A homeowner comparing replacement quotes fills in the estimate form on your website on a Sunday night. The page says thanks. The message goes to an inbox nobody has opened since the web designer moved on.
Nothing on your side shows an error. Website maintenance is the routine that catches it.
What should you check every week?
Check that a homeowner on a phone can still reach you: the call button and the estimate form.
- Turn off Wi-Fi and open your site on your phone. Tap the phone number on the home page and on your main replacement page. It should ring your office.
- Send the estimate form as "Test Monday." Then check the inbox of whoever answers estimate requests, spam folder included.
- Ask your office manager to repeat both on a different phone.
If the message doesn't arrive, call whoever runs the site that day.
What should HVAC website maintenance include each month?
Five checks: updates, a backup you've tested, errors, speed on a phone and security warnings.
- Updates. Your site is a stack of software: the platform, a theme, plugins. Google tells owners with server access to list all of it, with version numbers.[1] CISA says attackers may target a flaw for months or even years after the update is out.[2] On WordPress, one common platform, the Site Health screen under Tools can list plugins waiting to be updated.[3] Its page notes that plugins, which add things like contact forms, have deep access to your site.[3] On a website builder, ask what it updates for you.
- A backup you've test-restored. A backup is a saved copy of the whole site. WordPress's guide says a typical WordPress site needs both files and database to be fully restored, and suggests weekly copies for smaller sites, kept in different places.[4] By test restore I mean loading a copy onto a spare version of the site, not the live one, and checking that pages and the form work. CISA says to test backups regularly.[5] Ask when the newest copy was made and when someone last restored one.
- Errors. In Search Console, the Page indexing report lists pages that aren't indexed and why, including server errors (5xx) and not-found (404) pages.[6] Google says a 404 isn't necessarily a problem if you removed a page with no replacement, and to use a 301 redirect if it moved.[6] Look for "URL marked 'noindex'" on any page you want found.[6] Google's page says a site under 500 pages probably doesn't need this report,[6] though Google emails you about new issues and suggests a look about once a month.[7] Our Search Console setup guide shows where it all is.
- Speed on a phone. Run your home page and one replacement page through the free mobile speed test in our speed guide and write down the three numbers. I'd rerun it after any plugin change.
- Security warnings. Open the Security issues report in Search Console. Google says a green check mark means no issues, and that an affected site can show a warning label in search results or a warning page in the browser.[8] Then search site:yourdomain.com on Google. Unknown pages, or topics you didn't write, may mean your site was hacked, Google says.[1]
A month's sheet for an HVAC company in Lubbock
- Every Monday, office manager: tap Call on two phones, send the form as "Test Monday," note when it arrived.
- First Thursday, provider: back up, apply updates, rerun the form test, email the list of changes.
- Second week, owner: read the Page indexing and Security issues reports and write down any errors, or "none." Run a site: search for pages nobody wrote.
- Third week, owner: run the speed test on two pages and write the numbers with the date.
- Fourth week, provider: show the date of the newest backup and of the last test restore.
Illustrative example
What changes before cooling and heating season?
Anything that was true last season and might not be now: what you install, what you offer and your hours.
- What you install. Read each replacement and maintenance-agreement page. Is every brand and system type on it still one you sell? How to write a service page covers the rest.
- Offers and financing. Check every date, rebate, financing term and tax-credit line. The IRS page on the federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit says it covers improvements made through December 31, 2025, a date that has passed.[9] I'd cut any tax-credit line you can't match to a current IRS page.
- Hours and phone. Google says it builds a Business Profile from several sources, including what it crawls on a business's own website.[10] So match your site's hours and number to the profile, using the profile checklist.
Put the two check dates in the calendar now. A Lubbock company might choose April and October; yours may differ.
What belongs on the yearly list?
Three renewals: the domain, the certificate and the hosting plan.
- Domain. Your web address is registered through a registrar, typically for one to ten years, and ICANN says you must renew it to keep the website and email that use it.[11] ICANN policy requires two renewal reminders, about a month and a week before expiry, so keep the contact details current.[11] If you don't know your registrar, ICANN says you can search on its site to find out.[11]
- Certificate. The https in your address depends on it. The industry rulebook cut the longest life of a new certificate from 398 days to 200 on March 15, 2026. It schedules 100 days for March 15, 2027 and 47 days for March 15, 2029.[12] So it comes up more than once a year. Each year, ask whether renewal is automatic and who hears when it fails.
- Hosting plan. Read the renewal date and what the plan includes: backups, updates, support.
Who should hold the logins?
You should, as the company, not the web designer or the one employee who knows the password.
List every account: domain registrar, hosting, the site's admin screen, Search Console, analytics, your Google Business Profile and the inbox the form sends to. Each should be in the company's name, with your provider added as a separate user. The FTC says never to share passwords by phone, text or email.[13] Its questions for a web host include who can make changes to your site and whether multi-factor authentication is available.[13] Try it today and again each year: can you log in to each one yourself?
What should you ask a maintenance provider?
Ask about scope, extras, backups, reporting and the exit, and get the answers in writing. The FTC says to put security terms in vendor contracts, and two questions below are adapted from its list for hiring a web host.[13] The one about changes comes from Google's advice on hiring an SEO.[14]
- What exactly is covered each month?
- What costs extra: plugin licenses, content edits, cleanup after a hack?
- Do you keep the software updated, or do I? If I do, is it easy?
- Who keeps my backups, and when was one last restored?
- How fast do you answer, and who do I call about suspicious activity?
- Will you tell me every change you make?
- If we part ways, what do I get, and how fast: the domain, the files, a full backup?
What isn't worth paying for?
Three things: reports that are only rankings, plans that bundle bought links, and promises of higher rankings from maintenance alone.
- Rankings-only reports. Google says third-party SEO tools don't have access to its internal ranking data.[14] Ask for the work log and your own call count instead. Our lead log guide needs only a notebook.
- Bundled links. Google's spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam.[15] A maintenance plan has no business including them.
- Ranking promises. Google says no one can guarantee a first-place ranking, and to find someone else if a company guarantees one.[14]
What does website maintenance not do?
It keeps the path from search to your phone working. By itself, it doesn't put you in front of more homeowners. A site can be patched, backed up and fast and still not show up when someone searches for AC replacement in your town.
That's a visibility question. A website visibility audit checks whether Google and Maps can find you and whether a visitor can see how to call. You can run a first pass yourself with the website audit checklist. Our page for HVAC companies lists what we check.
Found Clearly doesn't sell hosting or website maintenance. We sell the check that comes first. The Free AI visibility check is a review by hand of your website and Google Business Profile, with the first fixes, usually within two business days. The Complete Visibility Report is the full automated report (pricing). The Expert Action Plan is $149: that report plus a 30-minute consultation. If the audit finds work, the Found Sprint is $1,500 fixed for up to 10 fixes from your report, done within 30 days once we have access and an agreed scope.
Every page cited here was checked on October 15, 2026. Help pages change, so reread before you act.