Website Maintenance Checklist

January 12, 2015 — Simon Kelly

Implementing a proper maintenance schedule ensures your site will continue to work for your as one of your most valuable marketing tools. We’ve developed a checklist of tasks to keep your site working great for website visitors and to keep you ahead of the competition.

Before you begin:

Install Google Analytics
Sign up for Google Webmaster Tools and confirm your site
Set up a backup service and set daily database backups and at least weekly full site backups. Store these on a separate web server. For backup services we recommend BackupBuddy and for remote server’s we recommend Amazon S3 (or Dropbox or Google Drive).
Use a third-party SMTP service to send emails from your web server. We recommend Mandrill or Sendgrid.
Monitor website security with automatic scanning. We highly recommend Sucuri.
Monitor website uptime. We recommend Uptime Robot and Pingdom Tools.

Weekly Website Checks

All pages on the front end of the website are loading without errors
Backups are performed daily and stored off site
Update Content Management System software and plugins
Check all forms to ensure they are working properly
Review and resolve any issues with emails sent from the web server
Check and remove spam comments, form submissions and user accounts
Check for any broken links
Check for 404 errors and resolve these by fixing links or redirecting
Marketing: write one blog post and share it with your networks

Monthly Website Checks

Check website loading speed. If more than 3 seconds then consult with your web developer to improve speed
Review security scans and resolve any issues
Review website statistics. What is your most popular content? What is your least popular? Where are visitors coming from? What is your best conversion source? Tweak your content to suit
Review your local search visibility
Marketing: send an update to your email list

Quarterly Website Checks

Review website – what could be improved?
Web Graphics and photos – are these up to date? Could they be improved to be more current?
Check your website content – what is dated and what could be improved?
Review and tweak meta title and meta description tags
Test and tweak forms and automated messages to improve conversion rates. Ensure this automatically integrates with your CRM and email marketing system
Improve automation: What tasks do you have to perform regularly? Could these be automated?
Test the website to ensure that it looks and displays properly on the most popular browsers and mobile devices
Validate your site. (CSS/HTML, Accessibility, Mobile-friendly)
Review and adjust website advertising campaigns
Check backup health by restoring the most recent backup to a separate web server
Check the uptime logs. If uptime is less than 99.9% then consult with web host. Consider alternative web host if they can’t provide a solution

Yearly Website Checks

Update the copyright date in your website footer and in any other references
Review each page of the site for content accuracy
Renew your website domains name(s)
Review your website strategy to align with your business goals
Consider updating the website design

Need some help?

We can save you time and keep your website running smoothly for your customers. Get in touch with us to learn more.

Share this article:

Author

Simon Kelly

Simon started his first web agency in 2009 which he merged with the SGD team in 2023. With a strong background in digital strategy and a history of working with fast-growing Australian companies, including CyberCX, Envato and Agency Mavericks, he's passionate about using ethical digital marketing that delivers business value. Simon's experience includes coaching digital agencies, running digital marketing workshops, driving growth and excellence within the SGD team.