⚡ Maintenance Basics
- Create backup (weekly)
- Install updates (monthly)
- Security scan (monthly)
- Check performance (quarterly)
Why Regular Maintenance Matters
A WordPress website is like a car: Without regular maintenance, performance degrades, security vulnerabilities appear, and eventually nothing works. With a structured maintenance routine, you avoid 90% of all WordPress problems.
What happens without maintenance?
- Security vulnerabilities: Outdated plugins are gateways for hackers
- Slow loading times: Database junk slows the site
- Compatibility issues: Old PHP version, plugin conflicts
- Data loss: Without backup, everything is gone in an emergency
Weekly Tasks (15 Minutes)
1. Create Backup
Even with automatic backups: Check weekly that they work!
- Check UpdraftPlus backup log
- Files present in cloud storage?
- Once per month: Test restore
2. Delete Spam Comments
Comments → Spam → Delete all marked as spam
3. Quick Function Test
- Homepage loads correctly
- Contact form works
- For WooCommerce: Test checkout
Monthly Tasks (1 Hour)
1. Install Updates
Order: Plugins → Theme → WordPress Core
⚠️
Before updates: Backup!
Always create a fresh backup before installing updates.
2. Security Scan
- Run Wordfence or Sucuri scan
- Check unknown admin users
- Review login attempts
3. Optimize Database
- WP-Optimize: Delete revisions
- Clean up transients
- Optimize tables
Quarterly Tasks (2-3 Hours)
1. Performance Audit
- Test Google PageSpeed Insights
- Create GTmetrix report
- Compare load times with previous quarter
2. SEO Check
- Check rankings for important keywords
- Fix Google Search Console errors
- Plan new content
3. Plugin Audit
- Delete unused plugins (don't just deactivate!)
- Find alternatives for slow plugins
- Check plugin ratings (still maintained?)
Maintenance Tools
- ManageWP: Manage multiple WordPress sites centrally
- MainWP: Self-hosted alternative
- WP Umbrella: Monitoring and backups
- UpdraftPlus: Automatic backups
- Wordfence: Security