WordPress Maintenance: What does it involve?

Designing your website is not the only thing you need to run a successful business, you also need to keep Maintaining and keeping your WordPress updated may seem like an intimidating task, but once you get the hang of it, the process becomes quite easy. You do not have to reach out to professionals every time you face a problem with your WordPress theme and plugins. You can read articles or see videos on how to correctly do WordPress managing.

What is WordPress maintenance?

Have you ever felt super confused about how to manage the WordPress system? The various complexities of the software slowly start revealing itself and you feel helpless and start worrying about your website. Most of the problems with the software can be fixed with proper maintenance.

The software keeps adding new and improved tools and features every day and if you do not keep the system updated, you may face security threats. Your website may become unstable and prone to getting hacked. WordPress maintenance takes care of this problem and keeps the core functions updated.

The theme is an integral part of how to manage WordPress websites. Therefore, attention should be paid to keeping the theme updated. This will help you manage multiple WordPress sites. The WordPress maintenance plans update themes. Similarly, your plugins will be updated as well. A lot of functions depend on what themes and which plugins you use, therefore make sure you are aware of any update WordPress makes.

It also makes sure your content is backed up, secure, and protected. Many sites on WordPress are often targeted by hackers and this will create a huge problem for you. Malware attacks have become quite common and you want to make sure you steer clear of such groups of individuals who can be a threat to your website. Maintenance makes sure your site is safe and free of any infiltrators.

WordPress maintenance Vs Support

Though both the terms WordPress maintenance and support may seem similar to each other, the functions of these two are quite different. Some aspects of the software are taken care of by WordPress support while other operations are carried out with the help of WordPress maintenance services. Maintenance usually includes themes and plugin updates, uptime monitoring, website back up, and security. On the other hand, support mainly deals with monitoring downtime, assessing, and treating errors related to plugins or themes, and takes care of troubleshooting problems. WordPress support and maintenance services work together to make your website better.

Your Daily maintenance Checklist

Uptime

Determining the uptime and keeping a record is quite important. There are several ways you can track the uptime of your website. you can use the developers maintenance packages, mobile SMS option, every time there is a problem with your website, you will receive a notification on your phone, this way you can immediately deal with the problem.

 Backup

Backup is as important as any other function. Data and content are the main resources any business relies on. WordPress website maintenance will make sure you have a good backup system on your WordPress.  You can do this yourself.

Daily Security Report

WordPress maintenance will send you a daily report of the activities of your website and in case anything suspicious happens, you will receive an update.

Your Weekly Maintenance Checklist

Comment Moderation /Spam Handling

Your website and content may receive a lot of comments. However, it is important to go through these and keep a note of what types of comments you are receiving. In case you come across any false positives in your spam list, you should remove those.

Site Updates

Update your themes and plugins so that you can utilize the latest features. Having the newest tools will help your website. WordPress website management services will help you find out new plugins and inform you about the ones you do not use anymore.

Malware scan

Scanning your website is extremely important. This will get rid of any threat that your website may be facing.

Onpage SEO

SEO is a powerful tool. Make sure you update your content to increase views and expand your business. You can use WordPress maintenance services to update SEO on your page.

Your Monthly Maintenance Checklist

Visual Inspection

Nothing can replace physical effort. Look at your website every once in a while. Visually inspect every aspect of your page. In case you find any problem with your website, you can solve it immediately with the help of WordPress maintenance.

Verify Backups

Make sure your backup process is flawless and your files are all arranged properly where they are supposed to be.

Analytics

You should also keep track of how your page is doing, what the traffic is like, and what kind of engagement your website is receiving.

Database Performance optimization

You can do database optimization yourself with the help of various plugins.

Site Speed Optimization

No one likes a slow website. To make sure your site is working properly even with all the files, you can use compression plugins.

 Server maintenance

Make sure your server is working properly before you update your website.

Your Quarterly/Half-Yearly Maintenance Checklist

Change Passwords

To stay safe from any security threat, change your password at regular intervals.

Checking User roles

Make sure only people you trust are admins. Any inactive member should be removed as soon as possible.

Delete Unused Plugins and Themes

New plugins and themes release every day. Once you update your system, make sure you get rid of the old ones. Do away with all the themes and plugins that you do not require or use.

Delete Unnecessary Themes

Unnecessary themes and unused files may cause trouble. Get rid of all the tools on WordPress that you no longer use.  

Fix Dead Links

Deadlinks are misleading and disappointing. If you do not update your page frequently, dead links may keep coming up.

Checking forms

Make sure the information about the email address and phone numbers that you put up on your website work correctly.

Speed Audit

Slow sites are a big disappointment. Visits often ignore sites that take a lot of time to load. Keep a record of how long your page requires to load completely. If the duration is too long, considering checking where the page is lagging.

Your Yearly Maintenance Checklist

Reviewing About pages and Privacy Policy for Major Law Changes

Update your copyright date and any other detail that is out of date. If your contact details have changed over the year, it is important to update your website and replace the contact details. You should also check out whether your website is facing any legal issues.

Review of Plugins and themes. If needed, upgrade to a new theme (that is outperforming the current one)

Storing unimportant and unused plugins may slow down your website. if you do not require older themes and plugins, do not forget to delete them.

Reviewing the Whole site for any new Option you can add or remove

A year can make a lot of difference. You may discover new things and gather more knowledge. Therefore, take a look at the website and you will be able to notice which parts seem irrelevant to you. Make any edit that you think is necessary.

Webmaster tool

Webmaster tool helps you to get rid of error messages.

Is automation Possible?

Though complete automation may not be possible, some operations and functions may be automated.

What plugins for Automated maintenance?

You can use plugins like Google Analytics WD, Broken Link Checker. Coschedule and Social Warfare.

Is Automation safe to implement?

Before you enable automation make sure you backup all your data. Use an automation plugin that you are confident of.

What needs more expert involvement?

If you feel like you have too much on your plate seek the help of WordPress Experts and professionals for WordPress website maintenance services.

What could go wrong?

To avoid any hiccups, make sure you do not close your browser in the middle of any automatic update. Themes and plugins may also cause problems with maintenance. Therefore, delete unnecessary data, plugins, and tools that you do not use often.

Pros and Cons of Hiring a 3rd party Maintenance company?

Pros:

Experts know special tools and techniques that can improve your website. you will not have to face any major drawbacks with your website. Hiring them is cheaper than working with full-time staff.

Cons:

They may not understand what you want from your website and how you want your page to look if you do not communicate with them properly