WordPress powers a huge share of business websites because it is flexible, and that flexibility comes with upkeep. Core software, themes and plugins all release updates on their own schedules, and a site that is left alone slowly becomes slower, less secure and more likely to break. This checklist sets out what to do each week, each month and each quarter.
Before you start: backups and access
Every maintenance session starts with a backup you know you can restore. Keep copies of both the files and the database, stored away from the web server. Make sure you have an administrator login, hosting control panel access and FTP or file manager access, so a failed update can be undone quickly.
Weekly WordPress maintenance tasks
- Take a backup and check the backup job actually completed.
- Apply plugin and theme updates, one at a time on busy sites, and reload the home page, a service page and the contact form after each one.
- Test your forms by sending a real enquiry and confirming it arrives.
- Check for new comments and spam, and approve or delete them.
- On WooCommerce stores, place a test order through to the payment step.
Monthly WordPress maintenance tasks
- Update WordPress core when a new release is out, after checking that your theme and key plugins support it.
- Remove plugins and themes you no longer use. Deactivated code can still be a security risk.
- Look for broken links and pages that return errors, and fix or redirect them.
- Review user accounts and remove anyone who no longer needs access.
- Check Google Search Console for new crawl errors, security issues and pages dropping out of the index.
- Test page speed on a phone, and compress any large images added during the month.
Quarterly WordPress maintenance tasks
- Restore a backup to a test copy to prove your backups work.
- Review content: prices, team pages, opening hours and anything that has changed in the business.
- Check the PHP version your host runs and plan an upgrade if it is out of support.
- Confirm your domain and SSL certificate are set to renew.
- Clean the database of old revisions, spam and expired temporary data.
When to hand WordPress maintenance to a team
If updates keep getting postponed, if your site sells online, or if nobody on your team is comfortable fixing a broken layout after an update, a maintenance plan is usually cheaper than the downtime. FMEOS includes CMS and WordPress support on its Pro plan ($149 a month billed annually), with weekly backups and up to 10 service requests a month. Premium ($590 a month billed annually) adds daily backups, WooCommerce and server support, and on-site SEO. See our WordPress maintenance packages, or read what a website maintenance plan includes.
