Monthly retainers for website support vary enormously. Some cover nothing more than keeping a server running. Others provide genuine ongoing stewardship of a business-critical platform. If you are paying a monthly fee for ExpressionEngine or Craft CMS support, understanding what a well-structured retainer looks like will help you assess whether you are getting good value, or just paying for a contact you rarely use.
A retainer should cover the platform itself, not just the server it runs on. For ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS, that means keeping the core installation up to date, monitoring addon and plugin compatibility, and applying security patches promptly. Hosting is a commodity. Platform expertise is not. The two should not be conflated in what you are paying for.
Business-critical websites attract automated attacks constantly. A properly structured retainer includes monitoring for unusual activity, prompt response when something is flagged, and a clear process for what happens if there is an incident outside normal business hours. If you do not know what your developer's incident response process looks like, that is worth asking about directly.
The difference between a retainer that protects your business and one that just fixes things when they break is proactive review. A good support arrangement includes periodic checks on PHP compatibility, addon health, server performance, and any upcoming changes that could affect your site. You should not be the one discovering problems first.
A retainer should have a defined scope: what is included, what falls outside it, and what happens when out-of-scope work is needed. Vague arrangements tend to create friction when something significant needs doing. The best retainers also include a clear escalation path, so that when something serious happens you are not trying to reach someone through a generic support inbox at the worst possible moment.
If you have an existing support arrangement, the questions worth asking are: what specifically is covered, what is the response time commitment, when did you last proactively review the site, and what would happen if something went wrong tonight? The answers will tell you quickly whether you have a genuine support arrangement or just an informal understanding that exists on paper.
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ExpressionEngine is a specialist platform. The community of genuinely experienced EE developers is small, particularly in the UK, and the difference between someone who has worked with EE seriously and someone who has touched it once or twice is significant.
It is more common than most people realise. A business has been running an ExpressionEngine site for years, the relationship with the agency that built it gradually fades, and eventually there is no-one actively looking after the site. Understanding why this happens helps you know what to do about it.
Most business owners have no idea what state their ExpressionEngine site is in. They know it’s working, they can add content, and the contact form still sends emails. Beyond that, it’s a black box. Problems can accumulate quietly over a long period before they become visible.
Most clients come to us when their site has started to feel like a risk rather than an asset. Whether the agency relationship has ended, an upgrade has been delayed, or the site has simply grown beyond what it can handle, a conversation costs nothing.
Get in touch with KarlTrusted by established businesses and growing brands across the UK
Expression 37 works with a small number of clients at any one time. These are some of them.
Karl is the founder of Expression 37 Ltd and has been working exclusively with ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS since 2007. In eighteen years he has supported more than 80 clients across the UK, from long-term retainer arrangements to emergency rescues when something has gone wrong at the worst possible moment. Every piece of work is handled personally by Karl, with no account managers or junior developers between you and the person doing it.
Find out how we workWe have known Karl for a good number of years now and he has always been there for us providing a top class level of service. Karl always brings that level of dedication and professionalism to the table that you would expect. Trustworthy and reliable, and a great asset to our workflow.
Daniel Hirtenstein - Commercial Director
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