Keeping your WordPress website running smooth will be a simple task when you use these easy maintenance tips. Hey blog fam in this post we cover blog maintenance.
Keeping your site running at optimal levels is your goal and will require some work on your part.
There are so many examples I can use to illustrate the importance of keeping a regular maintenance routine.
Like the owner of an old school classic car. It may look good on the outside. Nice paint, really shiny wheels, or even a bangin’ sound system, however the most important thing to that owner would be the maintenance of the vehicle.
Keeping that classic car in pristine running condition is where all the value is.
When it comes to your WordPress website it should be running at optimal levels at all times. This is where the value is.
Imagine if you just posted some great content and didn’t realize it wasn’t being seen because your website is supper slow, or the pages lag.
Not checking the status of your websites performance can be detrimental to your content. There are 3 options for you here to choose from.
Easy Maintenance Tips to Perform on Your WordPress Website
You can check with your web host to see if they have a full service they offer.
Cconsider hiring a web developer to over see your website and all it’s functions.
Use this post as a guide and learn what needs to be monitored and create your own checklist of tasks to complete on your website.
6 easy maintenance tips you can perform today
Backups
So this one task out of all of them is super super important. Some owners of website’s are not developers or even understand coding.
WordPress is a platform that can be learned and used even if you have no coding skills.
Saying all that, once I was doing some work on one of my websites and I installed this great plugin that was supposed to do whatever better than all other plugins.
After activating the plugin it immediately crashed my website. I was horrified.
My website displayed code when you typed in my URL. Long story short, I was able to get on a call with my web host and they got my website back online.
Fortunately I had just done a backup in the previous 24 hours so I was able to restore 95% of my website.
I only lost my most recent post. Imagine if I didn’t have a backup at all? So I’m sure you get the point
Related Reading: Automatically Backup Your WordPress Website
Check for Broken Links
This is one that you may overlook. When you have broken links this can affect your SEO.
Broken links are bad for user experience. You can use a plugin called Broken Link Checker to discover broken links.
These broken links will send your visitors to 404 error page. This usually means a lost visitor. One way To fix this is with a plugin called Velvet Blues.
This is a simple plugin that will update an old URL to a new URL you choose.
Update Plugins
Keeping your plugins up to date is critical. One of the major ways hackers gain access to your website is through plugin vulnerabilities.
Not updating plugins can prove to be disastrous. When you see notifications in your WordPress dashboard you should review the suggested update then complete the update.
Related Reading: The Best WordPress Plugins for Bloggers
Clear Post Revisions
I write posts and often go back in and make changes. A few major changes here and there but mostly small changes.
Every time we go into a post to make a change, or do some editing WordPress is making a new copy of our work (revision).
Then WordPress is storing each previous version in our database. This can become a pretty large file in our database depending on how many revisions (changes) you make on a post.
To keep your database clean you can use the WP Optimize plugin. This plugin has several uses and this is one of my favorites.
It offers a super simple process to clear out old post revisions.
Clear Your Database
Similarly when you add plugins or make changes on your website you are adding more to the database. There is potential for for your database to become cluttered with files.
This can cause your website to begin running slower. The WP Optimize plugin is useful in this situation again with it’s options to clean your database.
Clear Page Revisions
Your WordPress database can hold tons of info. Whenever you delete a plugin or even a page you end up with dead space.
This dead space (not the official term) becomes clutter in your database as it is not completely removed from the database.
To have this space removed from your database use a plugin such as WP Optimize to complete this task.
In conclusion
These easy maintenance tips are basic and if performed on a regular basis can keep your WordPress website running smoothly.
If you are interested in learning more about WordPress website speed tips check out the link below.
Related Reading: Best Way to Optimize A Website
Now over to you
I’m curious? What are some security options you use to protect your WordPress website? Join the conversation Leave comments below.
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6 Responses
Is WP Optimize easy to use? I have trouble understanding some of the plugins. They say they are for beginners, but once you get in there, it’s not so much.
Yes very user friendly
I never thought to clear my page and post revisions. I have a service that is supposed to keep my site maintained and I wonder if it’s doing that? Off to look now. Great post!
Yes the small things that can add up..
Very interesting lots of new things for me to look at.
Thanks for reading Elaine