A website is like a car: without regular servicing, it eventually breaks down. To avoid security holes, slow pages and falling search rankings, however, you simply need to apply a few best practices at a steady rhythm. Here are the essential tasks and the calendar we recommend to SMEs.
Why rely on best practices rather than improvisation
Without a method, maintenance often boils down to reacting when something breaks. Best practices, on the other hand, turn upkeep into a routine: every task has a frequency, an owner and a written record. As a result, you avoid oversights, and a new provider can take over without starting from scratch.
Essential tasks according to best practices
Apply security updates
Install patches for the CMS, plugins and server as soon as they become available. Best practices also recommend removing unused plugins, because each one widens the attack surface.
Back up and test restores
Schedule automatic daily backups and keep them on a remote server, in line with best practices. Then test the restore procedure regularly; otherwise, you will discover a problem on the very day you need it.
Monitor performance
Track loading times, uptime and server errors. Free tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse help you spot slow pages, for example. Also set up an uptime alert, so that you hear about an outage before your customers do.
Check links
Broken links hurt your SEO and the user experience. So check them every month, then fix or redirect them quickly.
Keep content up to date
Fresh content improves your SEO and shows that your company is active. Therefore, update your key pages, prices and contact details, and publish new content regularly. Remove outdated offers and past events too.
Optimise images
Compress images and use modern formats such as WebP or AVIF, so that you get a better balance between quality and file size.
Secure access
Enable two-factor authentication on administrator accounts and remove access for former employees or providers. Finally, among the best practices most often overlooked, keep a log of every intervention: date, action and author.
A best practices calendar
Every week
- Check uptime and page speed.
- Confirm that backups ran successfully.
- Moderate comments and handle incoming form submissions.
Every month
- Apply security updates.
- Analyse visitor statistics, for instance in Google Analytics.
- Find and fix broken links.
- Test the mobile display.
Every quarter
- Run a full SEO audit.
- Review your content strategy.
- Test a full restore from backup.
- Analyse your main competitors' sites.
Every year
- Check the renewal of your domain name and SSL certificate.
- Review your legal notice, privacy policy and cookie banner against the GDPR.
- Reassess your hosting plan and your company's needs.
Before every major update
- Run a full backup of files and database.
- Test the update on a staging copy.
- Then check key journeys: contact form, payment and sign-up.
- Keep a rollback plan in case something goes wrong.
Share roles between your team and your provider
Best practices distinguish two kinds of tasks. Your team knows the business better, so it can update content, answer form submissions and follow statistics. Technical tasks such as updates, backups, security and server management, on the other hand, usually belong with a provider. Finally, put this split in writing, so that everyone knows who steps in when an incident occurs.
Measure how well your maintenance works
A few simple indicators are enough: uptime, loading time of key pages, number of pending updates, broken links detected and the date of the last restore test. Track them every month, because any drift quickly shows that one of your best practices has slipped out of the routine.
Mistakes that undermine best practices
- Launching a major update on a Friday evening without a recent backup.
- Sharing a single administrator account between several people.
- Entrusting maintenance to someone who documents nothing.
Outsource maintenance to Espero-Soft
Would you rather focus on your business? Our subscriptions include hosting, maintenance and support, and we apply these best practices for you. A showcase website starts from €29/month and an advanced website from €59/month.
Conclusion
Regular maintenance protects your investment and gives your visitors an optimal experience. By following these best practices week after week, your website thus stays fast, secure and visible. Contact Espero-Soft to discuss it.
