Website maintenance: what should you do every month?

Your website is live, customers find you on Google, the contact form works. Done? Not quite. A website without maintenance ages quickly: plugins become vulnerable, speed drops, and Google notices when your content is no longer accurate.

Here is what you should check monthly — and what you can safely automate or outsource.

1. Install updates

The most important task. Outdated software is the number one cause of hacked websites.

• CMS updates (WordPress, Joomla, …): core updates contain security patches
• Plugin and theme updates: every plugin is a potential vulnerability
• PHP version: your hosting provider regularly offers newer PHP versions — check whether your site is compatible

Tip: always create a backup before installing updates. One incompatible plugin can take down your entire site.

Using a static site (like Astro, Hugo or Next.js)? You have less update risk, but still check your dependencies and rebuild regularly.

2. Verify your backup

You have a backup system, but is it still working?

• Check that the latest backup was actually created
• Download a backup at least once per quarter and test whether you can restore it
• Store backups in a different location than your hosting (external drive, cloud)

Many hosting providers offer automatic daily backups — check whether this is active and how many days they retain.

3. Test speed

A slow website costs you visitors and Google ranking. Test monthly with:

• PageSpeed Insights — free, shows Core Web Vitals
• GTmetrix — more detailed waterfall diagram

Watch for these signals:

• Largest image loads slower than 2.5 seconds (LCP)
• Page shifts during loading (CLS > 0.1)
• First interaction takes long (INP > 200ms)

Causes: oversized images, uncompressed CSS/JS, slow hosting, or too many plugins.

4. Test forms and contact options

Nothing worse than a contact form that silently stops working.

• Send yourself a test message via your contact form
• Check whether the confirmation email is still correct
• Test on mobile — many forms break on small screens
• Verify that your phone number and email address are still correct on every page

5. Find broken links

Links to pages that no longer exist (404 errors) are bad for visitors and for SEO.

• Use Broken Link Checker or the free version of Screaming Frog
• Pay special attention to links to external websites — they change without warning
• Redirect old URLs to relevant alternatives (301 redirect)

6. Update content

Google favours current content. Review your key pages monthly:

• Are the prices still correct?
• Are the opening hours right (also around holidays)?
• Are there outdated offers or promotions on the site?
• Is your portfolio updated with recent projects?
• Do blog articles still contain correct information or outdated screenshots?

7. Check Google Search Console

Google Search Console shows how Google sees your site.

Check monthly:

• Coverage reports — are there new errors or warnings?
• Core Web Vitals — are there pages scoring poorly?
• Search results — are your impressions or clicks dropping unexpectedly?
• Manual actions — has Google flagged an issue?

The minimum checklist

Task	Frequency	Time
Install updates	Monthly	15–30 min
Verify backup	Monthly	5 min
Test speed	Monthly	10 min
Test forms	Monthly	5 min
Check broken links	Quarterly	15 min
Update content	Monthly	15–30 min
Check Search Console	Monthly	10 min

Total: roughly 1–1.5 hours per month. Not much, but it makes the difference between a website that works for you and one that slowly deteriorates.

No time or inclination?

You can outsource maintenance. At DeskCare I offer website maintenance packages that include updates, backups, speed checks and minor adjustments. That way you know your site stays fast, secure and up-to-date — without having to think about it every month.

Want to know how your site is doing right now? Try the free website check.