Wordpress Website Maintenance, Wilmslow

Long gone are the days when you could hire a web designer to build your website and then sit back and reap the rewards for the next ten years.

WordPress is a tool and just like every other tool it needs to be taken care of so it can perform at its best. A WordPress website should be seen as an investment not dissimilar to buying a car - your car will need regular servicing and annual MOTs to keep it running smoothly and economically - the same can be said for your WordPress website.

By performing required maintenance tweaks regularly, you reduce the probability of having to deal with larger issues at some point in the future - an expense you will kick yourself for. The basic maintenance tasks for WordPress websites are:

1. Keep the WordPress Core up to date

Failure to update the WordPress Core is one of the most common reasons why WordPress sites get hacked, plus new editions of WordPress give access to new features and code updates - why would you want to miss out on that!

2. Keep the WordPress Plugins up to date

A plugin is a code snippet that provides your website with specific functionality such as eCommerce payment gateways, online forms, newsletter subscriptions, text and layout editors, galleries - to name but a few. Out-of-date Plugins are a prime gateway for hackers trying to take over your site and if ignored can cease to function with the other components of WordPress (Core & Theme) rendering the usability and user-experience of your website poor, slow or just plain broken!

3. Keep the WordPress Theme up to date

A Theme is the framework which your website is built upon. For exactly the same reason as keeping your Plugins updated, your Theme will also need to be maintained.

4. Keep regular backups of your WordPress website

It is vital that regular backups are performed and stored away from the hosting server. If your website was to be hacked or something went wrong, that backup will save a lot of time, money and further investment. Multiple backups should always be done before any of the Core, Plugin and Theme updates are performed.

5. Remove unused Themes, Pages, Posts and Plugins

It’s not uncommon to try out a few different plugins before you settle on the right one., it’s also not uncommon to forget to remove those you are not using. Plugins are one of the most common contributors to WordPress clutter and likewise Themes can be as well.

6. Optimise the database

The database on a WordPress website accumulates unwanted data over time. Plugins such as WP-Optimize will clean up all redundant database information.

7. Scan for Malware and Hacking

Nobody wants to have their website hacked and the simple fact that you have a website means you could be one of the unlucky ones. A strategy for dealing with potential security issues is to be proactive. These are a number of Plugins available to enable regular security checkups to be run.

8. Monitor and correct broken links

By broken links we mean links either on your site, coming to your site or pointing to another website whose destination no longer exists. Running regular reports to find broken links means your content will always be current, eliminating the 'page not found' error being shown to your users.