Check If Your Website Is Online
It’s important to confirm that your website is live and accessible. Even a few minutes of downtime can cause visitors to leave, and frequent outages may harm your search engine rankings.
What to do:
Open your website and check if it loads properly. Use monitoring tools to track availability and get alerts if your site ever goes offline.
Suggested Tools:
UptimeRobot, Pingdom, Better Uptime
Do a Quick Visual Check
Sometimes updates or errors can cause layout issues that aren’t immediately obvious. A quick look at your website can help you spot anything unusual.
What to do:
Visit your homepage and other key pages. Look for broken images, distorted layouts, or missing sections.
Back Up Your Website
A daily backup is essential in case something goes wrong. Whether it’s due to a plugin issue, a security breach, or a human error, having a backup can save your content and prevent serious loss.
What to do:
Back up both your site files and database. Set up automatic daily backups if possible.
Suggested Tools:
UpdraftPlus, Jetpack, BlogVault
Check for Updates
Keeping WordPress, themes, and plugins updated protects your site from bugs and security issues. Updates often include performance improvements and new features as well.
What to do:
Log in to your WordPress dashboard and check for any available updates. Always back up your site before updating.
Scan for Security Issues
Daily security scans help detect malware, suspicious code, or unauthorized login attempts. Staying alert can help prevent bigger problems.
What to do:
Run a malware scan and review login history. Watch for unknown users or unexpected changes.
Suggested Tools:
Wordfence, Sucuri, iThemes Security
Test Site Speed
Website speed directly affects both user experience and SEO. A sudden drop in performance could mean there’s a deeper issue that needs your attention.
What to do:
Use a tool to check your homepage and main pages. Record your loading times and performance scores for comparison over time.
Suggested Tools:
GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom
Manage Comments
Spam comments can harm your site’s credibility, while unanswered legitimate comments reduce engagement. Managing them daily ensures a clean and active site.
What to do:
Approve real comments, delete spam, and respond where appropriate.
Suggested Tools:
Akismet Anti-Spam, Antispam Bee
Test Contact Forms and Features
Broken contact forms or checkout processes can cause lost leads or sales. These features may stop working after an update or plugin conflict.
What to do:
Test all major forms and features. Ensure that submissions go through and confirmation emails are sent.
Suggested Tools:
WPForms, Gravity Forms, Fluent Forms
Clear Out Trash and Spam
Old comments, posts in the trash, and unused media files can slow your website down and take up unnecessary space.
What to do:
Empty the trash bins for posts and pages, delete spam comments, and remove unused plugins or themes.
Suggested Tools:
WP-Optimize, Advanced Database Cleaner
Check Error Logs
Error logs show hidden problems on your site, such as failed scripts or conflicts between plugins. Keeping an eye on these can prevent issues from getting worse.
What to do:
Enable WP_DEBUG mode or access logs from your hosting account. Look for repeated errors and troubleshoot if needed.
Scan for Broken Links
Broken links reduce trust and harm your SEO. They can also frustrate visitors trying to access content that no longer exists.
What to do:
Use a tool to find broken internal or external links and fix them as needed.
Suggested Tools:
Broken Link Checker, Ahrefs (paid), Screaming Frog (free version available)
Review Website Analytics
Tracking your traffic helps you understand how users are interacting with your website. It also helps you identify trends or spot problems early.
What to do:
Log in to Google Analytics or other tracking tools. Look at traffic volume, bounce rate, popular pages, and any traffic drops.
Suggested Tools:
Google Analytics, Google Search Console, MonsterInsights