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Why You Need to Monitor Your WordPress Website. Constantly.

You need to Monitor Your WordPress Website
Every detail that contributes to how your site operates needs to be monitored.

When you think of “monitoring” your website, you probably think of uptime. However, that’s only part of the monitoring process you must implement.

There is No Set and Forget

You could put up a static HTML website back in the day and forget about it. There were only a few scripts — usually to do unnecessary animations or process your contact form. Once in a while, a rare update.

Now sites are dynamic. They aren’t static HTML files; like WordPress, they execute PHP code and JavaScript based on user actions. Multiple users, multiple plugins, innumerable scenarios. Plugins processing, themes displaying, and processes accumulating. Performance degraded.

This is why you need to monitor everything regularly.

The goal is to have your site and every page load in under 3 seconds. Crazy, right? Also, how do you know if your site does not contribute to your ROI without monitoring?

Old code = vulnerabilities. Hackers are always on the prowl for code they can compromise. It is common for bugs to be discovered requiring an immediate update only after users report actual “out in the wild” usage.

Beyond that, code updates for performance and security concerns happen constantly. Every single WordPress and plugin update includes security hardening. Why risk your website being compromised and its performance degraded by not monitoring and updating promptly?

Updates Update

In addition, when plugins update, settings can change. Or, due to a conflict, the plugin doesn’t update and terminate properly, leaving your site in a perpetual maintenance mode. This does happen.

After updating anything on your site, you want to take the time to do a quick run-through on the front end. This ensures your site is operating correctly and displaying as it should. For example, if you update your contact form plugin, go to the front end of your site and use your contact form to ensure all is well.

After processing updates, take the time to run a performance test to see if any variables that can negatively impact have surfaced.

It is common for WordPress website owners to be blindsided by changes in metrics that, at the time, they did not expect to occur. Therefore, mark your calendar to run checks regularly to look for any changes you need to address.

Reviewing Plugins

Part of the ongoing monitoring of your site includes monitoring your plugins. I mark my calendar to do a plugin audit once each quarter.

Besides the essential, necessary plugins, I’ve witnessed many websites where site owners add plugins on a whim. So before you know it, you have duplicative and unnecessary plugins. This results in a sludge-slow website and unnecessary conflicts.

The maximum number of plugins that can be used varies. It all depends on the combo and quality of the plugins, the theme being used, hosting, and other variables that, when combined, will determine how your site loads.

Check that your plugins are keeping up and being tested with the latest version of WordPress. If they are not, find an alternative. This approach minimizes the potential for conflicts or problems due to incompatibility.

Checking the Data

You also want to login to Google Console often to check for any problems that will impact your rankings. I recommend that once a month, take a quick look-see in Google Console to see any warnings. Then, hop over to analytics to see any traffic issues of concern (dramatic drop-offs, for example).

READ: How to Use Free Google Tools to Improve & Grow Your WordPress Website

When performance or user issues are detected, Google can penalize your site in the SERPs (search engine results pages).

When your site is down, you want to know about that as soon as possible. Uptime monitoring can allow you to work with your hosting or development partners as close to the time of impact as possible to determine the issue.

If you link off-site, those links can change without notice. In addition, internal linking within your site will break when you delete a page or change the URL. Therefore, running link checks to eliminate the poor experience of broken links should be part of your monitoring duties.

Websites are not infallible. Endless reasons could cause your site to go down, be unavailable, or not work correctly. The last thing you want to happen is to find out from users that your site’s been down or producing errors for an extended period. The sooner you know of any possible problems, the sooner you can address them.

The fact is many hosts are not proactive in this regard. Rare is the host that will send an email letting you know they are aware of and addressing a problem. That is where subscribing to services that check these variables on schedule is worth every penny.

Website Monitoring Wrap-up

  • When WordPress, Plugins, and Themes require updating — do it.
  • Afterward, check your site’s features and functionality.
  • Review plugin testing compatibility and necessity.
  • Run performance tests.
  • Check Google Console and Analytics for errors.
  • Run link checks for broken and outdated links.
  • Rinse and repeat.

This is why you need to monitor your website constantly. Not doing so can affect your rankings and, more importantly, your user experience.

You cannot avoid or ignore these tasks if you have a WordPress website. Have an honest conversation with yourself to determine if you are willing to learn how to take the time and then implement all this yourself.

If you cannot weed through all the data, reports, and services required to handle these tasks, it may be time to subscribe to a service that handles everything for you.

Then, all you have to worry about is running your business.

At your service,

Judith: WordPress Consultant and Business Coach
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