Website hosting or maintenance: who does what?
Hosting makes your website available; maintenance covers the work you agree someone will do to it. Before buying either, name who handles renewals, content changes, enquiries and recovery. Use this worksheet to avoid gaps between the business, the developer and outside services.
In this guide
Does hosting include website maintenance?
Hosting supplies the infrastructure that makes a site available. Maintenance is the agreed work on the website: for example, changing approved content, investigating a broken link or updating software where that is in scope. A supplier may bundle them, but a hosting invoice alone does not tell you who will fix the website.
Start with the actual problem. An expired domain, a wrong phone number and a contact form that stops delivering messages need different checks and may involve different providers. Name the person who receives the issue, the person who can make the change and the person who approves the result.
Fill in a responsibility sheet before you buy
Use the table as a worksheet, not as a description of what every supplier includes. Replace the suggested role with a named business contact or provider, then record the agreed scope and where the evidence is stored. One supplier can hold several roles; every row still needs an answer.
Keep account identifiers and recovery details in a private company record. Share access through the provider’s available role controls where possible; do not paste passwords or recovery codes into a quotation form.
Scroll the table sideways to read every column.
| Area | Who must be named? | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
| Domain renewal and DNS | Business renewal contact and authorized DNS operator | Registrar, renewal date, billing owner and approved DNS record. |
| Hosting and HTTPS | Hosting operator and escalation contact | Hosting plan, certificate handling and where incidents are reported. |
| Website content and code | Editor or maintainer plus business approver | Included tasks, time allowance and a record of each accepted change. |
| Forms, email and other integrations | Website maintainer and each relevant external provider | Who tests delivery, checks the receiving inbox and handles a failed connection. |
| Backups and recovery | Person making copies and person restoring them | What is copied, where, how often, how long it is retained and evidence of a restore check. |
| Account handover | Business owner and outgoing/incoming provider | Access inventory, transferable assets, exclusions and the agreed transfer process. |
What Biaway’s published package covers
As checked on 13 October 2026, Biaway publishes hosting for Biaway websites at SAR 250 per year and maintenance at SAR 100 per month. Maintenance includes up to one hour of minor changes and technical checks each month within the published scope. Examples include text or image changes, contact information, service details, minor layout fixes and broken-link checks.
This small maintenance allowance is not a promise of unlimited development, round-the-clock security monitoring or a fixed emergency response time. A redesign, store build or new integration needs a separate scope discussion. Ask for written confirmation of any backup arrangement, restore work, third-party subscriptions, tax treatment and extra work before relying on them.
Use the existing website-cost guide for the broader build and recurring-cost budget. This checklist helps you decide who does the work and how it will be accepted.
References: Biaway website maintenance scope
Ask what can actually be restored
For a typical WordPress site, a complete recovery needs both the files and the database. WordPress recommends database backups before upgrades or moving a site. Ask whether both parts are available together and whether restoration has been checked; downloading the website files alone is not a complete database backup.
For a static site on Cloudflare Pages, the platform can return to a successfully built production deployment; preview deployments cannot be rollback targets. That is a deployment feature, not evidence that a separate order database, mailbox or external form service has been backed up.
Write down the acceptable amount of lost work or data and the recovery target your business needs. The supplier should then confirm whether its proposed process can meet those requirements. Do not assume a response deadline or recovery guarantee that is absent from the agreement.
References: WordPress: website backups · Cloudflare Pages: deployment rollbacks
Example: a small change with clear acceptance checks
Illustrative example, not a Biaway client result: a supplier in Dammam wants to replace a discontinued product image, revise its Arabic and English service text and confirm that quotation enquiries reach the right team. It sends one request containing the exact page URLs, approved copy in both languages and the licensed replacement image.
The maintainer estimates the work before starting. If it exceeds the agreed allowance or reveals a larger fault, the business approves a separate scope first. Do not assume that a bilingual change or investigation will fit inside one hour.
- Check the Arabic and English pages on a phone and desktop; inspect the changed text, image proportions and relevant links.
- If the request affects a form, agree a clearly labelled test using dummy non-sensitive details. Confirm actual receipt with the authorized inbox owner; a success message on the website alone is insufficient.
- Record approval, deployment date and any remaining issue. Keep a recoverable prior version before making changes.
Scroll the table sideways to read every column.
| Field | What the business supplies |
|---|---|
| Requested change | Exact page and section, current content and approved replacement. |
| Language and assets | Both language versions, image file and permission to use it. |
| Expected behaviour | Image remains proportional on mobile; links and enquiries go to the approved destination. |
| Approval and timing | One named approver, desired date and agreed estimate. |
| Completion evidence | Preview or screenshots, final page links and results of the agreed checks. |
Leave with a usable handover record
Before appointing or replacing a provider, list the domain registrar, DNS, hosting, source files or repository, content system, forms, mail provider and analytics property used by your site. Mark anything that does not apply. Record who can grant access and who pays each renewal.
Agree which assets can be transferred, which licences depend on a provider account and what happens to ongoing support. Verify the new authorized access before withdrawing the outgoing provider’s access. The exact ownership and transfer terms belong in the agreed scope; this checklist does not create a contractual entitlement.
- A copy of the agreed work scope and current account inventory.
- Renewal contacts and upcoming dates, with private recovery information stored securely.
- The latest recoverable site version and the location of any separately agreed data backups.
- Outstanding faults, next maintenance tasks and the person responsible for each.
Choose the next step from the condition of the site
If your site works and you need occasional small changes, ask for a scoped maintenance plan. If the infrastructure itself is the issue, first identify the hosting or domain operator. If several key journeys are broken, request an assessment before treating the whole job as a minor edit.
A rebuild becomes a separate decision when the required features, content structure or technology change substantially. Describe the customer task that currently fails and provide examples. That gives a supplier a better starting point than simply asking to make the website modern.
References: Biaway website maintenance scope
How this guide was prepared
Prepared with AI assistance, with platform and accessibility claims checked against the primary sources below at publication. The planning frameworks are Biaway’s editorial recommendations. Examples labelled illustrative are not client stories or measured results. Platform features and requirements can change.
Your questions.
01How do I find out who hosts my website?
Start with your hosting invoice, setup email and account handover record. Ask the original provider to identify the hosting project and authorized account owner. DNS may point to a CDN or proxy, so a public lookup alone may not identify the underlying hosting arrangement.
02Does paying for hosting mean someone updates my content?
Only if the written package includes that work. Hosting and content changes are different responsibilities; confirm the task allowance, approval process and any additional fee.
03Does a working website prove that enquiry forms deliver?
No. Agree a labelled test and confirm receipt with the authorized inbox owner. The website, delivery service and receiving mailbox can each affect the journey.
04Is Biaway’s maintenance plan unlimited?
No. The published SAR 100 monthly plan includes up to one hour of minor changes and checks within its scope. New features, major redesigns and work beyond the allowance need discussion and agreement.
05Can the same checklist be used outside Dammam?
Yes. It applies to online businesses across Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar and Al Ahsa. The relevant differences are the website technology, data and support needs, rather than the city name.