How to sell WordPress maintenance services to unsolicited customers

If you already have clients with WordPress sites, offering them website maintenance services can be an excellent way to generate recurring income, improve their experience, and protect their digital investments. However, many professionals wonder how to approach this topic without seeming intrusive or unnecessary.

Why Your Clients Need Website Maintenance (Even If They Don’t Know It)

One of the biggest mistakes agencies and freelancers make is delivering a website without offering a maintenance plan. This leads to two problems.

First, when the client encounters an issue months later, they will most likely contact you expecting a free fix. Second, you are missing out on the opportunity to have a recurring income from clients who already trust you.

Most clients don’t know that WordPress needs maintenance until they face a problem. That’s where you can step in and offer them a solution before it’s too late.

📌 Example of how to explain it:
“Your website is like a car: if you don’t maintain it, sooner or later, it will break down. The same happens with WordPress. Without maintenance, the website can slow down, stop working, or even get hacked.”

To make it clearer, you can mention these common WordPress issues that can be prevented with proper maintenance:

❌ Website crashes → The client loses sales and credibility
❌ Slow performance → Users leave, and Google penalizes it
❌ Hacker attacks → Data can be lost or infected with malware
❌ Unexpected errors → A poorly done plugin update can break the site
❌ No backups → If something fails, the client loses everything

When you explain website maintenance from real risks, clients understand it much better.

How to Offer Website Maintenance to Your Current Clients

Selling website maintenance to existing clients is easier than selling it to new ones because they already trust your work. The key is to communicate it properly and at the right time.

1. Include It in Your Offer from the Start

Instead of waiting for the client to experience issues, present website maintenance as part of your service from the first contact. In your proposal, make it clear that designing a website is just the first step and that, without maintenance, problems will arise sooner or later.

Example of how to explain it in a proposal:

“The development of your website includes the delivery of a fully functional site, but to ensure its security, performance, and long-term stability, we recommend a maintenance plan. This will prevent issues like crashes, hacks, or data loss and will ensure your site is always optimized.”

If the client does not subscribe to maintenance immediately, remind them of this option later when they start experiencing problems.

2. Use Audit Reports to Show Real Issues

If the client believes their website is working fine, they may not see the need for maintenance. A good strategy is to conduct an audit and present them with a report highlighting potential security, performance, or pending update issues.

You can use tools like Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, or Modular DS to generate these reports. The key is for the client to see concrete data and understand that their website needs maintenance.

Example of a message to send a report:

“Hello [name], I reviewed your website and detected some performance and security issues that could affect its functionality. I’m sending you a report with the details. If you’d like, we can resolve them with a maintenance plan that keeps your site updated and protected.”

This gives the client a clear reason to sign up for the service rather than seeing it as an unnecessary expense.

3. Send a Reminder About the Risks of Not Maintaining the Website

Many clients don’t think about maintenance until their website stops working. To prevent this, send a reminder email explaining the risks of not updating and the benefits of having a maintenance service.

Example of an email:

Subject: Is Your Website Protected?

Hello [name],

A while ago, we worked on developing your WordPress website. As you may know, WordPress is a platform that requires regular updates and maintenance to avoid issues like crashes, security attacks, or performance loss.

To ensure you don’t have to worry about this, we offer a maintenance service that includes updates, backups, and security monitoring.

If you want more information, let me know, and I’ll explain with no obligation.

Best regards,
[Your Name]

These types of emails help remind clients that their website still needs attention even after it has been delivered.

4. Share Educational Content About Website Maintenance

Many clients don’t subscribe to maintenance services because they don’t understand their importance. To educate them on the topic, you can share relevant content such as articles, case studies, or webinars explaining the risks of neglecting maintenance.

For example, you can send them this webinar by Héctor Prada, founder of Modular DS, where he explains the importance of website maintenance and how it affects businesses:

Webinar: The Importance of Website Maintenance

When clients see an expert discussing the topic, they will better understand the value of maintenance and be more willing to sign up for it.

How to Structure Your Website Maintenance Offer

To make your maintenance service profitable, you need to structure your plans with clear pricing and well-defined services. Here’s an example of how to do it:

Conclusion

• Explain maintenance value from the start
• Use audits to show real issues
• Send reminders about update risks
• Share educational content
• Use tools to automate maintenance

By applying these strategies, you can offer website maintenance effectively and generate stable recurring income.