To keep your WordPress site safe, running well, and giving users the best experience possible, you need to keep it up to date. Whether you have a personal blog, a small business website, or a large eCommerce site, make sure your site is always running smoothly and securely.
After fixing over 4,500 hacked sites (yes, 4,500!), I’ve learned a few things. The truth is, the more proactive you are with maintaining your website, the less you’ll have to deal with headaches down the road. So, let’s dive into the ultimate WordPress website maintenance checklist to keep your WordPress site in tip-top shape for 2025.
1. Backup Your Website – Seriously, Do It Now
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” And then boom—website gone. Either from a hack, a bad plugin update, or a simple mistake.
Pro Tip: Just set it and forget it. Install a backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy and let it do the work for you. It’ll save you from a total disaster if something goes wrong—without losing hours of work. Trust me.
2. Keep WordPress, Themes, and Plugins Updated – Don’t Skip This
I know updates can be a pain, but skipping them can cause problems later on. They often include important fixes and improvements that help keep your site secure and running smoothly.
Pro Tip: If you don’t want to worry about updates, consider a website maintenance plan. It takes care of updates for you, so you don’t have to think about it.
3. Check Site Speed, Users, and Plugins – Speed Is Everything
A slow website? Yikes. If your site is taking forever to load, visitors will leave—and Google will start to notice too. Speed is key to keeping visitors happy and making sure your site gets ranked well.
Pro Tip: Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check your site’s speed and get tips for improvement. Optimizing images and removing unnecessary plugins can make a world of difference.
4. Run Security Scans—Hackers Are Always Waiting
Keep an eye on your site’s security at all times. Hackers are always looking for weak spots, so scanning your system regularly helps you find problems early.
Pro Tip: Use Wordfence or SiteCheck by Sucuri to check for malware. Use VirusTotal to check if search engines have flagged your site if you want even more protection.
5. Optimize Your Site’s Performance – A Fast Site Is a Happy Site
A slow website is a fast way to lose visitors—and potential customers. If your site’s sluggish, it can frustrate people and hurt your SEO rankings.
Pro Tip: Use NextGEN image format to reduce image sizes without losing quality. Even small tweaks like this can make a big impact on how quickly your pages load.
6. Test Your Website – Is It Working as It Should?
It’s easy to assume everything’s working perfectly, but things break. Links go bad, forms stop submitting, and shopping carts get stuck. It’s worth taking the time to check everything now and then.
Pro Tip: Test your forms, shopping cart, and any interactive elements. It only takes a few minutes but could save you from major headaches later if something isn’t working right.
7. SEO Audit – Keep Google Happy
SEO isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s like working out—if you stop, the results fade. Make sure your SEO strategy is still on point, especially if it’s been a while since you last checked.
Pro Tip: Use Yoast SEO or Google Search Console to keep an eye on how well your pages are doing. Update your old posts and make sure the keywords still match what people are looking for.
8. Make Sure Your Site is Mobile-Friendly – Seriously, People Are on Their Phones
More and more people are browsing websites from their phones. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of potential traffic. Plus, Google favors mobile-optimized sites in its rankings.
Pro Tip: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your site performs on mobile devices. If it’s not looking good, it’s time to make some tweaks.
9. Track Your Analytics – Numbers Don’t Lie
Running a website without tracking analytics is like driving a car without a dashboard—you don’t really know what’s going on. Analytics help you understand what’s working and where you need to improve.
Pro Tip: Set up Google Analytics. It’ll show you where visitors are coming from, what pages they like, and where you might be losing them. This data helps you make decisions on how to improve your site.
10. Check Your Hosting – Is It Still a Good Fit?
Your hosting is like the foundation of your site. If your hosting environment isn’t up to par, your site will suffer—especially if your site starts to grow.
Pro Tip: If you’re getting more traffic, you might need to upgrade your hosting plan. Talk to your maintenance provider to see if your current hosting is still a good fit.
11. Set Up Cron Jobs – Let Automation Do the Work
Cron jobs are like your site’s behind-the-scenes workers, running regular tasks like backups and security scans automatically. Once they’re set up, you don’t have to worry about them.
Pro Tip: If setting up cron jobs feels confusing, don’t worry—your maintenance provider can set them up for you. After that, everything will be taken care of, and you can just focus on running your site.
12. Change Your Passwords Often. Make Sure They Are Strong and Safe.
Hackers can easily get into accounts with weak passwords. Keeping your passwords strong and changing them often is one of the easiest ways to keep your WordPress site safe.
Pro Tip: A password manager is a good way to keep track of complicated passwords. It’s easier, and it makes your site safer. And do not forget to change your passwords every few months. It’s a small thing that can save you a lot of time.
Why Choose a Website Maintenance Service?
Let’s face it, managing a website is a lot of work. With all the updates, security, plugins, and other things, it can be too much. That’s where maintenance services come in. They handle all the tech stuff so you do not have to worry about it. This gives you more time to work on growing your business.
Conclusion
Maintaining a website doesn’t have to be hard. If you follow this checklist of simple tasks, your WordPress site will stay fast, safe, and ready to go. There are always WordPress care packages and maintenance services that can handle everything for you if you feel like you can’t handle it all.
Ready to take the stress off your shoulders? Contact us today—we’ll handle the tech so you can focus on growing your business.
