How a Top Dutch Hosting Company Monetized WordPress Maintenance

Running a hosting business is all about reliability. But when customers struggle with outdated WordPress sites, security issues, and occasional performance breakdowns, that reliability is constantly under threat. 

For years, Hostnet—a Dutch hosting provider based in Amsterdam—saw WordPress users frequently overwhelmed by site maintenance and their support teams tied up in reactive calls. Although they offered effective reactive support and had great customer relationships, they recognized an opportunity to deliver even more proactive value. 

Company Snapshot

Metrics That Matter 

WP Maintenance Wasn’t the Focus—Until It Was

Reactive Support Could Only Take Them So Far

When you run a hosting company, you see the same problems over and over:

Customers call in because their WordPress site is down. They’re panicking. Your support team quickly responds and resolves the issue—but the customer still experiences frustration.

This was Hostnet’s reality before they found a better way.

“The biggest factor here is the downtime monitoring WP Umbrella offers. Before, we were retro-active in our support. The customer would first have to find out there is something wrong with their site, call us, then we’d troubleshoot, get back to them…It took 30 minutes to an hour each time.”

And the worst part was that most problems came from the exact root cause—outdated WordPress sites.

“Not keeping websites up to date led to a lot of abuse.” 

No Tools = No Way to Scale

Before WP Umbrella, Hostnet didn’t manage updates or website uptime. It was all left to the customer. This hands-off approach was successful and popular with their customers, bringing consistent growth and great business results. Still, the Hostnet team saw an opportunity to add even more value on top of their existing services.

The WP Umbrella Effect

A Friendly Introduction That Changed Everything

Sometimes, the best business solutions come from personal relationships. That’s exactly what happened with Hostnet.

“We found WP Umbrella because of a friendly connection made at WordCamp years ago.” 

That chance meeting eventually helped Hostnet evolve their service offering.

WordPress Maintenance, Now Fully Managed

With WP Umbrella, Hostnet launched a brand-new service tier: WordPress maintenance layered on top of their hosting plans. They now manage plugin and theme updates, security monitoring, downtime alerts, and more—on behalf of their customers.

Instead of waiting for customers to report problems, they now actively monitor and maintain their customers’ WordPress sites. This preemptive approach has significantly improved the customer experience.

“Now we’re proactively notified when something is wrong with a customer’s website, and we fix it as part of our extra service before the customer even notices there’s a problem.”

This shift has created two massive benefits:

1. Customers experience fewer issues and downtime
2. Hostnet’s support team spends less time on emergency troubleshooting

Creating a New Revenue Stream

The most exciting part of Hostnet’s story is how they turned proactive maintenance into a profitable new service.

“We can now offer an extra WordPress service layer on top of all our hosting packages that we couldn’t before.”

This new maintenance service has grown fast—the team already has over 350 active contracts, with more signing up every day.

“We could not do this without the tooling and help of WP Umbrella.” The automation and monitoring tools have made it possible to scale this service without being overwhelmed by manual tasks.

Making the Invisible Visible

One challenge with great maintenance is that when everything works perfectly, customers might not even notice. Hostnet solved this with regular reporting.

“We report monthly to our customers what we’ve done that month. If everything goes perfectly, the customer doesn’t know what we do unless we communicate it. The reporting feature is key.”

These reports transform invisible background work into tangible value that customers can see and appreciate.

Beyond Maintenance: Deepening Customer Relationships

With WP Umbrella, Hostnet now offers an additional service layer alongside their existing hosting packages. This has allowed their team to operate more efficiently, provided enhanced protection for customers, and created opportunities for business growth.

“To be on top of a customer’s website like this—and offer them a hassle-free solution so they can focus on their business instead of their website—that’s the real win.”

For other hosting providers stuck in a reactive loop, Hostnet’s journey shows what’s possible when you turn maintenance into a managed, proactive, profitable service.