Website Maintenance Checklist: Top 10 Tasks You Should Complete Every Month
As a business owner with a website, every month, there are certain website tasks that should be done in order to make sure your business website stays online and thriving. I know, I know... it can be an arduous task, but how else will you know what needs attention? Here's an easy website maintenance checklist to help you out.
Monthly Website Maintenance Checklist
These are 10 things you should be checking on your business website every single month! This checklist will focus on a WordPress website, but it really doesn't matter what platform your site runs on, these items are crucial for any website to stay online and running smoothly.
1. Check For Updates To Plugins and Themes
You've worked hard to set up your website. Maybe you even created the site during a period where there was no traffic or sales coming in, so you didn't care about how many visitors were looking at your page.
Whether you are using a WordPress website or another platform, one of the first updates that should be done is making sure your theme and plugins are updated.
These updates will help your WordPress site load faster, they'll make it more secure and they can give you new features that you were unaware of before.
Make sure to keep tabs on when certain WordPress website updates take place so you can stay up to date. It's also important to make sure that all of your website's plugins are updated as well. If you don't update your website's plugins, you can leave your site open to vulnerabilities and malicious scripts that could harm your site.
2. Update or Add New Content, Images, and Videos If Needed
What kind of content should you add to your site? This is a question that could have an endless answer. You can add a new product, service, or location page, company bios, case studies, blog content, industry-related articles... the list goes on and on! But make sure what you are adding is useful and relevant to your business niche and adds value for your website visitors.
If you did a promotional video recently or received a new video testimonial, why not upload that video to your company's YouTube page? This adds social proof and gives visitors another reason to check out your site. You will also want to add relevant images to your posts and pages.
3. Run A Malware Scan
A malware scan is the most important check you should be doing on your website. You can do this yourself, use an automated service, or have a reputable web design company handle this for you.
Malware, also known as "malicious software," refers to any software program designed to penetrate a computer system without the owner's permission. That means that website malware could come in the form of a virus, spyware, or trojan.
Monitored services can help you secure your site from viruses and malware so that your visitors, search engines, and customers are all safe!
4. Check For Broken Links
Check your site's internal and external links to make sure they aren't broken. A broken link can be misleading for customers and can cause them to leave your website without purchasing anything or taking any action.
If there are broken links, then customers will get lost or frustrated when they click on a broken link that leads them somewhere else on the internet (or worse, nowhere).
The best thing to do is make sure your site's internal and external links are all working correctly. This way, you can deliver the best user experience to your visitors!
Another way to bring more people to your website is by promoting it through social media and networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These platforms should be linked to your website in order for visitors to easily find you on social media. Be sure to check each link regularly to make sure they are not broken or unclickable!
Another helpful feature for visitors is the ability to share your site on social media directly from your website. Make sure that's in working order too!
5. Check Your Google Analytics
It's important to check your Google analytics in order to see how many visitors you've had, what they clicked on when visiting your site and where your visitors are coming from.
Are people visiting the "Services" page more than the "About Us" page? This insight can help you make changes to your website's layout or give more focus to certain pages. Maybe there is a hidden page on your site that you didn't even know about. That could be a great place to add new content or make some changes.
Another important thing to monitor is where your visitors are coming from. Are they coming from Google, Social Media, or other websites? This information is important to ensure that your website is properly ranked online.
6. Check Your Website's SEO Ranking
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It's important to make sure that your website is optimized in such a way that it will be easy for customers and search engines to find you when they are searching online.
As part of your routine, make sure you check out what keywords your site ranks for. You can use tools like Google's Keyword Planner to see what keywords are most searched for in your industry. If you have a local business, be sure to check your ranking on Google Maps as well!
7. Check For Broken Images
It's a bummer to have broken images on your site, so be sure to check for those periodically! Broken images can occur when the link to an image is either changed or deleted from your site.
If you use any outside images, graphics, or social media buttons on your website, be sure to check those as well. Since you don't always have control over these images and buttons outside of your website, it's important to make sure they are working properly!
8. Monitor Your Website's Uptime
It's a good idea to use a tool to monitor the overall uptime of your website. That way, if your site goes down for any reason (technical difficulties, malware, or hacking), you will know immediately. You will also want to make sure that your hosting provider has a good uptime record as well.
If you run into problems with either of these services, be sure to let them know ASAP! They should work with you to make sure that the problem is solved as soon as possible.
9. Monitor Website Loading Speed
One thing that may not be a huge deal to you, but can be for your visitors, is website loading speed. How long does it take for your pages to load? If the page takes too long to load, people will more than likely get impatient and lose interest. For an E-commerce site, this means they might even leave without ever checking out!
If you find that your website is too slow, be sure to check your hosting provider's customer service or FAQ section for tips on how to improve it. Don't forget, the more images and embedded media (like YouTube videos) you use can affect page loading speed as well!
10. Check The Google Search Console
The last thing on this WordPress website maintenance checklist is to check your Google Search Console once a month to make sure everything is ok. Just like when you monitor your website's uptime, it will let you know if anything has gone wrong or if there are any problems that need to be fixed ASAP.
After you log into the Google Search Console, you will see a list of all your websites and properties that you have submitted to Google. There is a "Notification" section in the upper right-hand corner where any problems or concerns with your website will be listed under "Coverage" so you can deal with them right away!
If there are no problems on this page, consider yourself lucky because it means none have been recorded! Yet, if you do see any problems on this page, it's important to address them as soon as possible so they don't affect your rankings and or website performance.
You can also use Google Search Console data to find new content ideas and figure out the best keywords to target. This information is extremely valuable and you should take advantage of it!
Conclusion
It's important to perform monthly WordPress website maintenance because it can be easy for some problems to slip between the cracks if they aren't checked frequently enough.
Checking your website on a monthly basis doesn't need to be time-consuming or frustrating! Make sure to schedule some time every month where you can sit back and review your company's hard work. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself you can hire an experienced, reputable company to provide monthly website maintenance, security, and SEO for your website.
If you would like to get more suggestions on how to improve your website and get it ranking well online, contact Your Marketing Lady! I would love to help you grow online!
Sound off below with any additional website maintenance checklist items or interesting insights into your website monitoring routine!
