Your site works around the clock helping people find information, request support, make purchases, evaluate your services or learn more about your business. When it’s well-maintained, it becomes an asset that builds trust, showcases your company’s story and products and enhances user experience. When it’s neglected, small issues quietly compound into frustrating interactions or costly fixes.
This website maintenance checklist breaks down what you should review, update and improve, so you can be confident that your website is ready to support your goals.
Check how your website is performing
Before planning any updates, it’s helpful to understand the current baseline. A website performance review shows how quickly your site loads, how stable it feels when someone scrolls and how well it adapts to mobile. Slow websites not only frustrate visitors—they can hurt credibility, reduce conversions and even affect how well you show up in search results.
Look for signs like:
- Pages that load slowly
- Images or videos that feel heavy or slow
- Layouts that “jump” before settling
- Buttons or links that are broken or slow to respond
- Features that don’t work as expected on different devices
This quick assessment helps you spot friction that visitors may be experiencing but not reporting. The goal is to create a site that feels smooth, modern and effortless.
Pro tip: Run your homepage through PageSpeed Insights and focus first on image sizes and unused plugins as these often contribute most to slowdowns.
Make sure your website is accessible for all users
Website accessibility strengthens user experience for everyone, not just those with disabilities. It ensures users, clients, customers and internal stakeholders can navigate your site without barriers. Accessible sites meet modern and compliance expectations, reinforce professionalism and reduce the risk of usability complaints down the road.
As a quick accessibility check, ask yourself:
- Does the text have enough contrast to be easily readable?
- Do all images on the site have alt text that describes their purpose?
- How does your site function with a keyboard only (vs. using a mouse)?
- Do all headings follow a logical structure?
- Do all links and buttons have clear labels?
Website accessibility is one of the rare updates that improves both user experience and search rankings.
Pro tip: Pick one core page, like your homepage, and test it using a free accessibility scanner like AccessScan. Fixing website accessibility on one key page often uncovers patterns you can apply sitewide.
Update your platform, plugins and tools
Just like your phone or computer updates its software, your website’s underlying tools need updating to stay secure and efficient. These updates help prevent bugs, improve speed and reduce security risks. Even one outdated plugin can slow down parts of your site or cause unexpected breakage. Regular website maintenance includes keeping your Content Management System (CMS), plugins and integrations up to date.
Make sure to:
- Update your CMS (such as WordPress or Shopify)
- Review plugin and theme updates
- Remove plugins you no longer use
- Check for warnings or update notices from your hosting provider
- Make sure your PHP or server version isn’t outdated
Pro tip: Always perform or request a backup before running updates. It’s a quick safety net that saves significant stress later.
Refresh your website content
Content ages quickly. Maybe your services have evolved, your team has grown, your pricing has changed or key programs shifted direction. Outdated content can lead to confusion or missed opportunities.
A content refresh might involve:
- Updating your About page or leadership profiles
- Rewriting outdated service descriptions
- Fixing or removing broken links
- Adding new testimonials, work samples or case studies
- Removing time-sensitive announcements or events from months ago
- Tightening language to make pages easier to skim
Fresh content also helps your website perform better in search. Search engines reward pages that stay accurate, active and aligned with current user needs.
Pro tip: Choose the 3–5 most-visited pages in your analytics and refresh those first. Improving the pages with the most traffic quickly increases overall impact.
Check your website security
Website security is essential to protecting your organization and your visitors. Small security gaps can lead to major problems, but most checks are simple.
Make sure to:
- Confirm your SSL certificate is active (your URL should start with https://)
- Remove old users who no longer need access
- Review administrative permissions for accuracy
- Ensure your backup system is working and accessible
- Update your security plugins or firewall tools
A secure site builds trust, reduces operational risk and minimizes vulnerabilities that can disrupt your organization.
Pro tip: Review your list of admin users. Removing outdated accounts is one of the simplest, most effective website security steps you can take.
Test your forms, buttons and user interactions
One of the most overlooked tasks is testing your forms and yet forms are often the first thing to break. A form that stops submitting properly can quietly block potential leads, inquiries or engagement.
Test all:
- Contact forms
- Request-a-quote forms
- Program or event registrations
- Newsletter sign-ups
- E-commerce checkouts
- Search bars, filters or other interactive tools
Walk through the site the same way a visitor would. If anything feels confusing, broken or slow, it’s worth reviewing.
Pro tip: Set up form notifications to send to two email addresses instead of one. This creates a backup in case one inbox filters or blocks submissions.
Clean up your media and file library
Media files pile up over time: photos, PDFs, graphics and old versions of uploads you no longer need. A cluttered library doesn’t just create organizational headaches; it can slow down your website and make content updates more time-consuming.
Clean up by:
- Removing outdated or duplicate images
- Adding smaller, alternative image formats such as webp or svg
- Compressing large photos or graphics
- Archiving old reports, forms or PDFs
- Renaming files with clearer, SEO-friendly labels
- Creating folders or categories for better organization
This type of tidy-up improves overall performance and makes your website easier to manage.
Pro tip: Start with your largest files first. They often contribute the most to slow load times. Many hosting dashboards or plugins let you sort by file size.
Confirm your website analytics and tracking are working
Accurate data is essential for understanding how your website performs. Before setting new goals, make sure your web analytics tracking tools don’t break during updates, redesigns or seasonal campaigns.
Double-check:
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is installed correctly
- Conversions and form submissions track as expected
- Buttons or calls to action register clicks
- Traffic sources look realistic (no sudden, unexplained drops or spikes)
- Any marketing pixels (Meta, LinkedIn or Google Ads) are still firing
With accurate data, you can measure what’s working, what needs improvement and where to focus your resources.
Pro tip: Submit a test form and watch in real time to confirm your analytics platform records the event. It’s the quickest way to ensure everything is connected.
A well-maintained website increases trust, improves user experience and supports stronger results across all of your digital efforts. And while maintenance can sound intimidating, most of the important work comes down to simple, routine check-ins that make your life easier all year long.
If you want a smooth, stress-free start, Flying Orange can help with monthly or annual maintenance, accessibility updates, performance improvements, content cleanup and ongoing support to keep your website running at its best.
Flying Orange has been a trusted development resource since 2007, meaning we’ve seen our fair share of design trends. Feel free to reach out for a free quote. We’re here to help with both ongoing, monthly website maintenance, or full website redesigns. We would love to learn more about your needs.