What is included in monthly Shopify maintenance?

Theme care including vendor updates, an app and script audit, Core Web Vitals tracking per template, an SEO hygiene check after every change, Plus-specific configuration where relevant, versioned theme backups, and one developer who knows the store. The exact shape depends on the store, which is why there is no package on this site.

Can you maintain a theme someone else built?

Yes, that is the usual case. It starts with a look at the theme code and the app list so we both know what is there.

Do you handle theme updates from the theme vendor?

Yes. The customisations are kept in a way that survives updates where possible, and merged by hand where not, on a duplicate theme first, with the previous theme kept as rollback.

How often are theme updates applied?

When the vendor releases one worth taking - a security fix, a deprecation, a feature you need - not on a calendar. Each release is read first; some are skipped deliberately.

Is this available to agencies for their client stores?

Yes, white-label, the same way the SEO work already runs for two agencies - typically across several client stores at once.

How fast do you respond?

A first reply within two working days is the standing commitment on this site. For a store that is down, write with the URL and what is happening, and I will say right away whether I can look at it.

Scope: Theme, apps, speed, SEO
Also serves: SEO agencies, white-label
Engagement: Direct, no agency layer

Shopify maintenance: a developer who knows your theme, on hand after launch.

Shopify keeps the platform running; nobody keeps your theme running. Theme updates that overwrite customisations, apps that stack scripts until the store crawls, Liquid deprecations, checkout changes on Plus, a Markets setup that drifted from what you sell - these arrive after launch and nobody owns them. Maintenance is the arrangement where someone does.

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What monthly Shopify maintenance covers

The list is short because the platform does the rest, but every item on it is the kind that quietly costs conversions for months before anyone notices. In a standing arrangement these are checked every month, not when something has already broken.

Theme: vendor updates merged without losing customisations, sections kept editable, Liquid deprecations handled before they break
Apps: what is installed, what each one loads on every page, what was left behind by apps already uninstalled, and what can go
Speed: Core Web Vitals on the real templates - home, collection, product, cart - tracked month to month, with every regression traced to the change that caused it
SEO hygiene: canonicals, structured data, redirects, sitemap and hreflang re-checked after every theme, app or Markets change
Plus specifics: checkout extensibility, Flow, B2B configuration kept in step with Shopify’s own changes
Backups: the live theme exported and versioned before each change, so there is always a known-good copy
A person: one developer who knows the store, on the other end of the message

Why this is not the same as Shopify support

Shopify’s own support helps with the platform and will not touch your theme code. Theme developers support their theme and will not touch your customisations. App vendors support their app and blame the theme. The gap between those three is where most live-store problems sit, and it is the gap this arrangement fills.

How a theme update is applied

The most common way a working store gets broken is a theme vendor release applied over customised code. The workflow below is what keeps the customisations and takes the update anyway.

Duplicate the live theme; the copy is where all work happens, the live theme is never the test environment
Diff the vendor release against the customised theme file by file - sections, snippets, assets, locale files - so every conflict is known before anything is merged
Merge: keep customisations in the pattern that survives updates (custom sections, snippets, metafields) where possible, merge by hand where not
Check the templates that carry revenue - collection, product, cart, checkout on Plus - for layout, editor settings and app blocks
Re-run the SEO checks: canonicals, structured data, redirects, hreflang, robots
Publish, and keep the previous theme as the rollback for as long as it takes to be sure

The app audit

Most stores need fewer apps, not more. Every installed app adds scripts to every page, and apps that were uninstalled months ago often left Liquid and JavaScript behind. The audit reads the theme and the storefront as a browser does and answers one question per app: what does it cost on every page, and what does it earn?

Inventory of installed apps, their script tags, app embeds and app blocks, per template
Orphaned code from uninstalled apps, found in the theme and removed
Duplicates - two apps doing reviews, two doing pop-ups, two loading the same library
The effect of each app on Core Web Vitals, measured, so the decision to keep or remove is a number, not a feeling

Core Web Vitals monitoring

Core Web Vitals are a ranking input and a conversion input, and on Shopify they are almost entirely a function of the theme and the apps. In a maintenance arrangement they are watched in two layers: field data from Chrome users, which is what Google ranks on, and lab measurements per template, which is what finds the cause. A regression is traced to the theme update, app install or content change that produced it, and fixed there.

How it is arranged

Some stores need a standing monthly arrangement, some need a developer on call, and agencies usually need both across several client stores. There is deliberately no package on this site: tell me what you run and what keeps going wrong, and I will propose something shaped like your store. A first reply comes within two working days; for a store that is down right now, write with the URL and what is happening and I will say straight away whether I can look at it.

Questions people ask first

What is included in monthly Shopify maintenance?: Theme care including vendor updates, an app and script audit, Core Web Vitals tracking per template, an SEO hygiene check after every change, Plus-specific configuration where relevant, versioned theme backups, and one developer who knows the store. The exact shape depends on the store, which is why there is no package on this site.
Can you maintain a theme someone else built?: Yes, that is the usual case. It starts with a look at the theme code and the app list so we both know what is there.
Do you handle theme updates from the theme vendor?: Yes. The customisations are kept in a way that survives updates where possible, and merged by hand where not, on a duplicate theme first, with the previous theme kept as rollback.
How often are theme updates applied?: When the vendor releases one worth taking - a security fix, a deprecation, a feature you need - not on a calendar. Each release is read first; some are skipped deliberately.
Do you monitor Core Web Vitals?: Yes, in both layers: field data, which is what Google ranks on, and lab measurements per template, which is what finds the cause. Regressions are traced to the theme or app change that produced them.
Is this available to agencies for their client stores?: Yes, white-label, the same way the SEO work already runs for two agencies - typically across several client stores at once.
How fast do you respond?: A first reply within two working days is the standing commitment on this site. For a store that is down, write with the URL and what is happening, and I will say right away whether I can look at it.

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