
Launching your website is super exciting, but it shouldn’t be the end of your relationship with your web design company. In the ever-evolving digital landscape, maintaining a small business website is essential for success. As a web developer, I understand the significance of keeping your WordPress website running smoothly. Regular maintenance not only enhances user-experience but also ensures the security and performance of your online presence. In this post, I’ll give you a detailed WordPress maintenance checklist that will help you keep your small business website in great condition.

Backup Your Website Regularly
If you don’t know if your website is being backed up, you need to find out. Backups act as a safety net in case anything goes wrong during the maintenance process. Don’t solely rely on your web host for backups. They may or may not be doing them depending on your hosting agreement. (And I’d recommend using hosts that do.) But additionally, you should have backups off-site, and not stored on your host. If something happens at the host end and you can’t access your site, you may not be able to get to those backups either. Having your own copies gives you the option to move your site to a new host quickly if the worse happens. A plugin like Updraft can help you manage your backups.

Update WordPress Core
WordPress frequently releases updates to improve performance, security, and compatibility. Updating the WordPress core involves upgrading the essential files and functionalities of the WordPress platform to the latest version released by the official development team. This process is important for addressing security vulnerabilities, fixing bugs, and introducing new features to enhance overall performance. Regular updates also maintain compatibility with emerging web technologies, server configurations, and third-party plugins and themes. It is recommended to create backups before updating, check plugin and theme compatibility. Keeping the WordPress core current ensures a secure, stable, and feature-rich website.

Update WordPress Plugins
Updating WordPress plugins is essential for maintaining the security, functionality, and performance of your website. Plugin developers regularly release updates to address vulnerabilities, fix bugs, and enhance features. These updates not only ensure that your plugins work seamlessly with the latest version of WordPress but also protect your site from potential security threats. Failing to update plugins can lead to compatibility issues, decreased website performance, and increased susceptibility to security risks. Regularly checking for and applying plugin updates is a proactive measure that contributes to a more stable and secure online presence, ultimately benefiting the overall user experience.

Update WordPress Themes
Keeping your WordPress theme up-to-date is important for maintaining a secure and optimized website. Theme updates often include improvements in code efficiency, security enhancements, and compatibility fixes with the latest version of WordPress. By regularly updating your theme, you ensure that your site’s design remains cohesive and functional, providing a seamless user experience. Moreover, updated themes are more likely to support new features and standards, contributing to improved performance and responsiveness. Neglecting theme updates may result in compatibility issues, security vulnerabilities, and an outdated aesthetic, undermining the overall functionality and appeal of your WordPress website.

Check and Optimize Website Speed
A slow website can turn visitors away and negatively impact search engine rankings. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze your website’s speed. Optimize images, leverage browser caching, and utilize a content delivery network (CDN) to enhance performance. A speedy website not only improves user experience but also contributes to better search engine optimization (SEO).

Review and Optimize Website Security
Security is a top priority for any website, especially for small businesses handling sensitive information. Regularly audit user accounts, update passwords, and monitor for suspicious activities. Consider implementing a security plugin, such as SolidWP, to add an extra layer of protection. Ensure that your SSL certificate is up-to-date to provide a secure browsing experience for your visitors.

Clean Up and Optimize the Database
Over time, your WordPress database can accumulate unnecessary data, affecting website performance. Use plugins like WP-Optimize to clean up and optimize your database. Remove draft posts, spam comments, and revisions to reduce database size and improve loading times.

Test Contact Forms and Other Critical Functionalities
Ensure that all contact forms, e-commerce functionalities, and other critical elements of your website are working correctly. Regularly test forms to confirm that inquiries and orders are reaching you successfully. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen contact forms that worked when the website was launched suddenly have issues, whether that be submissions going to spam, captchas not working, or other surprising errors. Put it on your calendar as part of your website maintenance checklist to test it once a month.

Monitor and Resolve Broken Links
Broken links can harm your website’s credibility and negatively impact SEO. Use tools like Broken Link Checker to identify and fix broken links on your website. Regularly perform link checks to ensure that all internal and external links are working correctly.

Set up Uptime Monitoring
Uptime monitoring involves regularly tracking and assessing the availability and responsiveness of a website. This process involves automated tools that periodically check the website’s status, alerting administrators immediately if any downtime or performance issues are detected. Having uptime monitoring set-up can instantly alert you to issues with your site, to avoid any extended downtime that could cause problems for your business, your customers, and your SEO.

Monitor your Analytics
Setting up and monitoring traffic with Google Analytics is indispensable for small business owners seeking to understand and optimize their online presence. Google Analytics provides valuable insights into website traffic, user behavior, and demographic information, offering a comprehensive overview of how visitors interact with the site. By tracking metrics such as page views, bounce rates, and conversion rates, business owners can make informed decisions to enhance website performance, content strategy, and user experience. Understanding the source of traffic, whether through social media, search engines, or referral links, allows for targeted marketing efforts and improved return on investment. It can also alert you to potential website issues if you see surprising traffic changes.
Does this seem like a lot? That’s because it is. But you don’t have to do this alone. We offer a variety of support plans that can take the website maintenance checklist off your plate and ensure that your site is always up and running and in good condition. Find out more about our support plans today.
Amy Masson
Amy is the co-owner, developer, and website strategist for Sumy Designs. She's been making websites with WordPress since 2006 and is passionate about making sure websites are as functional as they are beautiful.