WordPress Maintenance Matters

Just like regular oil changes for your car, WordPress maintenance is critical to protect your investment in your website.

Your website is a living, breathing thing. As you add content and new features, it changes and grows. Because of this, it must regularly be reviewed to ensure it is not only safe and secure but also keeping up with the latest technological advances. Devices, browsers, search engine rules, social media integrations are always evolving, and there are a wealth of other influences on your website’s value to you and your business.

Code Updates

Because WordPress is Open Source, anyone can extend the code via plugins. However, because of continual improvements, you can’t just download plugins once and forget about them.

Neglecting to keep your WordPress plugins up to date can lead to errors that will bring down your website, as well as open it up to security vulnerabilities.

Of course, WordPress itself needs to be updated periodically to stay up to date with the latest advances and newest features available. Again, this is also an important way to keep your website safe and secure.

Content Analysis

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You must assess your content for SEO improvements regularly. As your collection of pages and posts grows, it is common to miss minor SEO-boosting practices. Over time, this leads to many missed opportunities to boost your Page Rank in Google.

This is why you need to regularly assess your SEO techniques. You must ensure that your content consistently follows good SEO practices. Typically, you can do this through online assessment tools, but also through plugins, like Yoast SEO.

Accessibility (ADA Compliance)

ADA Compliance and Accessibility issues arise as your content expands. Generally, this is in the form of images and links that do not conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act. These images and links require special attributes that easily get missed. Periodically, you must review your content to ensure all of these elements are in compliance.

Reporting Insights

My maintenance work always includes giving you reports showing you how your site is doing on several fronts:

• Analytics that show visitors use your website
• PageSpeed reports that show how quickly your pages load
• SEO issues report
• Click Heatmaps
• and much more!

Expert Recommendations

Of course, these reports mean nothing if they aren’t actionable. Each time you receive reports, you will also receive recommendations on specific next steps to optimize and improve your website.

Making WordPress Maintenance Happen

Maintenance is important. Don’t let it go, and if you need a hand with doing these things regularly, I can help. Just reach out.