WordPress Maintenance Checklist For Keeping Website Healthy

WordPress is popular CMS [control management system] that makes website development easy. It has a lot of things like plugins, these, content, and media files that go into building a website. Besides, you need a reliable WP hosting service to run your site efficiently.

WP website is similar to running any kind of electronics or a vehicle that needs regular maintenance. SetMySite is a reliable WordPress website maintenance services that have been serving clients in the US. Hire professionals and enjoy the benefits like –

  • Better website security
  • Improved load speed and conversion rates
  • Updated website for better SEO ranking
  • Measure website performance and adjust

Website maintenance is a crucial task for online businesses. Here is a checklist for maintenance to keep your WP website healthy.

  • Regular backup – Complete website backup including the database and core files either daily or weekly. It is a proactive step to handle incidents like hacking. With a backup, you can recover the previous version of the website and start running smoothly.
  • Update software – The CMS plugins and themes are regularly updated, so ensure to have the latest features and security.
  • Optimize WP database – There can be a lot of redundant data stored over time. Therefore database optimization is crucial after regular intervals. Unnecessary data can accumulate and slow the website’s loading speed. So, remove theme files, plugins, and media files you don’t use.
  • Change passwords – Passwords are the first line of defense against unauthorized access. Strong passwords are essential to avoid hacking activities like brute-force attacks or phishing. So, make passwords of WP admin and FTP/SSH accounts random and long.
  • Run performance test – As time passes you upgrade software, and add new content and all of this affects website performance. Therefore run performance tests every month because the results will help to gain an insight into what needs to be done for site performance improvement.
  • Fix 404 – The 404 errors are HTTP status codes. It displays that when users came in search for a specific webpage on your website the server was unable to find it. 404 errors can pop up due to technical glitches or misspelling of the URL. Use tools to find the 404 errors and fix them because it causes a bad user experience.
  • Fix broken links – External and internal link building is essential for SEO but you need to keep an eye on them to ensure they are working. External or internal links may get broken due to changes or accidental misspelling of the website address. So, use tools to find broken links and fix them.
  • Image optimization – Never skip image optimization because it can hamper the page load speed. If you are a blogger then sometimes guest authors may upload an un-optimized image, so check and compress if necessary.
  • Troubleshoot maintenance tasks – Some maintenance tasks like image optimization use the WP plugin and this can slow the site speed. It is temporary but the best way is to perform such tasks on a staging site or in maintenance mode. If you do it on WP maintenance mode, ensure to choose a time window when website traffic is low.

A healthy website is essential for online business success!