Website Maintenance Checklist: What to Check Every Month

Websites rarely break all at once. They drift: a plugin goes out of date, a form stops sending, a page slows down. A simple routine catches these problems early.

Every month

• Back up files and database, and store a copy off the server.
• Update CMS core, themes and plugins, test on staging first if possible.
• Test every form and confirm the notification email arrives (and isn’t in spam).
• Check uptime and errors in your monitoring tool and hosting logs.
• Review Google Search Console for indexing issues and crawl errors.
• Test on a phone: homepage, a service page and the contact page.

Every quarter

• Run a speed test and review Core Web Vitals.
• Check for broken links and outdated content.
• Review user accounts and remove anyone who no longer needs access.
• Test restoring a backup, a backup you can’t restore isn’t a backup.
• Review analytics: top pages, sources and conversions.

Every year

• Renew domain and SSL (or confirm auto-renewal).
• Review hosting plan, performance and cost.
• Update your privacy policy and legal pages.
• Refresh key pages: services, pricing, team, portfolio.
• Review whether the site still fits your business goals.

Signs you need help

If updates regularly break things, the site has been hacked, or nobody on your team has time to do this, a maintenance plan is usually cheaper than emergency repairs. For WordPress sites with persistent issues, a clean rebuild may be the better long-term fix.

Talk to us about looking after your website.