Your website is slow. Forms stop working. Customers complain about a poor user experience. You’re at risk of losing your data. And you find yourself desperately forking over big bucks to get an expert set of eyes on your site.
Has this ever happened to you?
It doesn’t have to. Basic monthly WordPress maintenance tasks help keep your site secure, updated, and running smoothly. These tasks aren’t complicated, but they are easy to forget when no one is responsible for maintaining the site. Use this checklist to understand what should be reviewed each month and when it may make sense to bring in professional support.
Need ongoing WordPress maintenance? View our monthly website maintenance plans.
Office: (844) 972-6224 Contact Us#1. Back up your website and data
Why it’s important
Back up your WordPress website at least once per month. It is an absolutely essential website maintenance task for anyone and everyone who owns a WordPress site. You don’t want to lose all of your content and data if your website unexpectedly crashes. This is why your time spent backing up your site is 100% worth it.
My website is automatically backed up once a day. But each month, it’s a smart idea to check in and make sure your backups are going smoothly.
How to do it
Use an automation tool or plugin so you don’t have to invest the effort to back up your site manually. You can save your content on the same server, or keep it safe on remote servers like your Dropbox or Google Drive. Check your backups once a month to ensure your backups have not been interrupted. You will also want to clear out old backups. I keep a backup from thirty days ago, one week ago, and the past seven days. Regular backups will protect you from losing any data or content in the case of an unexpected event.
Your set it and forget it plan for website backups is to use a hosting platform that automates the backup and restore process. Check out my hosting recommendations ➜
#2. Scan for security issues
Why it’s important
Sucuri’s 2023 Hacked Website & Malware Threat Report revealed that WordPress is one of the most vulnerable content management systems (CMS) for hackers. One important WordPress maintenance task to keep your site safe is scanning your website for security issues at least once a month.
How to do it
You’ll find multiple free or paid tools online that will scan your website for vulnerabilities, checking things like:
- Malware
- SSL/TLS misconfiguration
- Blacklisting status
- SQL injection
- Malicious or suspicious files
- Defacement
I recommend the WP Cerber plugin or the Sucuri Security plugin. WordPress security is crucial. A regular security scan will highlight any issues you need to fix so hackers won’t be able to get in.
#3. Repair broken links
Why it’s important
It’s not uncommon for links on your website to become outdated, be updated, or change in some way. Broken links create a bad user experience for site visitors and have a negative effect on SEO. As your website continues to grow, it’s important to make checking for broken links a regular website maintenance task.
How to do it
Install a plugin like Broken Link Checker so you can fix broken links once a month at a minimum. Another option is the Velvet Blues plugin, which updates all URLs in your website by replacing old links with new ones.
Office: (844) 972-6224 Contact Us#4. Clear caches and clean house
Why it’s important
Your website can experience slowdowns from data you’re not using, like plugin settings, old form entries, spam comments, and post revisions. Delete this data and clear caches once a month so your website doesn’t get bogged down.
How to do it
Check how many users have access to your site. Delete any who aren’t necessary (this is a security precaution). Export and delete the contact form entries that have been collected through your form plugin. Delete spam comments. Look for unused data like inactive themes, plugins, or images to delete, too. Then, clear your WordPress cache to fully clear out this unused data and improve speeds.
#5. Check website page speed
Why it’s important
The slower your website is running, the less likely people are to stay on it, which can be deadly for your business growth. Your website speed also directly impacts how well your site ranks in search engine results. A slow website will struggle to achieve SEO.
How to do it
An important WordPress maintenance task is to check your website’s performance once a month using tools like GTmetrix, Pingdom, or Google Pagespeed Insights. You want your page load time to be less than two seconds. The tools listed here offer suggestions on how to fix whatever is slowing down your site. Remember to check both the desktop and mobile versions of your website.
Finding it near impossible to score high on Google Pagespeed Insights? You’re not alone. Most websites get a poor score on Google Pagespeed Insights.
#6. Audit your site for long-term planning
Why it’s important
Nobody likes to be surprised by a website problem that is expensive or difficult to fix. A site audit reviews your entire website to make sure its SEO and functional aspects are performing well. You might also audit your content, code, design, usability, and other components of your website to ensure they are more than adequate for the foreseeable future.
How to do it
You may not have the time to do a comprehensive website audit each month (and this isn’t truly necessary). But taking a moment to review your site can give you guidance on where to make it better. Do this manually by:
- Evaluating your content categories and keywords
- Checking website analytics to get clues on what areas of your site need a boost
- Submitting forms or performing other tasks to make sure they work
Want some help with your website audit? This is a complimentary service we provide for our clients. Contact our friendly office at (844) 972-6224 to learn how you can become our client.
Experts in what they do
“Emily Journey & Associates are not only the “Real Deal” when it comes to website management and SEO but are also incredibly knowledgeable, experts in what they do and good people! They completely redid our two websites www.ezshelf.com and www.brillseat.com. We previously tried numerous other firms some from India, others with an office here and work done in Eastern Europe, and others – our website prior to was a hodge-podge of hard coding, and over 39 plugins.
It was impossible for us to maintain the websites by ourselves and SEO was like a secret language only our previous consultants knew.
Emily and the team are committed to removing the curtain hiding the “Wizard of Oz” and to empowering individuals and companies to take back their website and marketing.”
#7. Update themes, plugins, and WordPress version
Why it’s important
Updates aren’t just bells and whistles; they include important security fixes, too. If you’re using an older version of a plugin or theme, your website might be at risk for a cyberattack or security breach. This is why you should update themes, plugins, and WordPress version once a month. Make this website maintenance task a priority.
How to do it
WordPress has a built-in system you can use to manage updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes. Always make sure you’re operating with the latest version of WordPress itself, plus all your plugins and themes. To manually check for available updates, go to your “Updates” page found in your WordPress dashboard.
Pro Tip: Avoid processing updates on Friday afternoons or just before boarding a plane. You never know when a security update will create a conflict and require more of your time to troubleshoot.
Contact Us Read Client Reviews#8. Remove spam content and users
Why it’s important
At best, spam users slow down your database speed. At worst, they could be hacked, compromising your entire site. Spam comments are also a no-go; they look unprofessional and might include malicious links. Remove all spam comments, content, and users once a month.
How to do it
If a tool like Akismet doesn’t prevent them, you can easily delete all spam comments by going to “Comments” from your WordPress dashboard and selecting the “Spam” column. Here, you can delete all spam comments at once. Delete spam users similarly: Click “Users” from your dashboard and mark the ones you’d like to delete.
Pro Tip: Consider turning off the option to comment on your website. You can do this through your “Discussion” settings in the WordPress dashboard.
#9. Enforce strong passwords
Why it’s important
Here's another WordPress maintenance task related to security. Since WordPress is very vulnerable to hackers, it’s crucial to enforce strong passwords. A strong, fresh password is one of the best ways to keep your WordPress site protected and safe.
How to do it
Your security plugin will have the option to “enforce strong passwords”. Your password should be a unique phrase that you don’t use anywhere else. Create a mixture of letters, numbers, and special characters that’s around 12 characters long. Don’t write this password down or share it with anybody else. Keep it in an encrypted note on your computer or use a password manager.
Hire us to do your monthly WordPress maintenance tasks
Keeping up with monthly WordPress maintenance takes time, consistency, and technical knowledge. If you prefer to spend your time on revenue-generating activities for your business, our team can handle WordPress maintenance for you.
Emily Journey & Associates provides monthly website maintenance plans for businesses and nonprofits that want reliable WordPress support and direct access to a dedicated website manager.
View our monthly website maintenance plans or contact our friendly office at (844) 972-6224 to talk about what level of support makes sense for your site.
Office: (844) 972-6224 Contact UsWordPress Monthly Maintenance FAQs
What WordPress maintenance tasks should be done monthly?
Monthly WordPress maintenance should include backups, security scans, broken link checks, cache clearing, performance checks, plugin and theme updates, spam cleanup, user review, and password/security checks. These tasks help keep your site secure, updated, and running smoothly.
Why is monthly WordPress maintenance important?
Monthly WordPress maintenance helps prevent small issues from becoming larger problems. Regular maintenance protects your site from security risks, outdated software, broken links, slow performance, and avoidable technical problems.
Can I do WordPress maintenance myself?
Yes, some WordPress maintenance tasks can be handled by a site owner, especially if you are comfortable using the WordPress dashboard and checking plugins, backups, users, and site performance. If you do not have the time, confidence, or technical knowledge to review your site regularly, it makes sense to work with a professional maintenance team.
What happens if I skip WordPress maintenance?
Skipping WordPress maintenance can leave your site vulnerable to security problems, plugin conflicts, broken forms, slow load times, outdated content, and data loss. The longer maintenance is ignored, the more expensive and time-consuming problems can become.
When should I hire someone for WordPress maintenance?
You should consider hiring someone for WordPress maintenance if your website collects leads, processes sales, uses many plugins, or includes important forms and integrations. A professional maintenance team gives your site consistent attention and gives you a reliable place to turn when something goes wrong.
Which WordPress maintenance tasks should a professional handle?
A site owner can usually handle simple tasks like checking forms, reviewing pages, deleting spam comments, and confirming that backups are running. A professional team is better suited to handle tasks that can affect security, performance, uptime, or site functionality, including plugin and theme updates, troubleshooting conflicts, security monitoring, hosting issues, speed problems, and recovery planning.
