Your 20-minute monthly maintenance routine

Your 20-minute monthly maintenance routine

Websites need a light tidy, like a car needs oil. Put one reminder in your calendar and run this list.

1. Confirm a backup exists from this month and is saved off your site.
2. Run updates (plugins, theme, WordPress) using the safe one-at-a-time routine.
3. Delete plugins and themes you no longer use. Unused ones are still doors that can be picked.
4. Empty your spam comments and the trash.
5. Click your own site like a visitor: homepage, contact form, a recent post.
6. Check your inbox for any "update available" or security emails from your host.

Twenty minimal minutes prevents the all-day emergencies.

In plain words: a short monthly tidy, back up, update, prune, test, keeps small problems from ever becoming big ones.