Service Level Agreement (SLA)

434 Marketing & Consulting – Website Hosting and Maintenance

Last Updated: July 31, 2025
Client Access Portal: https://app.434marketing.com

1. Purpose and Scope

This Service Level Agreement (SLA) outlines the services, expectations, and commitments between 434 Marketing & Consulting and our clients for website hosting, maintenance, and optional support services. This SLA is designed to provide transparency and guide clients in how to request support and understand what’s included in their plan.

2. Office Hours and Timing Definitions

• Office Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Eastern Time (ET), excluding U.S. holidays and our annual break we take from Christmas to the New Year.
• All references to timeframes (e.g., response time, ticket closure) are based on business days and within office hours.

3. Support Ticket Process

All support requests must be submitted through our client portal at app.434marketing.com, where clients can view, respond, and track ticket progress.

Support Lifecycle:

• We aim to respond to all new support tickets within 1 business day.
• If we respond and do not receive a reply, a follow-up will be sent 2 business days after our last response.
• If no further response is received, the ticket will be closed 5 business days after the follow-up.
• Clients can reopen a ticket at any time by replying within the portal.

For urgent issues, please email urgentsupport@434marketing.com. Emergency support is subject to additional fees if the issue falls outside the scope of your plan. See Appendix A for more information on what qualifies an urgent issue.

4. Hosting Plans Overview

Hosting:

• Server uptime monitoring
• SSL installation and renewal
• Daily backups
• Basic WordPress core updates

Hosting Plus Updates:

• All of the above, plus…
• Updating existing text or images
• Uploading a blog post or news item (content provided by client)
• Swapping out staff photos or bios
• Adding or removing items in a list or grid
• Troubleshooting minor display issues

All content edit requests must be clearly articulated and actionable. Requests should specify exact changes (e.g., updated copy, image swaps, layout adjustments) rather than seeking strategic input or general feedback.

Service	Hosting $55/mo	Hosting Plus Updates $255/mo
Website Hosting & Uptime Monitoring	✅	✅
Server Maintenance & Security Patches	✅	✅
Daily Backups	✅	✅
WordPress Core Updates	✅	✅
Access to CMS Video Training	✅	✅
Plugin Updates	❌	✅ (Monthly)
Vulnerable Plugin Monitoring	❌	✅
Live WordPress CMS Training (30–60 min)	❌	✅ (for new staff)
Content Edits (Up to 5 per month)	❌	✅ (Max 2 hours/month)
Premium Plugin Licenses	❌	✅ (Unless otherwise stated)
SEO, Speed, or Development Requests	❌	Add-On Available

 

Ways to save: Enjoy 5% with annual autopayment! 

 

5. What Requires Additional Quoting 

For all plans:

• Full redesigns or page layout overhauls
• Building new templates or features
• Plugin troubleshooting or conflict resolution (unless on Hosting Plus plan)
• SEO strategy or audits (unless part of add-on)
• Site speed optimization (unless part of add-on)

If a request exceeds the plan’s included time or scope, we will notify the client and provide an estimate before proceeding.

6. Emergency & Out-of-Hours Support

If you are not on a Hosting Plus plan and experience a critical website issue outside of office hours, email urgentsupport@434marketing.com.

• Our team will be notified immediately.
• Emergency support is billed at $195/hour.
• Clients on a Hosting Plus plan receive emergency coverage at no additional cost.
• If an issue requires more than 3 hours to resolve or a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is requested, emergency rates apply regardless of plan.

Emergency support billing does not apply in instances where our hosting provider (WPEngine) and/or enterprise hosting datacenter causes website downtime.

7. Training & Resources

• All clients receive access to our WordPress CMS training video series.
• All new website clients are eligible for a 30–60 minute live training session following launch.
• We offer a 14-day grace period post-launch to request minor adjustments or fixes at no additional cost.

8. Optional Add-On Services

The following services are available outside of our hosting plans:

Local & Technical SEO Monitoring and Cleanup

$250/mo

• Monthly SEO reports
• Proactive metadata cleanup
• Fix broken links
• Local listings monitoring and adjustments
• Monthly report 
• An option to add active reviews management for an additional fee

Enhanced Site Speed Optimization 

$50/mo (for sites under 100,000 visitors per month)

• Recommended for…
  • Installation and configuration of EWWW Image Optimizer OR
  • Integration with performance tools (e.g., NitroPack or WP Engine Site Speed tools)
  • Monthly speed performance reporting

Advanced Design & Development

See table below

• Retainer Model (Monthly Add-On Subscription):
  • Access to our strategic team for ongoing enhancements
  • Retain our team for a regular number of hours per month
  • Includes priority support and discounted rates beyond the included hours

• Project-Based Option:
  • Single fixed-price or hourly quote based on defined scope
  • Ideal for larger or one-off engagements

 

Service	Pricing Guide
Content Edits Overage	$125/hour
Emergency Support	$195/hour
Design/Dev Retainer Tier 1	$550/month (~3-4 hours/month)
Design/Dev Retainer Tier 2	$1,500/month (~10–12 hours/month)
Project-Based Dev/Design Work	$150–$200/hour

 

9. Summary

Our goal is to keep your website secure, performant, and up-to-date. This SLA outlines the expectations, boundaries, and support you can rely on from the 434 Marketing & Consulting team.

For questions or to request a service upgrade, please reach out via the client portal or your account representative.

Thank you for trusting 434 Marketing & Consulting.

Appendix A

Urgent Support Specifications

All hosting clients can access our technical support for urgent website issues. An urgent website is defined as: 

• Your website is not accessible.
• A portion of your website isn’t working properly.
• Your website is clearly hacked (you see code snippets, inappropriate content, etc.).
• You suspect your website is hacked.
• You suspect there are bad actors logged into your website.
• There is content on your site you did not add.
• You need to promptly remove a user’s login access. 
• You have an urgent need to add a site-wide notice. 

 

If a bad actor accessed the website via an outdated plugin, and in the case that the client has our hosting plus package, 434 Marketing & Consulting will cover the cost to clean and restore the website.*

*Up to three (3) hours. 

Appendix B

Third-Party Developer Fees (ie plugin licenses) 

There are two types of third-party developer licenses; those covered by 434 Marketing & Consulting and those requested for additional functionality. Unless otherwise specified in a client’s SOW, developer licenses are included in the build and ongoing support covered under the managed hosting plan. Some clients’ websites require additional developer tools to support form and function. 

Developer Licenses, included: Most plugins and developer tools used when building a website with 434 Marketing & Consulting have developer licenses at the agency level, thereby 434 Marketing & Consulting owns, operates, and manages these licenses.

Developer Tools, individual license: Some websites are built utilizing additional developer tools with individual licenses required for ongoing functionality and/or access to version updates. These fees will be agreed upon before use. There are two options for billing and account management, as follows: 

• Client Managed: The client will hold the account and share API keys or credentials as needed. The client will manage the monthly/annual fee.

• 434 Managed: 434 Marketing & Consulting will manage the account, integration keys, and billing. For these services, 434 will charge a 5% processing fee on top of the raw cost to cover credit card and processing fees.