If you have a website built on WordPress, it needs maintenance. The WordPress code is constantly being updated for security and functionality reasons. Every time a browser releases an update, a new mobile phone or device is released, or Windows or Mac updates their OS – WordPress will also have to make updates to allow for new changes. This is also true for the theme of your site and any plugins on it.
Besides just accommodating for the device, browser, and operating system changes, unfortunately there are a lot of shady people who constantly look for vulnerabilities in websites in order to take advantage of them. Anytime a weakness is reported in code, security patches are made to try to stay ahead of these hackers.
Several Ways to Maintain Your WordPress Website
Back up Your Entire Website
Backups are lifesavers. Periodic backups help you deal with partial data loss as well as total site crashes.
Backups are essentially the life jackets that you keep handy while you are navigating the ocean. When water gets inside and your boat starts to sink, you still have a way to survive.
If you lose your data or encounter some security issue where you are forced to remove current files and replace them, you’ll need the backup.
Speed Optimization
Do you like a slow website? Nobody does. A slow site is a sign of inefficiency, especially when there are so many alternatives available.
Search engines provide visitors with a page full of results for your search query. If a visitor clicks a link and it does not open instantly, or takes a lot of time to load, visitors will quickly navigate to another site. When a visitor is provided with so many options, there’s no reason for him or her to wait for a website that is too slow.
So even if your website is really efficient, even when you have the best content, it’s all a waste until your website is performance-optimized.
Even search engines regard a slow website as an inefficient one. Page load speed adds as a positive mark for organic ranking. Therefore, the speed of your website matters.
To optimize your site, you can:
- Choose a fast hosting service
- Use optimized images
- Use caching
- Go for CND or cloud storage
- Remove unnecessary plugins and data
Check and Delete Spam Comments
If you use Akismet to combat comment spam in WordPress, it automatically keeps spam away from your comment moderation queue.
However, sometimes Akismet may end up marking a legitimate comment as spam. Once in a while, you need to take a closer look at spam comments to ensure that there are no real comments incorrectly marked as spam.
Once you’re finished, you can safely delete all spam comments from your website. If you have thousands of spam comments, then you should use this method to batch delete all spam comments in WordPress.
It wouldn’t necessarily improve performance, but it will ensure that you don’t miss genuine comments.
Test all Your WordPress Forms
WordPress form-builder plugins like WPForms make it super easy to create beautiful forms on your website. However, due to misconfiguration on your WordPress Hosting server or your email service provider, sometimes these forms may suddenly stop sending emails.
You need to check all forms on your website to make sure that they are working properly. If a form is not working, contact us to get your WordPress email issue resolved.
So, is WordPress website maintenance Worthwhile?
Well, we think it’s quite clear what will happen if you don’t keep on top of website maintenance: Poor load speed, websites not loading or functioning properly, a drop in Google rankings, loss of visitors and sales, poor user experience, and negative reviews.
Spending just an hour or two a week keeping your website maintained will keep all of the above under control and keep your business fresh and healthy online.