With so much going on in our businesses and daily lives, it’s really easy to let things slip through the cracks. That’s why I’ve come up with this WordPress website maintenance checklist. Do these 5 essential things each week to ensure your WordPress website is running optimally.
Let’s log in to our WordPress admin dashboards and get started!
BackUps
Backing up your site is smart practice. (So, I guess you can infer that not backing it up is, well, kinda dumb.) It’s especially essential to do before the next item on the checklist.
If you don’t have a system in place to back up your website (and don’t just assume you do), then take a look at this tutorial I’ve created on how to backup WordPress for free.
Once you have this plugin set up you can have it set to automatically back up your site for you each week.
Updates
WordPress updates are so easy. All you have to do is click a button or two! (Did that just sound like something from the Cat in the Hat?)
Before updating, though, make sure you back up your site just before you click that update button.
It is important to keep your WordPress software installation, your plugins and your theme updated for security reasons.
Analytics
Assuming you already have some way to measure activity on your site, like Google Analytics for example, take time each week to inspect them. You’ll find out what’s working and what’s not.
If you have Google Analytics set up, there are free plugins available to help you monitor your site’s performance from your WordPress dashboard home page.
Broken Links
Broken Links hurt your site and your brand. See the post I wrote about how to find and fix broken links on your website for more info on that.
Notifications
Your WordPress dashboard does a pretty good job at letting you know what else needs attention on your site. Comments, fixes, etc. Anything else that needs to be addressed will usually be prominently – and sometimes annoyingly – displayed in your WordPress admin dashboard. Don’t ignore them. Take a look at them and address the issues.
Obviously, if you need help or have questions about any of this, feel free to reach out. I will do what I can to help.