Your WordPress website isn’t just something that you can set once when it’s launched and then forget about. Your work with your website isn’t over when you launch the site.

Instead, it’s something that you have to take care of all the time.

There are going to be updates to WordPress core, plugins and themes that you’re going to have to run on a weekly basis at a minimum. There are also content updates that need to be made so that your website reflects the most up-to-date information about your business at all times.

And then there are going to be times where you want to make small changes here and there to make things easier and better for the user.

So in this week’s newsletter, let’s talk about the things you need to do to take care of your website.

Update Your Website

With WordPress for your personal website is also going to come updates for your plugins and themes and even WordPress core itself.

These updates can be crucial for your website. Some updates will contain security patches that can protect your website from bad actors trying to attack it. Others will contain bug fixes that will remove headaches for you. And some updates will include cool new features that allow you to do amazing things with your website.

So be sure to take time at least once a week to update your website’s plugins and themes and run any WordPress core updates. If you need help in creating a plan on how to update your website, you can check out the video I created below on just how to do that.

Also, make sure that you’re updating the content on your website as well, especially the homepage, about page and contact page. If something changes, make sure the correct information is reflected on your website.

Make Sure to Keep Your Website Secure

There are a lot of threats when it comes to websites these days.

Even if you have a small brochure website for your business, you could be the target of an attack by someone. It’s crazy.

And it can be frustrating if your website is attacked.

But there are ways to minimize that risk.

First, you can use a security plugin, like Wordfence, to help build a wall around your website. Also, plugins like Limited Login Attempts Reloaded can help you stop brute force login attempts in their tracks. And other security measures, like adding two-factor authentication, can help you keep your website secure.

If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can secure your WordPress website, you can check out this blog post I wrote.

Be Careful with Your Images

Something else you need to keep in mind as you use your personal website and add more content is being careful with the sizes of the images that you’re uploading.

That photo you took with your phone and want to upload to your website to show is going to be well over one megabyte (1 MB). And that’s problematic for two reasons. First, a bunch of large images are going to put strain on your website and cause performance issues. Second, someone trying to view your website on a not-so-great internet connection (like on their phone outside of a city), will have a very hard time getting to see that image.

So for any images you want to add to your website, you’ll need to use Photoshop or some other photo editing software to make the image smaller and compress it. A good number to shoot for would be 500 kilobytes (500 kb).

Keep Your Information Up to Date

Nobody wants to go to a website, look up the information about a business and then realize it’s the wrong information.

There’s nothing worse than seeing the wrong hours of operation or the wrong address. And that’s lost business for you.

So make sure that the website always has the most up-to-date information about your business.

If you make the decision to change when you’re open, make sure that you make that change on the website. Or if your business moves, make sure you change that on your website (and in your Google Business Profile).

Making sure that your information on the website is always the correct info is one of the most important parts of your website post launch.

Don’t Go Crazy with Your Plugins

Finally, you need to be careful with the plugins that you add to your personal website.

It can be very easy in WordPress to add a ton of plugins to your website. But that can have a negative impact on your website. More plugins means more code that has to run when the website is loaded which can hamper your website’s performance.

Also, more plugins can mean more security vulnerabilities for your website.

So make sure that you only add the plugins that you absolutely need for your website. If you suddenly find yourself with over 25 plugins, take a look at all of them and really see if you need each of them. Then remove the ones you don’t need.

Just because you can add as many plugins to your website doesn’t mean you should.

Get Help Managing Your WordPress Website

I do not blame you if this seems like a lot for you to manage. But the good news is that you don’t have to be alone in this.

One of the services I offer is a WordPress Website Care service where I can help manage updates, make fixes as needed and help your website stay online. And some plans include security hardening, performance optimization, analytics reporting, ecommerce support and more.

And as a subscriber to the newsletter, you can get half off your first month or year (depending on the plan you select) by using the following coupon code at checkout: NEWSLETTERWPWEBSITECARE.

It’s the perfect way to make sure your WordPress website is always running at the top of its game, and you don’t have to worry about a thing. Really, you’re getting your own CTO for your website for way less than an actual CTO.

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