WordPress Routine Maintenance
Routine maintenance of a WordPress site is a process that involves the care, maintenance and updating of your website. This includes managing your WordPress site, protecting against hacker attacks, monitoring content, updating plugins and themes, troubleshooting technical issues, and taking care of website performance.
WordPress routine maintenance, summary
What is WordPress Routine Maintenance
WordPress is one of the most popular CMSs in the world. However, even WordPress sites require regular maintenance to function at their best. In this article, I will outline some of the best practices for maintaining WordPress web sites. From backups to database cleaning, we will focus on everything you need to keep your WordPress site healthy.
Backup
Website backup is an essential practice for any website owner. Backups are important because they protect your website from technical problems, hacker attacks, or human error. WordPress offers several backup options, including third-party plugins such as UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy. However, you can also back up manually via FTP or your hosting control panel.
Software updates
Software updates are important because they fix bugs and security vulnerabilities on your website. When WordPress releases a new version, you should update your website as soon as possible. This will help you keep your website safe and secure from attack. In addition, software updates can also improve the performance of your website.
Database cleaning
Database cleaning is another important practice for maintaining your WordPress site. Your website database can accumulate useless data, such as post revisions and spam comments. This unnecessary data can slow down your website and take up storage space. You can use third-party plugins such as WP-Optimize or Advanced Database Cleaner to clean up your database.
Image optimization
Images are important to the design of your website. However, unoptimized images can slow down your website. Be sure to use web-optimized images and reduce the size of images when necessary. You can use third-party plugins such as Smush or EWWW Image Optimizer to optimize images on your website.
security
Security is an important concern for any website owner. WordPress offers several security options, such as third-party security plugins or SSL. Also, be sure to use secure passwords and update your plugins and software regularly.
Why demand it?
Benefits of outsourcing routine maintenance of your WordPress website to a professional:
- Save time: Web site maintenance can take a lot of time and attention, especially if you are not an expert in the field. By outsourcing routine maintenance to a professional, you can focus on your core business and save valuable time.
- Specialized experience and knowledge: a professional or agency that specializes in maintenance services for websites on WordPress has the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure that your website functions properly and to resolve any technical problems.
- Constant updates: website maintenance requires constant updates of WordPress software, plugins and themes. A professional can take care of these updates in a timely manner, ensuring that your website is secure and compatible with the latest available technologies.
- Improved security: website maintenance also includes checking and protecting against any external threats, such as viruses or hackers. A professional can put the best security practices in place to prevent attacks and protect your website.
- Improved user experience: a well-maintained and updated website provides a better user experience, enhancing your brand reputation and increasing the chance of gaining new customers.
- Long-term cost savings: consistent and timely website maintenance can avoid higher costs in the future for troubleshooting more complex problems and repairing any damage caused by external attacks or technical problems.
- Customized service: a professional or specialized agency can provide customized service according to the specific needs of your website, ensuring maximum efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Outsourcing the routine maintenance of your WordPress website to a professional or specialized agency can offer numerous advantages and ensure the maximum efficiency and security of your website.
What is NOT included
Routine maintenance of a website on WordPress includes a number of activities necessary to ensure that the website is functioning properly, that content is up-to-date, and that it is secure. However, there are some activities that are not included in routine maintenance but are just as important for website management.
First, routine maintenance does not include solving complex technical problems. This means that if there are technical problems that require expert intervention, routine maintenance will not be sufficient to solve them. In such cases, you will need to seek professional or specialized technical support teams.
Second, routine maintenance does not cover advanced website customization. If you want to customize the design or functionality of your website in a more advanced way, you will need to use specific tools or plugins. This requires a deeper knowledge of WordPress and its architecture.
Third, routine maintenance does not include creating new content for the website. This means that if you want to add new content to your website, you will have to do it manually or use special tools for automation.
Finally, routine maintenance does not include website promotion and marketing. This means that if you want to increase your website traffic and its visibility on search engines, you will need to use digital marketing techniques and SEO.
In routine WordPress maintenance there are a number of activities necessary to ensure its proper functioning, but there are some activities that are not included in it. To manage a website effectively in the long run, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of WordPress and its functionality, as well as to be up-to-date with this world.
Costs
What are the Costs for annual WordPress maintenance?
Let me clarify right away: there are no fixed prices
The cost of maintaining a WordPress site depends on several factors. Some of the most important factors include:
- The type of website (e.g., a personal website or a business website)
- The number of pages and posts on the website
- The type of hosting services used
- The type of plugins and themes used
- The level of support required to maintain the website
Average annual prices for maintaining a website on WordPress in Italy can vary depending on different factors such as the size of the website, its complexity, the level of customization required, and the need for technical support services.
In general, basic website maintenance on WordPress for basic sites runs from 200 to 400 per year, this figure can increase for complex sites such as multilingual or e-commerce websites may be. In these cases the average is 500 to 1,500 euros per year.
If more advanced maintenance services are desired, such as feature customization, ongoing search engine optimization, content creation (blogs or landing pages), or ongoing technical support, the cost can increase significantly. In these cases, annual prices can range from 1,500 to 5,000 or more.
Prices can vary widely depending on the specific needs of each website and the rates of the professional or agency chosen to provide maintenance services.
In any case, investing in good website maintenance on WordPress is essential to ensure its proper functioning, security and visibility on search engines, as well as to provide a positive browsing experience for users.
FAQ
Conclusion
I hope with this article I have cleared your mind about WordPress routine maintenance.
You must have realized that this is especially important to ensure the reliability and effectiveness of your website in the long run. This is an annual (sometimes monthly or quarterly) investment that is agreed upon with the web designer and allows you to be worry-free on the security and performance front.
In my work experience I can tell you that clients who have underestimated this have come back after a few months or years desperate to fix compatibility issues, performance drop in ranking etc.. With all the consequences that can have putting back disasters or even worse redoing the site from scratch!
What I recommend to everyone is to hire an experienced web designer who knows where to put his or her hands and allows you to have more time to devote to your business.
If you need this kind of service contact me now.
