Maintaining a website is crucial for ensuring smooth performance, security, and user experience. Regular maintenance prevents technical issues, enhances SEO, and keeps visitors engaged. Below is a comprehensive website maintenance checklist covering weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks.
Website Maintenance Checklist
Use this list monthly or quarterly to keep your website secure, fast, and fully functional—just like a well-run business should be.
Security: Protect Your Site and Your Users
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Back up your site (files + database) regularly
Why? A bakery’s WordPress site crashed after a plugin update. Thanks to daily backups, they restored it within 30 minutes. -
Store backups in a secure off-site location (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, AWS)
Why? One business had server issues and corrupted backups—off-site storage saved them. -
Update your CMS, themes, and plugins
Why? A local real estate company didn’t update a plugin for months, only to find their site infected through a known vulnerability. -
Run a malware scan using tools like Wordfence, Sucuri, or your host’s built-in scanner
Why? An e-commerce site unknowingly had hidden spam links on their checkout page—costing them sales.
Performance: Keep It Fast and Reliable
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Use tools like GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights to identify slow-loading issues
Why? A photographer’s portfolio site lost inquiries due to oversized images slowing down the gallery. -
Compress large images and remove unused scripts or plugins
Why? A wellness blog shaved 3 seconds off page load time just by optimizing header images and removing a social share plugin. -
Monitor uptime with UptimeRobot or Pingdom
Why? An online coaching site lost signups during a 2-hour outage—they only found out after a client emailed them. -
Run load testing before a major launch or promotion
Why? A local artist’s site crashed on the day of a new product drop—load testing could’ve revealed the issue in advance.
Content: Keep It Accurate and Fresh
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Review and update key pages (About, Services, Contact, Product details)
Why? A plumbing company had outdated pricing and service areas listed—confusing potential customers. -
Remove expired events, promos, or news items
Why? A nonprofit accidentally left a fundraiser from 2022 live—leading to awkward donor calls. -
Check for broken links using Broken Link Checker or Screaming Frog
Why? A marketing firm had dozens of broken outbound links hurting their SEO and credibility. -
Audit old blog posts quarterly—refresh, merge, or remove as needed
Why? A lifestyle blogger doubled their traffic after pruning outdated, low-performing posts and updating top ones.
Functionality: Make Sure Everything Works
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Test all website forms (contact, sign-up, checkout)
Why? A law firm discovered their contact form stopped working after a recent theme update—costing them leads. -
Check buttons and navigation across your site
Why? A boutique’s mobile nav menu wasn’t working on Safari—users couldn’t browse products. -
Test your site on desktop, tablet, and mobile
Why? An event company found their registration page looked fine on desktop but cut off crucial info on mobile. -
Verify compatibility in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge
Why? A photographer’s custom image slider worked in Chrome but was broken in Firefox, frustrating half their audience.
Analytics & Monitoring: Learn from User Behavior
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Review Google Analytics: traffic, bounce rate, and top pages
Why? A clothing brand realized their blog got more traffic than their home page—they moved promotions to their blog sidebar and saw an uptick in sales. -
Monitor for unusual traffic spikes or drops
Why? A sudden drop led a blogger to discover their site had been blacklisted due to a hidden malware script. -
Check security logs for suspicious activity (e.g., failed login attempts)
Why? A membership site found hundreds of bot login attempts—adding 2FA stopped them cold.
Legal & Compliance: Stay Aligned with the Rules
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Review your Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for updates
Why? A business that added an email signup forgot to mention data use in their policy—prompting a user complaint under GDPR. -
Ensure your site meets accessibility standards (using WAVE or Axe)
Why? A public school had to make updates after feedback that screen readers couldn’t access course descriptions. -
Add alt text for all new images
Why? A food blog improved SEO and accessibility rankings just by adding descriptive alt text to recipe photos. -
Check contrast ratios and font sizes for readability
Why? A law firm’s dark blue text on a black background made it unreadable for older visitors—hurting trust.
Struggling to Keep Up with Website Maintenance?
Managing your website’s upkeep can feel overwhelming—but you don’t have to do it alone! At Content Raft Services, we offer expert website maintenance services in UAE to keep your site running smoothly and delivering an exceptional user experience.
Let our team handle the updates, security, and performance optimization while you focus on growing your business. Get in touch today!
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