified.
This is especially true for sites with CMS and third-party extensions.
05Backups
Let's imagine that after an unsuccessful update, the site stopped working.
Or due to an error, a part of the database was deleted.
A backup allows you to restore information, but only if it is created correctly.
It is not enough just to store the archive on the same server.
It is desirable to have independent storage, a clear copy creation schedule, and a proven recovery process.
The frequency of redundancy depends on the project.
For an information site and an online store with standing orders, the requirements will be different.
06Corporate Mail
Businesses often use addresses on their own domain.
For example, [hello@company.com](mailto:hello@company.com).
The email infrastructure can be included in the hosting plan or paid separately.
It is necessary to ensure stable sending of emails, set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and monitor the reputation of the email domain.
Otherwise, messages from the site may end up in spam.
07Monitoring and technical support
The site may work without noticeable issues, but that doesn't mean that checks aren't necessary.
Periodically, it is worth monitoring the availability of pages, the operation of forms, the expiration date of the SSL certificate, server errors, and loading speed.
It is especially important to check the functions through which applications are received.
If the contact form has stopped sending messages, the company may lose leads and not even know about it.
08Is it possible to do without technical support?
Yes, if the owner has the necessary knowledge and is ready to independently control the operation of the site.
But for many companies, this is inconvenient.
An entrepreneur should deal with customers, sales, and business development, rather than regularly checking server error logs.
That is why the technical support of the site often turns out to be a more practical solution.
09What does Cligora Digital Studio offer?
We develop web projects taking into account their further maintenance.
We help with connecting domains, setting up hosting, configuring the server environment, technical updates, and support.
Site maintenance is not a permanent fixing of problems. It is work that helps prevent them from appearing.