Maintenance
Drawing up a WordPress maintenance plan: complete checklist
16 October 2024 · 6 min read
A professional maintenance plan is the basis of a healthy WordPress website. Without a plan, tasks are forgotten, backlogs arise and you take unnecessary risks. In this article we give a complete checklist for drawing up a maintenance plan.
At WP Maintainer we work with standardised maintenance plans for all our clients. This article is based on our 20+ years of experience.
Daily tasks
These tasks are performed automatically: - **Uptime monitoring** — check whether the website is online - **Security monitoring** — detection of suspicious activity - **Backup check** — verification that backups are successful - **SSL monitoring** — check whether the certificate is valid
Weekly tasks
- **Check updates** — WordPress, plugins, themes - **Visual check** — does the website still work correctly? - **Test forms** — contact form, order form - **Check performance** — loading time, Core Web Vitals - **Security scans** — perform malware scan
Monthly tasks
- **Perform updates** on staging, then live - **Database optimisation** — clean up and defragment - **Check images** — are new images optimised? - **Content check** — dead links, outdated information - **Analytics review** — traffic, conversions, search terms - **Reporting** — maintenance report to stakeholders
Quarterly
- **Security audit** — complete scan and review - **User rights** — who still needs access? - **Plugin audit** — which plugins are still needed? - **Theme review** — is the theme still up to date? - **Backup restore test** — does the restore procedure work? - **Strategy review** — do the goals and plans still fit?
Yearly
- **Full SEO audit** — technical and content - **Review access rights** — change passwords - **Hosting review** — does the package still fit the website? - **Evaluate emergency plan** — is the recovery plan still current? - **Compliance check** — do you comply with legislation?
Automation
Many tasks can be automated: - Backups (daily, automated) - Security scans (weekly, via plugin) - Uptime monitoring (continuous, via tool) - Updates (minor core updates, automatic)
Reporting
A good maintenance plan includes reporting: - **Weekly:** Uptime and incidents - **Monthly:** Tasks performed, performance, recommendations - **Quarterly:** Trends, risks, strategic recommendations - **Yearly:** Annual overview, plans for the coming year
WP Maintainer maintenance plans
Our maintenance plans are based on this professional maintenance plan. You receive monthly reporting, proactive monitoring and a fixed contact person. We ensure your website is always in top condition.