10 tips to maintain your WordPress website

1. Keep your WordPress software and plugins up to date

One of the most important things you can do to maintain your WordPress site is to keep the software and plugins up to date. As per WordPress, there are a lot of benefits of updating wordpress theme regularly. WordPress releases updates regularly to fix bugs and improve security, so it’s important to install these updates as soon as they become available. You can do this easily from your WordPress dashboard. Additionally, you should also keep your plugins up to date, as these can also have security vulnerabilities and bug fixes.

2. Use strong passwords and keep them secure

The security of your WordPress site is only as strong as the passwords you use to access it. To keep your site secure, use strong passwords that are difficult to guess or crack. Additionally, you should also change your passwords regularly to prevent unauthorized access. To ensure that your passwords are secure, you should use a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols, and never reuse the same password for multiple accounts.

3. Make regular backups

Making regular backups of your WordPress site is essential to ensure that you can restore your site quickly and easily if anything goes wrong. There are several backup plugins available for WordPress, such as UpdraftPlus and BackupBuddy, that can automate the backup process and store your backups in the cloud. You should aim to make backups at least once a week and store them securely off-site in case of a disaster.

4. Keep your theme and custom code updated

Just like your WordPress software and plugins, it’s important to keep your theme and custom code up to date. This will help ensure that your site is compatible with the latest version of WordPress and any other plugins you are using. If you’re using a custom theme, you should also make sure that it’s regularly updated and that you have a backup of the original code.

5. Optimise your images

Large, unoptimized images can slow down your WordPress site and negatively impact your visitor’s experience. To optimize your images, you should compress them using an image optimization plugin like WP Smush or TinyPNG. This will help reduce the file size of your images without sacrificing quality, resulting in a faster-loading site.

6. Use a security plugin

One of the best ways to keep your WordPress site secure is to use a security plugin. There are several security plugins available for WordPress, including Wordfence and iThemes Security, that can help you protect your site from malicious attacks, such as hacking and spam. These plugins can scan your site for security vulnerabilities and help you harden your site’s security to prevent unauthorized access.

7. Monitor your site’s performance

Monitoring your site’s performance is important to ensure that it’s running smoothly and that there are no issues that need to be addressed. There are several plugins available, such as Jetpack and Google Analytics, that can help you monitor your site’s performance and provide you with important information, such as traffic statistics and load times.

8. Regularly check for broken links

Broken links can be frustrating for your visitors and can negatively impact your site’s SEO. To prevent broken links, you should regularly check for broken links and fix them as soon as possible. There are several plugins available for WordPress, such as Broken Link Checker, that can automate the process of checking for broken links and notify you when a link is broken.

9. Regularly clean up your database