WordPress Maintenance Checklist: What to Do Weekly, Monthly and Yearly
WordPress sites rarely break on launch day. They break months later, when an update is skipped, a backup stops running or a plugin becomes vulnerable. A simple routine prevents most of these problems. Here is the WordPress maintenance checklist we recommend, split by how often each task should happen.
Weekly tasks
Check that the site is up and forms work
Visit your site on desktop and phone, submit your contact form and confirm the notification arrives. If emails go missing, read our email deliverability guide.
Apply updates
Update WordPress core, your theme and your plugins. Outdated plugins are one of the most common ways sites get compromised. For important sites, test updates on a staging copy first, then apply them to the live site.
Confirm backups ran
Check that your automated backup completed and is stored away from your server. A backup you have never checked is a guess, not a safety net. See website backup strategies for what a good setup looks like.
Clear spam and review comments or form entries
Remove spam so it does not pile up in your database or hide real enquiries.
Monthly tasks
Review security
Check user accounts and remove ones that are no longer needed, confirm strong passwords and review any security plugin alerts. Our WordPress security hardening guide lists the controls worth having.
Remove unused plugins and themes
Deactivated plugins can still be attacked. If you do not use it, delete it.
Test your restore process
At least occasionally, restore a backup to a test environment to confirm it works.
Measure speed
Run a speed test and watch TTFB, Largest Contentful Paint and Cumulative Layout Shift. If they are getting worse, work through the 7 fixes for a slow WordPress site.
Check for broken links and errors
Fix broken links and review your Search Console report for crawl or indexing problems.
Yearly tasks
Review your hosting
Check your PHP version, server resources and whether your hosting still fits the size of your site.
Audit plugins and content
Replace abandoned plugins, update outdated pages and make sure contact details and legal pages are current.
Renew domain and SSL, and review accessibility
Confirm your domain and certificate renewals, and review basic accessibility using our WordPress accessibility guide.
Prefer to hand it off?
If you would rather not do this yourself, our website maintenance plans cover security patching, offsite backups, uptime monitoring and priority fixes for a fixed monthly fee.
WordPress Maintenance: Frequently Asked Questions
How often should WordPress be updated?
Check for updates at least weekly. Security updates especially should not wait.
Can updates break my site?
Yes, occasionally, especially with old plugins. That is why important sites should test updates on staging and always have a recent backup.
Do I need to maintain a small WordPress site?
Yes. Even a simple brochure site needs updates, backups and monitoring, because attackers target outdated software regardless of site size.