WordPress Website Maintenance Guide: Things to consider while maintaining a WordPress website

If you are running a fully functioning WordPress website then you must be aware of the fact that the performance of the website decides the conversion rate. Most of the WordPress site owners just focus on the appearance of the website which is absolutely one of the important factors. But to enhance your website presence, user experience, and conversion rate you need to keep your website updated. No matter whether you are getting your website designed by an experienced WordPress website design company for better engagement and traffic, you need to keep maintenance as your first priority. 

Today your WordPress website maintenance will play a crucial role in deciding your website’s online reputation, presence, and most importantly conversion rate. If your goal is to drive more traffic and conversion on your website apart from appearance and marketing you need to include WordPress website maintenance in your list. Earlier WordPress website maintenance was looked at as a necessity but now it’s often looked at as a chore. 

If you are neglecting to include WordPress website maintenance cost in your list then remember it will make your pay more than you can imagine. But the question comes down to what are the important factors or tasks you need to take into account while planning for your WordPress website maintenance. 

If you are scrolling the website for the same then you have landed on the right article where we are going to highlight some of the important points on why site owners should focus on WordPress website maintenance. And some of the essential tasks to perform while maintaining the website so make sure you stick till the end of this article. If you are getting your website design by an experienced wordpress web design company then you can consult about design as well as maintenance cost. 

An Overview Of WordPress Website Maintenance 

If you are running a WordPress website for a long then you must be aware of the fact that any user with less to no knowledge about coding can create a fully functioning WordPress website for their business. Easily creating and managing a WordPress website used to be very simple with less workload. But today with the increase in the number of vulnerabilities and malicious activities it has become essential for WordPress websites to focus more on the maintenance of the website. 

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The website you create and offer helps in defining your business online success. It acts as the front door of your business so you need to ensure that your website is able to impress your site visitors in every way. Most of the time due to small issues like website downtime or some other flaws your site visitor comes across multiple issues which directly impact your website as well as business reputation. These types of problems can directly impact your website traffic and conversion. If you are looking to improve your website conversion then wordpress maintenance should be on your list. 

 Website maintenance is one of the crucial parts of the website design and development process. Almost every top-performing website on the internet has found that repairing a bugged and faulty website is better than preventing your website from these types of flaws which can be only achieved when you update and maintain your website regularly. 

The reason why most websites spend thousands of dollars on WordPress website maintenance is that the cost involved in debugging or removing the flaws in the website after an attack or downtime is always higher than the maintenance cost. Apart from that website coming across any downtime then you might end up losing lots of prospects. That is the reason why every business running a fully functioning WordPress website and getting a good amount of traffic should assign a separate budget for maintenance. 

A well-maintained website offers you a competitive edge over your competitors and also ensures that you are able to drive maximum traffic and conversion on your website. If you are going for routine maintenance then it needs very less time dampening on the type of website you are managing. A simple and small blogging website can be easily maintained by an individual but if your website is driving heavy traffic then you might need the help of WordPress website professionals. 

When you plan to maintain a WordPress website there are few things you need to consider to ensure that your website is secure, safe, and running at its peak. That is the reason why we have created this article where we will highlight some of the important points that you can consider while maintaining your WordPress website. But before that, we would like to highlight some of the important points on why WordPress website maintenance is essential.

Why is WordPress website maintenance more needed now than ever?

There is a saying that “Prevention is better than cure”, this particular quote will help to get an in-depth understanding of why WordPress website maintenance is needed more than ever. When it comes to creating and running a WordPress website then most businesses are aware of the importance of having a structure and appealing website design. Undoubtedly both website structure and appearance play an important role in converting a site visitor into paying customers. 

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But with the increase in vulnerabilities simply having an appealing and structured website will not help you to get online success. To achieve that you need to ensure that your WordPress website is updated and maintained frequently so that it does not come across any kind of vulnerabilities. The website you create and offer is just like other machines out there that require regular maintenance to operate with full potential. For example, if you are making use of your car on a daily basis but ignore to give it for the service and maintenance then after some it will start offering multiple problems. 

These types of problems will not harm your work but will give rise to some other problem forcing you to shift to a new car. Buying a new car is always higher than the service and maintenance cost. In the same way, if you ignore updating and maintaining your WordPress website design then it will not only harm your website but the whole business functioning and most importantly ROI and revenue. If you don’t want your business to get stuck in the middle or make your prospects select your competitor’s website over your WordPress website then it’s essential to focus on WordPress website maintenance. 

So here are some of the important reason why you need to focus on WordPress website maintenance: 

1. Help you to Improve Security 

If you wonder why you need to focus on WordPress website maintenance then one primary reason can be the security of your website. Yes in today’s vulnerable marketplace where we are hearing more and more business website data getting hacked by hackers and intruders, businesses have already started to realize the importance of security. Whether you are having a small website or enterprise-level website or you are asking users for their personal information then you need to ensure that your website is secured in every way possible. 

Today most small businesses neglect to spend time and money in securing their data. But they forget that until and unless you make your site visitor believe that your website is secured, they will never show interest in performing any action on your website. The reason why WordPress website maintenance is essential for every business is that it helps in eliminating all the risks that can invite hackers and intruders to their website. 

Most of the small businesses think that their website will never be attacked by hackers or intruders but in reality, they are the ones more open to these types of attacks. So if you are using WordPress then you need to ensure that your website is protected from an unwanted security breach. By this, we are not saying that WordPress is vulnerable but when you integrate any third-party plugin or theme then your website gets exposed to these attacks. By maintaining your WordPress website you will ensure that it is protected against these attacks. 

If you are looking to know more about wordpress security then make sure to check our blog on
5 Best WordPress Security Plugins To Use In 2020
WordPress Security Guide: 8 Tips To Secure WordPress Website In 2020

2. Optimizes site visitor experience

The WordPress website you create and offer acts as the front door of your business if you wish to create a strong online presence and enhance your website reputation, then you need to ensure that your website is up and running without any flaws. Most of the time site visitors fail to convert or leave your website without performing any action because they come across some mistakes that feature them and encourage them to leave your website and look for some other options.

Remember if your website comes across any kind of errors or unwanted downtime then it can create a bad impression and directly impact your website traffic and conversion. By updating and maintaining your website you ensure that your site visitor doesn’t come across any kind of issues and is able to explore more about your website, product and business without facing any difficulties.  

If your site visitors are frequently coming up with some or other kind of problem then they will never show interest in coming back to your website in the future. On the other hand, maintaining your WordPress website regularly will help you to offer a better user experience which will also help in gaining prospect’s trust. And we don’t have to mention that if your goal is to drive maximum traffic and conversion on your WordPress website then the trust factor will play a major role in accomplishing that.  

So when it comes to maintaining a WordPress website it’s always recommended to take the help of a highly experienced WordPress website design company who can maintain your WordPress website regularly ensuring that it doesn’t come across any unwanted flaws. 

3. Updated Backup 

Apart from user experience one of the reasons why WordPress website owners should focus on maintaining their website is because it helps in keeping an updated backup of your website. Today with the increase in the number of malicious practices websites that are spending days and hours maintaining their website come across some or other kind of security breach-related issues. Not only that but there are high chances that you might end up committing some kind of update or mistakes which can directly impact your website functioning. 

If your website and business come across these types of issues then one thing that will help you to instantly bounce back and make your website live for your audience is the “Backup” of your website. When a problem occurs it never notifies you about the time and date, it can happen on any day and any time. Having an updated backup of your website will help you to make your website up and running within a short period of time. 

Businesses that are creating the backup on their own fail to have the updated backup of their website. By having a proper WordPress website maintenance plan you can ensure that your website always has the updated backup of your website. Even if your system crashes or comes across as unwanted you will always have access to the updated backup that will help you to revert back instantly.

These types of practices will ensure that your website and business don’t lose their reputation. But for that, it’s always recommended to hire a reliable and highly experienced WordPress website design company that can help you to maintain your website and have access to the updated backup.

4. Cost Saving 

You must have read that getting a website redesigned from scratch is always costlier than maintaining an existing website. Today most of the businesses complain that they got their website redesigned because their website came across problems like a security breach, fault in the source code, and more. If you think that your website is small and everything is working fine then you must reconsider your thinking. 

Because these types of problems can happen with any website on the internet. In today’s vulnerable marketplace your website can get attacked by any hacker and there are high chances that they might delete any information and data on your website. Not only that but they can also leave some kind of bug that you fail to analyze instantly but can corrupt your whole website. By having a proper WordPress website maintenance plan and budget you ensure that your website design doesn’t come across these types of issues and it’s always cost-effective compared to redesigning. 

Redesigning a website from the scratch can cost you between $10000 to $80000 depending on the type of website you are running. On the other hand, if you plan a proper budget for website maintenance then you might be able to save the money that most of the websites and businesses spend in getting their website redesign after coming across various flaws and errors in the website design. So if you wonder why you need to maintain your WordPress website then it can be another reason that you can include it in your website list.

Looking to know wordpress website design cost? if yes then check our article on WordPress website design cost Guide: WordPress cost to build a website

5. Optimized website speed  

If you are running a WordPress website then you must be aware of the fact that the theme and plugin along with WordPress itself offer you regular updates. These types of updates are mainly focused on either adding new features or eliminating bikes for a more enhanced user experience. Sometimes the update offered by the theme or plugin gives rise to compatibility issues. If your WordPress website comes across any compatibility issues then there are high chances that your website load time can get impacted.

Most of the time site owners either fail to realize their website speed-related issues or they come to know after it swept all the site visitors away from the website. It generally happens because the cache makes the website load faster on the admin device where the website is already opened multiple times. Whereas new users that are accessing your website for the first time might find it difficult to view the text and other elements because of the slow wordpress website loading speed.  

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Remember today every user makes their decision within seconds, if your existing website is taking time to load then it will automatically create a bad impression about your website and there are high chances that your prospects may never return back to your website. By maintaining your website regularly you will ensure that your website speed is optimized and never hurts your live website. 

If you wish to make the changes then you can make use of the staging site to implement changes and updates so that your live website does not get impacted due to these small changes. If you have hired a highly experienced WordPress web design company to do the job then you don’t have to worry about the website speed as they will need that your website is up and running without any flaws.

If you are looking to know more about how you can create a staging site in WordPress then make sure to check our blog on How To Create a Staging Site In WordPress (Step-By-Step)? 

6. Search engine visibility 

If you are running a WordPress website for a long then you must be aware of the fact that more than 50% of the users make use of search engines to find the answer, instead of directly typing the URL in the search boxes. If you manage to create a highly attractive website then your work does not end here. To drive more traffic to your website you need to ensure that your website is able to get visibility in the search engine by ranking on the top of the search result page. 

To do that websites need to optimize their page for the search engine. SEO is not a one-time process as it requires continuous efforts to rank on the top and also maintain the ranking. By optimizing your website for SEO you will be able to stay ahead of your competitor. 

The SEO strategy you create and implement will surely help you to rank on the top but to maintain the ranking you need to have an effective WordPress website maintenance plan as well.  The measures taken during the maintenance of your website will play a crucial role in maintaining your website rank on the top in SERP. 

If you are taking the maintenance plan from a highly experienced WordPress website design company then they will constantly monitor your website for speed and any other type of problem and will also ensure that your website doesn’t come across any kind of flaws. Because every small problem can directly impact the website ranking. So, if you wonder why you need to focus on WordPress website maintenance then remember it helps you to rank higher and maintain the same rank on the search engine result page. 

7. Helps in maintaining the brand reputation 

If you are reading this article from the beginning then you must have found the same point in multiple paragraphs that an effective WordPress website maintenance plan helps you to eliminate most of the problems that can harm your brand and business reputation. 

Today no matter how attractive and effective website design you are able to offer to the user audience. If you are failing to create an optimized user experience then it can directly offer a negative impression about your website and brand. 

After users start connecting with the users then next they look into your website and engage with the content and explore more about your website and business. During the process after coming across multiple or the same problem on multiple pages then they will leave your website without having a second thought. 

These types of actions will not only impact your website ranking but also the brand reputation. Today the reputation of your website and brand plays a crucial role in deciding whether a user will click on your website link in SERP or your competitor’s website.  

If you are failing to offer an optimized experience then it will automatically create a negative impression which will not only make users leave your website but they will never plan to return back on your WordPress website. With a proper WordPress website maintenance plan you will be able to eliminate all the potential risks and problems that can harm your website and brand reputation. 

If your prospects start trusting your brand then you will automatically become their primary choice. So if you think about why you need to focus on WordPress website maintenance then remember it helps in improving yoru brand reputation by enhancing your WordPress website user experience.

By now you might have a clear idea about why WordPress website maintenance is needed more than ever. Next, we are going to give a detailed idea about the cost to maintain a WordPress website. 

How much does WordPress website maintenance cost? 

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Before we get started with exploring some of the factors or tasks that you can consider or look into while planning for WordPress website maintenance. Let’s take a look at the cost involved in WordPress website maintenance. If you are looking to know the exact cost to create a WordPress website then you need to be aware of the fact that there is no specific formula or calculation that can help you to determine the exact WordPress website maintenance cost. 

But one can get the estimated WordPress website maintenance cost depending on the number of factors mainly the complexity, size, and function of your website. Mainly the size of your website will play a major role in determining the estimated cost. An ecommerce website maintenance cost might differ from a standard business website maintenance cost. Not only that but the cost to maintain a basic WordPress website might differ from the cost to maintain a custom-coded WordPress website. 

If you have a small business then the basic WordPress website maintenance cost can range between $100 to $10000. On the other hand, a custom-coded WordPress website comes with lots of factors and with more advanced features so the cost to maintain the website can range between $10000 to $60,000 per year. Mainly if your business is running an e-commerce website then you can expect your website to fall under this category. 

The cost and performance of a WordPress website go hand in hand. If you are creating an enterprise-level custom-coded ecommerce website or standard website to target a large group of people then the website creation and maintenance cost may also increase. Most businesses that are driving more site visitors on their website prefer to hire a website design company that can maintain and update their website regularly for better performance and results. 

By now you must be aware of the cost to maintain a WordPress website. Next, we are going to highlight some important points that you can consider while creating the checklist for your WordPress website maintenance.

Things to consider while maintaining a WordPress website

Most WordPress website owners ignore maintaining their website but today the maintenance has become one of the most crucial aspects of getting online success. Even if your website design is able to grab more site visitor’s attention and your marketing strategy persuades your site visitors into paying customers. A small website downtime or glitch in the website elements can directly impact the whole website user experience and also your website and business online presence. 

By not maintaining your WordPress website you are probably exposing your existing website to various problems that can directly impact your whole website’s functioning. Most of the time websites come across problems like websites getting hacked, slow loading websites, fall in search engine ranking, and many more. If that is the case then there are high chances that users might not feel secure after landing on your website or leave your website without performing the desired action. 

If you are looking to avoid these types of problems and issues then it is essential to have an effective WordPress website maintenance plan. Below we are going to highlight some of the important points that you can consider while creating the WordPress website maintenance plan: 

1. Updated backup of your website

Backups are one of the most important parts of a website maintenance plan. If you are running a WordPress website then you should know that your website can come across any kind of issues like website data getting deleted, website getting hacked, and many more. One thing that can help you to bounce back and make your WordPress website live is the updated backup of your website. Most of the time WordPress websites fail to create the backup which forces them to get their website redesign by a highly experienced WordPress web design company. But with the help of backup, you can make your website live within a few minutes. 

That is the reason why backup is included in the WordPress website maintenance plan list. It will ensure your website’s long-term health. Now when we talk about backup then you should know that one can do the backup of the website manually and automatically. If you are having a small website then the manual backup can be done but still, it will be a hectic process and there are high chances that you might ignore to backup your existing website. That is the reason why most websites prefer to go with automatic backup.  

Automatic backups are the easiest way to do the backup of your website and with the help of automatic backup, you will always have access to the updated backup of your live website. There are a number of WordPress plugins that will help you to do the automatic backup of your website. Updraft, VaultPress, BackupBuddy, and more are some of the popular and widely used plugins that you can select to do the backup of your existing website. With the help of the plugin, you can set up the automatic backup of your website. Sometimes these backup solutions may stop working so we recommend you plan a manual check every month.  

Apart from the plugin some of the web hosts also offer automatic backup options where you can easily schedule the backup of your website. When you select the hosting provider for your website then you can always check with them. So when it comes to making a WordPress website maintenance plan it’s always recommended to include backup in your list. 

If you are looking to know more about the WordPress backup plugin and how you can do the backup of your WordPress website then make sure to check our blog on How To Backup A WooCommerce Store? Explained With Best Backup Plugin In 2020

2. Check for updated 

If you are running a WordPress website for a long time then you must be aware of the fact that WordPress software updates are released every year, sometimes twice a year. Not only they built the plugin and theme you used on your WordPress also offers regular updates to enhance its function and remove all the bugs that can cause trouble in your website.  

The update offered by the provider is either focused on adding new features or functionality or eliminating bugs that are causing problems to the WordPress website or sometimes making the plugin or theme more secure. 

When you create the checklist of your WordPress website maintenance then make sure it includes WordPress updates. To enhance your website functioning it’s always recommended updating the WordPress and the theme and additional plugins to the latest version. 

If you are avoiding these updates then you are making a huge mistake as your plugin and theme code becomes outdated exposing your website to more risk. These types of risks can include exposing your website to hackers and intruders. 

So when you plan for the WordPress website maintenance then make sure you keep the plugins and themes updated. When installing the update make sure you first start with updating the WordPress core, then the theme, and lastly the plugin. This way you will be avoiding the common conflict that occurs during these types of updates.

To eliminate the risk we also recommended you first update your website in the staging site then make the changes in the live website. The reason why we are recommending implementing the updates in the staging site is that you will be able to avoid the downtime that is caused due to the plugins and theme conflicts.  

3. Delete the spam comment 

If you’re running a website then you must be having a blog section where you publish the blogs regularly. Depending on the theme you are selecting for your WordPress website you will be able to find the comment section in every blog. Today with the increase in the number of vulnerabilities there are high chances that your blogs might get a higher number of spam comments in the comment section. These types of spam comments are nothing but the low-quality comments that are posted to build backlinks.

If your website is getting anything you need to remove it immediately because these types of comments are very generated and most of the time it does not relate to the article or add little to no value. This Is the reason why you need to remove these types of comments. Most of the WordPress websites make use of one of the popular and most widely used plugins called “Akismet” to combat these types of spam comments. 

The plugin ensures that your website doesn’t come across these types of spam comments. If you are planning to use the plugin or already making use of the plugin then you should be aware of the fact that sometimes Akismet automatically marks the legitimate comment as spam.

 If that is the case then you might end up losing the legitimate comment in your comment section. That is the reason why it’s recommended to keep a track of it by manually checking the spam comment to ensure that there is no legitimate comment marked as spam. 

There is another option that you can opt for that is nothing but disabling the comment section. If your website starts getting lots of spam comments then we recommend you disable the comment section. There are lots of websites out there that have disabled the comment section. But remember if you disable the comment you won’t be able to get any comments, not even legitimate ones.

So depending on your website rank and the traffic you are getting you can decide whether you wish to make use of the plugin or disable the communication section in your WordPress website. If you don’t want your hands on the design and maintenance part then you can always reach out to an experienced wordpress web design company to help you maintain your wordpress website.  

4. Change your WordPress dashboard password

Changing the password and selecting the new one may not sound like a big point but most of the websites today ignore changing their dashboard password which makes your website open for hackers. When you select the password you should always use a strong password. 

Today most hackers have a common password dictionary using which they easily access the dashboard of different websites. If you don’t want your WordPress website to fall under the list then it’s always recommended to use a unique and strong password for your website.   

The password you select for your WordPress dashboard will act as the first defense against unauthorized access to your WordPress website. While you might be using a strong password for your website there are high chances that it can be compromised without you even knowing about it. 

That is the reason why we recommend you make changes to your password frequently. When you plan for WordPress website maintenance then along with plugin and theme updates you can also focus on updating your WordPress website password. 

Apart from changing the password of your admin dashboard, you can also focus on changing the password of the FTP or SSH account along with your WordPress database. You can make use of a long password or use different digits, number along with the combination of capital and small letters.  

5. Check all the forms on your website

The next thing we recommend you to look into during the WordPress website maintenance is the form inside your website.  No matter what type of website you are running there are high chances that you might have at least one form in your WordPress website. 

Some of the websites even make use of multiple forms in their website. Sometimes due to misconfiguration in the hoisting or the email service provider, the forms you create and offer may stop sending email to your new subscribers as well as your agent.

Due to these types of mistakes, your prospects might fail to get important information on their email or the welcome message which might result in a higher unsubscribe rate. TO avoid that it is always recommended to check the form to ensure that your subscribers are receiving very small detail through email. 

When you plan for the maintenance of your WordPress website you can go through every form in your website and make sure that each one of them is working properly. If any of the forms are not working then we recommend you get them resolved as soon as possible so that your subscribers don’t miss out on any important email. 

If you have hired a highly experienced WordPress website design company to maintain your website then you don’t have to worry about these types of issues as they will ensure that your website is working properly without any issues. 

6. Keeping your website healthy with updated security

When you plan to keep your website healthy then it will automatically keep hackers and intruders away from your website. Today most websites don’t realize that their website is under attack until their website slows down or the rank starts falling. Keeping a watch over your google webmaster tool and the analytical tool will help you to give a detailed idea about your website performance. By looking at your website metric you will be able to identify and avoid the problem before it even starts troubling you. 

In the above point, we have already highlighted some of the important points for better security like password changes, creating backups, and more. Apart from that you also need to take a look at your website metric to find the unusual activity happening on your WordPress website. If your website comes across any kind of problem then you will automatically start seeing things like site downtime, slow loading pages, and many more. By conducting the security audit you will ensure that your website does not come across any problem. 

Same as backup plugins WordPress offers you a bunch of popular WordPress security plugins which can be used to secure your WordPress website from unwanted issues. Sucuri and Wordfence are among the most popular and widely used security plugins. Using the plugin you can add a firewall to your website which will act as the extra layer of security and will ensure that your website is protected from unwanted malicious activities. 

If you are looking to know more about how you can secure your WordPress website then make sure to check our blog on 
WordPress Security Guide: 8 Tips To Secure WordPress Website In 2020
5 Best WordPress Security Plugins To Use In 2020

7. Optimize and maintain your database 

When it comes to WordPress website maintenance then one can never ignore the database as it plays a cruel role in storing the information of your website. If your website is getting a huge amount of traffic and you are continuously updating new content into your WordPress website then it’s essential to take care of your website database. The database of your WordPress website will contain all your website content along with comments, users, and more. 

By optimizing and maintaining your database you will eventually be cleaning all the unnecessary items in your database. These types of practices help WordPress websites to improve their website loading speed and also reduce the chances of database errors. Over time your database might gather a lot of unwanted information, by optimizing your website database you will ensure that it contains only the important information which you wish to be present on the website. 

You can make use of some of the popular WordPress plugins like WP DBManager, WP-Optimize, WP CleanUp, and more to clean your database. Making use of the WordPress database plugin will also help you to keep your website database up-to-date. So when you plan to focus on your WordPress website maintenance then make sure the WordPress database is present in your list. 

If you have hired a highly experienced WordPress website design company to help you maintain your website then you don’t have to worry about the database as it will ensure that your website database is ready and up to date. 

8. Run performance test

When it comes to identifying things that you need to consider while planning your website maintenance then its always recommended to run the test performance. The performance of your website plays a crucial role in deciding whether a user will convert after landing on your website or not. Apart from that it also helps in improving your website and business reputation in the competitive marketplace. That is the reason why it’s essential to run the performance test to identify how your website is performing among your prospects.  

Most WordPress website owners optimize their website performance in the initial stage but they tend to forget it in the future. If you are one among them then it’s essential to look at your website performance as it helps to get more traffic and conversion of your website. The reason why we are including performance tests in the maintenance list is that as time passes you tend to add new content to your WordPress website along with new plugins and sometimes even themes. All these can directly impact your website performance. 

The worst part is that you won’t be getting any instant notification that your website performance has been impacted. That is the reason why it’s essential to run the performance steering your website maintenance. A fast-loading website not only helps in offering a better user experience but also ensures that your web pages are able to rank on the top in the search engine result page. By going through a performance review you will be able to identify why your website is failing to load faster and how you can improve it. 

When you plan to run the performance test on your website then we recommend not limiting it to the homepage instead you can test multiple pages in your WordPress website for its effectiveness. Or you can also hire a highly experienced WordPress website design company that can help you to maintain your WordPress website.

9. Identify and fix 404 errors

When it comes to creating the wordpress website maintenance plan the most of the site owner focuses more toward backup and speed. But an effective wordpress website maintenance plan also includes identifying and fixing 404 errors. If you are running the wordpress website for a long time then you must be aware of the fact that a 404 error is one of the most common errors that occur on every website. These types of errors can impact the website’s ranking as well as reputation. That is the reason why we recommend you to include fixing 404 errors in your wordpress website maintenance plan. 

The main goal of website maintenance is to eliminate all the risks and improve the website performance so that you are able to offer an optimized user experience.  404 error is something that not only harms your website ranking but your site visitor might also feel frustrated if they find a 404 error message after clicking on the particular link or button. These types of error generally occur when users mistype the address or the host delete the particular page or make changes in the link. 

So if you’re deleting any pages on your website then it’s essential to fix those pages or redirect them to the right page so that your website user ex[perince doesn’t get impacted. If you did not include this in your wordpress website maintenance list then it’s recommended to add it as it will help you to engage your website user experience as well as ranking. 

10. Fix Broken links

The next thing we recommend you to look into is fixing the broken link in your web pages. Same as 404 error if your website contains too many broken links then it can directly harm your website ranking. If you are running a wordpress website for a long time then you must be aware of the fact that outbound links have become one of the essential ranking factors. Today google asks every website to add the outbound links. 

But as your website grows there are high chances that the external pages you have linked to the older content might get deleted. If that is the case then those links are considered as broken looks. Some of the pages that you have linked to might have changed their address, moved to a new location, or deleted the entire page. If your existing website contains too many broken links then it can give a negative indication to the search engine bots which can result in a lower ranking. 

The broken link problem is just not limited to the external links but there are high chances that your website might add broken images, misspell open links, and many more. These types of problems can harm your website ranking as well as user experience. To check the presence of the broken link in your wordpress website you can make use of the plugin because doing it manually can take up a lot of time and there are high chances that you might end up missing some of those. 

If you have hired an experienced wordpress website design company to maintain your website then you don’t have to worry about it as they will ensure that your website doesn’t come across any kind of issues and performs well in every aspect. 

11. Optimize the images on your website

Another thing that you can include in your wordpress website maintenance list is optimizing your website images. The images you add to your website enhance your website appearance but if not optimized well it can slow your website speed and impact your website user experience. Compared to your website text images take longer time to load and today if users are failing to access your website within 3 or 4 seconds then they may leave your website without performing the desired action. 

If you are running a multi-author website then you might be careful about uploading uncompressed images but others might not care about the images on your website. That is the reason why we recommend you to take a look at your website images during the maintenance of your wordpress website. You can make use of the image compression plugin to reduce the size of the images on your website. Reviewing the media images in your website will help you to stay on the top and eliminate all the problems that can harm your website speed and performance.

Conclusion

By now you might have a good idea about why you need to maintain your WordPress website and how much it costs to create a WordPress website. Remember when you plan to maintain your website on your own then you need to have a checklist that highlights things you need to go through while conducting the WordPress website Maintenance. Most of the small businesses are looking to maintain the WordPress website on their own because of the cost. However, if you are running an enterprise-level business then you can always take the help of the highly experienced WordPress website design company that can help you to design your website along with maintenance.