7 WordPress Website Maintenance Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Last Updated on July 15, 2022 by Sunny Staff

WordPress websites are amazing when they run at their fullest potential, which is why WordPress is so popular for organizations. However, there are some typical WordPress website maintenance mistakes that can make for a negative WordPress experience.

If you can avoid these mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to having a WordPress site that you and you’re users will love. Knowledge is power, friends, so without further ado, here are the details.

1. Working Live With No Backup

When designing business websites, a common mistake people make is that they want to work on the site, but they do not have a proper backup made before they start.

What happens if you make a mistake? What happens if something goes awry?

When you do not have a backup, you cannot restore things to where they were.

All too often, a business will hire a professional to do a brand-new redesign of their website, but they do so without a backup of the old one. What can be worse is when a professional is working on the current version and makes changes that cannot be reversed.

If you dislike the changes and there is no backup, there is nothing much you can do at this point. It is best to back up your website, but it is also good advice that you do not work on the live site when designing.

Backups are also critical in case of a security breach. If your site is hacked or infected with a virus, with a current backup, you can be up and running in no time.

2. Not Taking Proper WordPress Website Security Precautions

When your business hosts a website online, there will be vulnerabilities. It is crucial that you take your WordPress website security seriously. You do not want to leave your organization open to data breaches and cyberattacks.

While it hurts your bottom line in terms of downtime, it also can damage your brand reputation if customers feel your website is not safe. Customers want the comfort of knowing you take their personal and private information seriously, protecting them from hackers.

Not only that, but Google can also mark your website as unsafe, and your search results will suffer. A solid WordPress regular website maintenance service can help you with emerging threats and WordPress website updates.

3. Not Indexing Your Site

Keep in mind that designing business websites is never “really” over. You are likely to want to do some work after you launch it. If your site is a “work-in-progress,” you should turn off indexing until you’re ready to debut it to the world.

This will prevent Google from including your site as a part of search results and give you more time to experiment with it and do some testing without the customer seeing it. Unfortunately, a business or its designer may forget to turn indexing back on. If you forget to turn it on, you will miss out on organic traffic from Google.

This is a major problem for your search engine optimization efforts. If Google doesn’t index your site, you will be invisible in the Google search results.

To to turn off indexing, go to Settings, then Reading, and check to box “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.” To turn indexing back on, uncheck the box.

Noindex WordPress Site Checkbox

4. Not Running a Performance Check

A major blunder in regular website maintenance is forgetting to test the website’s performance. An essential element of conversion is speed and response time.

No one enjoys visiting a slow website. Your customers want to see that your pages load in two seconds or less. If you want to find out how well your site performs, check out our website performance test.

5. Neglecting WordPress Updates

A common practice for making proper WordPress website updates is ensuring that themes and plugins are always up to date. Likewise, the core software will need to be updated. This makes WordPress work as it should.

A tremendous mistake is not keeping WordPress updated. Security vulnerabilities can hide in non-updated features. Buggy plugins are a no-go, so roll them back and keep the site updated.

Otherwise, you will end up with an unsecured, slow, poorly optimized experience for your visitors, so make updates a priority.

6. Too Many Plugins

Plugins are great! They are what makes your site unique and user-friendly. But like with other products and services, too many bells and whistles can be a problem.

Plugins are software code, so when you have too many, there is an opportunity for hackers to attack, causing a data breach. Particularly if you have a plugin that is outdated or no longer supported.

They can also be resource intensive. Too many plugins and your site will be slow.

Plus, the more you have, the harder it is to keep track of them, and they are not always compatible with one another. What you want is a handful that are super useful for you and your visitors. Don’t install a plugin unless it is a feature your site can’t do without.

If you are looking for a figure, 10-20 plugins are typical, but this is only a suggestion. It really depends on your specific needs. Just remember only to install plugins that are essential for your site.

7. Using Poor Web Hosting

If you work with a good web hosting provider, you will avoid many common website maintenance mistakes. The wrong hosting provider can cause slower website loading times, lack of daily back-ups, weak security measures, and poor customer support.

Your website hosting provider can directly affect how your WordPress website runs. Choose a good provider with comprehensive management and support.

Avoid WordPress Website Maintenance Mistakes With Sunny HQ

Sunny HQ provides 100% turnkey WordPress hosting, support, and management. We are your one-stop shop for all things WordPress.

If you want to get back to running your business and not your website, contact us today!