Introduction.
WordPress maintenance is a process which all businesses should implement to not only provide WordPress security but also WordPress performance. Carrying out these tasks on a frequent basis can prevent security risks, speed issues as well as preventing poor search engine results.
With that in mind, we’ve listed some key points why WordPress maintenance is important for your business.
Updating WordPress.
WordPress is a free, open-source content management system. It’s one of the most popular in the world, which arguably makes this the most important piece to your WordPress maintenance process.
Updates are released regularly, usually twice a month and need to be installed frequently to ensure any newly discovered security holes are patched. Further to this, it also applies bug fixes, enhanced features as well as other improvements.
Updating Plugins.
Whilst WordPress updates are the fundamental part of the process, second to this are plugins. Plugins can play an important part to your website but, like WordPress, they also come with regular updates to ensure security issues are patched and prevent breaches to your site. It is vital to update plugins to ensure they are compatible with the new versions of WordPress. Therefore, the two should be updated simultaneously.
According to an article by WordFence, a whopping 55.9% of vulnerabilities relate to WordPress plugins, this is why it is extremely important to keep them up to date frequently.
Whilst carrying out Website Design, minimal plugin use is a good idea to ensure there is less reliability on third party coders to fix patches. This is the main reason why with our Website Design and Development service, we minimise the plugins we use and code features directly into your template.
Assessing Plugins on a frequent basis is also key to ensuring your website is safe. If your site is utilising a plugin which is extremely outdated, this may be an invitation to malicious attempts to breach your site.
Reviewing WordPress Security & Malware Scans.
WordPress Maintenance doesn’t just cover updates, reviewing logs can also be an effective way of keeping your site safe and secure. Assessing logs should be carried out on a frequent basis to assess any potential vulnerabilities in your site.
Scanning for Malware is also an important aspect of security and should be carried out on a frequent basis to ensure no door is left open!
Improving and maintaining website speed.
Sluggish website performance can be caused by not maintaining your WordPress site frequently. This may also cause a negative effect on your Search Engine Results. Further to this, it can also reduce user satisfaction, lower conversions, and even undermine your reputation to your customers.
With the web being more mobile each year, mobile devices are more important than ever. With a slow website, there’s a 32% increase of a mobile customer leaving if the page load time goes from just 1 to 3 seconds!
Updating with a staging site.
Whilst it is possible to update on a live site, updating your site on a “staging site” is a lot safer. A staging site is a clone of your current website in a test environment. This is separate from your live website.
Carrying out WordPress maintenance in a staging site allows website updates to be tested before going live, this is often done to prevent downtime or disruption to your live site, potentially interrupting prospective customers!
Conclusion.
Whilst all of these are valid maintenance points to carry out on a monthly basis, there are many more! Head over to our WordPress Maintenance page to view the different packages we offer and what they consist of. Any questions? We’d be more than happy to answer them, get in touch!
If you found this blog post useful, why not share it? We’d appreciate it!
