Spring is here, which means it’s time for a deep clean. Many of us will clean our homes and offices and tidy our computers and other electronic gadgets over the next few days.
But why should we stop there? Along with cleaning up your home, you should also spend some time cleaning up your WordPress website and removing any digital dust bunnies.
Please continue reading for WordPress website maintenance suggestions to help you spring-clean your site and get it in tip-top shape for the coming months.
Backup WordPress daily
Make sure your site has a backup solution as one of the first things you should do. Backing up your site regularly is the most excellent method to safeguard against hackers… and human mistakes.
You can use backup tools for daily WordPress backups, and the backups will be stored offsite so that you can retrieve them promptly, even if your hosting goes down. Whatever happens, you’ll never have to worry about losing access to your files.
Remove any media files that are no longer in use.
If you’ve been blogging for a long, you’ve most likely posted several photographs or other media assets that you intended to utilize but never did. Now is a great moment to browse through your WordPress Media Library and delete any files that aren’t related to your posts or pages.
If your host has a storage limit, this will free up disc space. It also aids in the organization of your files, allowing you to search for and locate a specific file quickly.
Delete any themes or plugins that are no longer in use.
New themes and plugins take up valuable disc space and can be a security risk. Hackers can insert dangerous scripts and obtain access to your site by using out-of-date, insecure code.
Spend a few minutes uninstalling any plugins or themes you haven’t used. You may always re-download them if you need them later!
Rethink your SEO strategy
Even though WordPress provides SEO tools right out of the box, it can’t hurt to improve your sites, posts, and pages to improve their search engine rankings.
Use Jetpak’s SEO features to customize how your page titles appear, write a front-page description, and verify your site with Google, Bing, Pinterest, and other services.
Look for any broken links.
It’s common for you to delete a page or a post from your website and then forget that you linked to it elsewhere. It’s also not uncommon to learn that a website or blog you linked to has vanished.
These minor adjustments result in 404 error pages, harming your reputation and negatively impacting your users’ experiences. Visitors who encounter a 404 error page may leave your site searching for a working link. Run your site through tools like this Broken Link Checker while spring cleaning. You’ll also see if any external links are still functional.
Remove the link or locate another source to link to in your article if a source you referenced is no longer available. This will ensure that your guests are satisfied and that everything runs well.
Check to see if your website is mobile-friendly.
It’s no longer a luxury to have a responsive, mobile-friendly website: it’s a need.
If you’re confident that your site is mobile-friendly, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool to acquire an “official” grade. If you get a terrible response, the best thing you can do is choose a responsive WordPress theme.
You may always use a third-party app to build a small-screen-friendly version of your website if you can’t find a theme you like or if your current theme requires specific work to be truly mobile-friendly. It merely requires a single click – no programming is required!
Spam protection for your website.
The daily battle against spam is one of the drawbacks of blogging and owning a website. If you’ve been manually dealing with spam, it’s time to relieve some burdens by ending spam comments.
Start by adjusting your site’s discussion settings. This way, you may review comments before they appear on your site, ensuring that any spam comments are hidden from view.
Upgrading to any paid WordPress tools plan will automatically filter comments, pingbacks, and contact form submissions for known instances of spam is the next step toward eliminating spam.
Analyze your data.
Regularly reviewing your analytics will give you much information about how your site works. So while removing those pesky dust bunnies, take a peek at your analytics to see which posts are performing well, how people are finding you, and which days of the week get the most traffic.
This brief review can assist you in creating new material that is comparable to your best-performing posts and hence more likely to attract new readers. You can also find out whether there are any content gaps and possibly streamline your publishing plan.
Examine your content.
Spend time analyzing your existing content during your spring cleaning session, particularly the popular posts you uncovered during your analytics evaluation.
Consider repurposing previously successful material or developing additional content on the same topics. Simultaneously, examine earlier pieces that aren’t performing well and devise a strategy for upgrading them with new content that will appeal to your readers.
Revive old posts with new traffic.
Looking through your archives, you can see old entries that are still relevant today. You may give them a new lease on life by using Publicize to schedule a few social media shares.
Spring cleaning your website is a great way to freshen things up!
Website cleaning is essential for keeping your site secure and up to date. You can give your website a good spring clean by following the website maintenance suggestions above, and it will serve you and your visitors even better.
