Protecting Your Website Ass(ets) + Website Maintenance Suggestions

When you’re trying to scale, run your business, and provide a premium service for your clients, taking care of your website can sometimes be an afterthought. Tip o’ the day: Don’t wait until something happens before you are forced to think about it.

I speak from the heart when I say I’ve seen some horror stories that could have been avoided.

Website horror stories:

If you like a good spine chiller, grab the popcorn. Here’s a sampling of things that happened to some nice people (before they opted for premium website support, of course):

• Forgot to pay for their domain name renewal, oops!
• Didn’t renew their hosting (and they didn’t have backups).
• Got hacked and didn’t know it and because they were infected with malware, Google blacklisted them.
• Their web host decided to move sites around on their servers or their servers crashed (and no backups).
• Their former web designer was paying for their hosting, then went out of business and quit paying…didn’t tell their client.
• The person who built their website had all of the form notification going to them (instead of my client) and they had added code to tell Google to ignore and not index. 😱

Sidenote: I encourage you to know what’s happening and who to call. Read 10 Basic Essentials All Website Owners Should Know.

Your hard work is too valuable to lose.

WordPress website health and care (my favorite soapbox topic) is something I love helping my clients with by making sure their websites are safe, optimized, backed up, and performing at their best!

Just like proper maintenance to your home or car, it’s crucial you routinely care for your website. Without regular, monthly care like backing up, updating your plugins, and having strong security, you can expect things to break, and you may as well roll out the welcome mat to invite hackers to move right in. 

To keep your site purring like a kitten, use the list below as a guide to help you avoid making someone’s website horror story list.

Website Maintenance Suggestions

Here are some suggestions for common tasks to look after and when, along with some other regular site-related tasks to help your site do it’s job:

Daily

• Website (full) & Database Backups
• Security Monitoring
• Uptime Monitoring

Weekly

• Plugin / Theme / WordPress Updates (can also be done monthly if no major update or security patch released)
  • TIP 1: Always backup before updating software.
  • TIP 2: If there is a critical update, WordPress will auto-update. Otherwise, it’s best to wait a bit before updating to let themes and plugins catch up (to make sure they are compatible with the new version) or to work out any bugs.
• Malware Scans
• Visual Inspection (especially after plugin, theme, or WordPress updates)
• Check and Fix Broken Links

Monthly

• Copy/Download Form Entries
• Check and Delete Spam Comments or Spam Form Entries
• Check Form Notifications Delivery (ensure SMTP is working properly)
• Test Load Time (Site Speed/Optimization)
• Check for Search Console Errors/Issues
• Monitor Analytic Traffic and/or Check Visitor Page Journey (i.e. Mouseflow, Crazy Egg Heat Map)

Semi-Annually/Annually

• Review Content for Updates
• Delete Unused Themes (that may have been added by a WordPress update – It’s ok to keep 1 extra for troubleshooting purposes)
• Ensure Forms and Opt-in Are Working Properly
• Renew Hosting, Domain, & Licenses
• Update Copyright in Footer at New Year

Make protecting your ass(ets) a no-brainer.

You should be able to focus on the future with confidence, not worrying if your website will actually work when called upon. Get peace of mind knowing that you biz marketing machine is taken care of and in the hands of someone that cares about you and your success.

It’s easy with this signature service. If your online home needs some TLC or a spa day, I would love to help you take this worry off your hands. Think of me as your website phone-a-friend and the expert in your corner – I’ve got you.

Get yourself squared away with a Fast & Fab VIP Day or ongoing Care & Maintenance + Hosting.

Want to learn more?

Evaluate your website’s strength and conversion power by using this simple, but comprehensive checklist to help you identify where improvements are needed and help your site work to its full potential!

In the guide, you’ll get tips on the 4 essentials: STRATEGY, STYLE, SPEED, and SEO

Grab the checklist:
4 Essential Elements For A Website That Converts

Use this website audit checklist to assess your site's conversion power and find out if it checks all the boxes

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