How to Create a WordPress Maintenance Report for Clients

Running a WordPress agency? Then you know what it’s like – keeping client websites in tip-top shape is just half the battle.

The other half? Showing your clients all the behind-the-scenes magic you’re working on.

We’ve noticed tons of agency owners asking us about maintenance reports lately. After all, your clients might not see all those updates, security checks, and performance tweaks you’re doing to keep their sites running smoothly.

That’s why we’re excited to share our super simple guide for creating WordPress maintenance reports that your clients will actually love to read. Trust us – by the end of this article, you’ll be sending professional reports that showcase your hard work without breaking a sweat!

Why Maintenance Reports Are Important for Clients

Regular WordPress maintenance reports are more than just a formality. They boost communication with your clients, showcase your expertise, and demonstrate the value of your ongoing website maintenance services.

By keeping your clients informed and their websites healthy, you can build trust and strengthen long-term relationships.

For instance, clients trust you with their WordPress websites, often without understanding the technical work involved. Detailed reports can bridge this knowledge gap, showing the work done behind the scenes and building their trust in your capabilities.

By clearly documenting each maintenance activity, you show responsibility. Clients will like knowing that you’re proactive about maintaining their site’s health, which gives them peace of mind that their websites are in good hands.

Now, let’s see what to include in WordPress website maintenance reports for clients.

What to Include in a Client Maintenance Report

When it comes to creating client maintenance reports, you might be tempted to include every single detail.

However, the purpose of the report should be to give a quick overview to clients about the work you’ve done and show metrics that matter for their business.

Here are a few important things to include in the report:

• Security Updates: Clients might not get the technical jargon, but they do care about security. Briefly mention updates to WordPress core, themes, and plugins. You can also tell them how these updates fix vulnerabilities and keep the site safe from malicious attacks.
• Backups: Reassure clients that their data is safe. Explain your backup process in simple terms – how often you back up and where the data is stored. To build extra trust, you can mention if backups are saved off-site or in the cloud, like Google Drive or Dropbox.
• Performance Optimization: Website speed directly impacts user experience and WordPress SEO. In the report, briefly explain what you did to improve performance. This could be plugin updates, image optimization, or other tweaks behind the scenes.
• Uptime Monitoring: If you monitor website uptime, share the overall uptime percentage. You can also explain why high uptime is important for visitors and search rankings.
• Manual Tasks Performed: Finally, you’ll want to list any extra work you’ve done. This might be bug fixes, content updates, new blog posts, landing page optimization, or new features.

That said, we’ll share how to create a WordPress maintenance report for your clients. Here’s a quick overview of all the topics we’ll cover in this guide:

Let’s get started.

Creating a Maintenance Report in WordPress

The easiest way of sending WordPress maintenance reports to clients is by using a plugin like WP Client Reports.

It is a free WordPress plugin that’s great for freelancers, agencies, and website managers for reporting.

WP Client Reports tracks updates made to plugins, themes, and WordPress core files. It also shows any new posts, pages, and comments you’ve added to the website.

For this tutorial, we will be using the free version of WP-Client Reports, which is best for most users.

However, a paid version is also available that includes custom branding. You can add your own logo, schedule reports to automatically send them to clients, add maintenance notes, and integrate with other tools and plugins.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WP Client Reports plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can head to Settings » WP Client Reports from the WordPress admin area. Here, you will see email settings for your reports.

For instance, you can change the main of the report, enter email addresses to send the report to, enter the send from email address, and more.

If you scroll down, you’ll see more options, such as adding a site name, an email introduction, and editing the email footer text.

There is also an option to track software updates and site content. Ensure that these two options are enabled.

Once that’s done, you can click the ‘Save Settings’ button.

Now, you can view the client reports by clicking the ‘View Reports’ button.

In the report, you can show clients the total updates you made to their website.

These include WordPress core updates, plugin updates, and theme updates. There is also an option to select the date range and display stats from a specific time period.

For instance, the plugin will show maintenance stats from the last 30 days by default.

The best part about WP Client Reports is that it shows which files, plugins, and themes were updated along with their old and new version number.

Plus, your client will also see the total posts, pages, and comments added.

Once you’re happy with the report, the next step is to send it to your clients.

Simply click the ‘Email Report’ button at the top.

Next, a popup window will open.

You can check the report title and enter the email addresses of your clients in the ‘Send Report Email To’ field.

There is also a field for ‘Report Email Introduction’ where you can add additional details like website backup, security updates, uptime monitoring, performance optimization, and any other maintenance tasks you performed manually.

Once that’s done, simply click the ‘Send Now’ button.

That’s it! You’ve successfully created and sent a WordPress maintenance report to your clients.

Bonus Tip 💡: Outsource WordPress Maintenance With a Professional Agency

Have you ever considered outsourcing your WordPress maintenance tasks to a professional agency?

By outsourcing development and other complex tasks, you can focus on your core business operations and let experts handle technical tasks. This will also help you save time, get expert guidance, create custom functionalities, and get technical support for your site.

There are many WordPress development companies you can partner with.

For example, with our WordPress Maintenance & Support Services, you can let our team of WordPress experts handle all WordPress maintenance.

This includes cloud backups, updating core files, keeping plugins and themes up to date, continuous uptime monitoring, speed optimization, detailed website maintenance reports, and 24/7 support.

To learn more, please see our guide on how to outsource WordPress development.

FAQs About WordPress Maintenance

Still have questions about offering WordPress maintenance as a service? Here are some quick answers to common questions we hear from agency owners and freelancers:

How do I create a maintenance service page in WordPress?

You can create a dedicated page using your WordPress block editor or a page builder like SeedProd or Elementor.

Clearly list your services (backups, updates, security, etc.), pricing, and what’s included in each plan. Don’t forget to add trust signals like testimonials or case studies.

How much should I charge for WordPress maintenance?

Rates vary based on the services you offer and your target market. On average, monthly plans range from $50 to $500+. If you’re offering custom development, SEO, or advanced support, you can charge more.

How long does WordPress maintenance take?

It depends on the size and complexity of the website. For most sites, basic maintenance like updates, backups, and scans can be done in 30–60 minutes a week. Larger or eCommerce sites may require more time.

How much can I charge per hour for WordPress maintenance tasks?

Freelancers and agencies typically charge between $50 and $150 per hour. Your rate should reflect your expertise, the urgency of the task, and the value you provide.

How do you write a maintenance report?

A good maintenance report should be simple and client-friendly. Include completed tasks, such as updates and backups, performance data, uptime stats, and any additional work done.

You can use tools like WP Client Reports or even Google Docs to create and share your reports.

How do I show my WordPress site is under maintenance?

You can enable maintenance mode using a plugin like SeedProd, LightStart, or WPCode. These plugins let you display a custom message or design while you work on the site.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a WordPress maintenance report for clients. You may also want to see our expert picks of maintenance page ideas you can use on your WordPress site and our explanation of coming soon vs. maintenance mode.

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