With the arrival of the Spring season many will turn to the cleaning and maintenance of things that have not had attention is some time. Cleaning out the garage, washing the windows, rearranging the walk-in closet and dusting off the lawn equipment all come to mind.
This too can be a great time to clean up your blog or website as well. Have you updated WordPress or your plugins lately?
How about some of those old posts that sometimes get those weird looking characters in places where hyphens and dashes once were?
Many of those daily, weekly and monthly tasks may have fallen by the wayside over time, so schedule a few hours to perform a full maintenance of your site and get it back in order if needed. Many of the small problems can begin to pile up and become a larger maintenance issue as time passes.
Below are some of those tasks that are always in need of attention albeit at different intervals, but check the listing, if you have not performed some of these in some time, now is as good a time as any to perform these ongoing checkups.
Daily Tasks
- Check WP Dashboard – There could be a critical security or update message there requiring your attention, or other helpful tips that you will want to know about.
- Reply to comments – Check for comments and trackbacks that may have appeared while you were away from your blog.
- Delete that spam – Everyone hates spam, the freeloading junk that wants to camp out on your domain providing no value whatsoever.
- Check incoming links – Whenever an incoming link appears, you will want to know about it, in particular, where it is coming from?
- Check RSS feed – A simple click on this will let you know if it has somehow become broken, and if it has, you will want to fix this immediately.
- Check those affiliate links – These are payday links and you will not want a malfunction here at anytime of the day or night. Sales are tough enough to come by, let alone miss out on because of a broken or malfunctioning link. If you use a plugin like Ninja Affiliate, be sure that you have the latest version.
- Check Google Adsense – Same as affiliate links above, be sure that this is functioning as designed, providing relevant ads to your site.
Weekly Tasks
- Check those backup files – This is your lifeline to yesterday and cannot be allowed to fail. If a catastrophic event were to occur the fact that you have current backups of your database can be a life-saver. I use a combination of the WP-DB-Backup plugin and Gmail to create an automated system that works like a charm. I will re-post that technique here soon.
- Check plugins for upgrades – I actually look at these daily since I am inside the admin area anyhow, but minimally, they should be checked weekly. Plugins requiring an upgrade usually have a yellow highlight beneath them and clicking on the “upgrade automatically” link does the job in seconds.
- Check those widgets – seldom are these a problem, but checking them to be certain that they are doing exactly what you want them to do can bring no harm.
- Check your links and blogroll – There should be nothing on your blog that is not working, including the various links to other sites.
- Internal links – links to other pages and content warrant a look to avoid malfunctions.
Monthly Tasks
- Log into your host’s full featured cPanel (control panel) where you can retrieve announcements, manage webmail accounts, auto responders and a host of other tools and features provided by your host company. You want to be certain that you can get in here even if you seldom or never use any of the features. There are all sorts of statistics available, as well.
- Rinse & repeat.
As usual, there is always something to be done on your blog or website, it just never ends, but like most things, regular maintenance and oversight will keep the machinery running as it should.
Have you performed blog maintenance lately and do you have a regular routine for doing so?
It’s never too late to begin.
Keep Blogging!
Have updates delivered right to your desktop reader via RSS
You may also enjoy:
Favicons – That Sometimes Missing Touch
35 Responses to Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition
Leave a Reply
" @Chris_Frailey No problem, Chris. Great weekend to you as well. :-) " — JimiJones
Blog Maintenance | Jimi Jones Dot Com…
Blog maintenance is a critical function that must not be overlooked. Read this to see what to do and when to do it….
Excellent article Jimi. Very thorough.
I particularly take note of the security maintenance requirements since loop holes can seriously cripple a site more than a broken link can.
Checking incoming links is very important as well as you mentioned. I’ve recently learnt that if a site that is blacklisted by google links to you, it can have adverse effects on your overall search ranking. Links from blacklisted sites lower your site’s reputation in google’s eyes.
Check out this article I wrote on wordpress security that I think you might find interesting: http://samswebguide.com/2010/03/20/10-simple-steps-to-secure-protect-your-wordpress-blog/
Keep up the good work Jimi.
.-= Robyn from Sam’s Web Guide´s last blog ..The Art of Community Optimization – Maximize Your Blog’s Potential =-.
Hi Sam.
Thanks for visiting, man.
No doubt those links from blacklisted and spam sites are of no use whatsoever, and do erode your ranking.
Security is even more of a worry. I recall once discovering another user account in my admin area on another blog of mine, pretty scary. Since then I developed the habit of going into the admin area practically everyday. Many people watch the stats, I am always looking for junk links and attempts to hack.
Thanks for that link, I’ll check out the piece.
Commenting while logged in as the administrator with no photo always gets me.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Excellent article Jimi. Very thorough.
I particularly take note of the security maintenance requirements since loop holes can seriously cripple a site more than a broken link can.
Checking incoming links is very important as well as you mentioned. I’ve recently learnt that if a site that is blacklisted by google links to you, it can have adverse effects on your overall search ranking. Links from blacklisted sites lower your site’s reputation in google’s eyes.
Check out this article I wrote on wordpress security that I think you might find interesting: http://samswebguide.com/2010/03/20/10-simple-steps-to-secure-protect-your-wordpress-blog/
Keep up the good work Jimi.
.-= Robyn from Sam’s Web Guide´s last blog ..The Art of Community Optimization – Maximize Your Blog’s Potential =-.
Hi Sam.
Thanks for visiting, man.
No doubt those links from blacklisted and spam sites are of no use whatsoever, and do erode your ranking.
Security is even more of a worry. I recall once discovering another user account in my admin area on another blog of mine, pretty scary. Since then I developed the habit of going into the admin area practically everyday. Many people watch the stats, I am always looking for junk links and attempts to hack.
Thanks for that link, I’ll check out the piece.
Commenting while logged in as the administrator with no photo always gets me.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Great list and all very relevant. Need to do some homework on the backup plugin as it has stopped emailing me daily backups. At the support forum there seems to be an issue with the latest version of WP – needs to be done manually!
.-= Kevin Tea´s last blog ..Panic Free Guide To Getting Started With Google Apps =-.
Hope you can get that plugin back up and running, Kevin.
Manual backups are something you don’t need on your plate.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Great list and all very relevant. Need to do some homework on the backup plugin as it has stopped emailing me daily backups. At the support forum there seems to be an issue with the latest version of WP – needs to be done manually!
.-= Kevin Tea´s last blog ..Panic Free Guide To Getting Started With Google Apps =-.
Hope you can get that plugin back up and running, Kevin.
Manual backups are something you don’t need on your plate.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Thats a nice checklist. Its essential to tend to your blog on a daily basis else the problem will grow and will be too troublesome to get rid off.
Things like checking Akismet’s spam queue shouldn’t be delayed else you’ll turn off your commentators.
Hi Selurus.
You are right about staying on top of these things daily, too much spam and attempts to hack in these days to be caught not paying attention.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Thats a nice checklist. Its essential to tend to your blog on a daily basis else the problem will grow and will be too troublesome to get rid off.
Things like checking Akismet’s spam queue shouldn’t be delayed else you’ll turn off your commentators.
Hi Selurus.
You are right about staying on top of these things daily, too much spam and attempts to hack in these days to be caught not paying attention.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Nice check-list bro.
I tend to optimise my database on a daily basis using DB Optimize.
I am on a hunt for a tool that would automatically do this for me.
.-= John Lufadeju´s last blog ..Re: A Move To VPS Hosting =-.
Nice check-list bro.
I tend to optimise my database on a daily basis using DB Optimize.
I am on a hunt for a tool that would automatically do this for me.
.-= John Lufadeju´s last blog ..Re: A Move To VPS Hosting =-.
Hey John.
I also optimize daily via plugin. I don’t know of any plugins that do this on auto.
Hey John.
I also optimize daily via plugin. I don’t know of any plugins that do this on auto.
Great Spring time maintenance tips…there are quite a few on this list that I need to take care of. I love Spring including sprucing up
.-= Ms. Freeman´s last blog ..My Internet Income Report-First Quarter 2010 =-.
Like you, I always look forward to Spring cleaning in general. Brings a time of renewal to our lives after a Winter season (at least in the U S Northeast and Mid Atlantic regions).
Do get that blog tuned-up.
It’s a scary thing when something goes wrong.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Great Spring time maintenance tips…there are quite a few on this list that I need to take care of. I love Spring including sprucing up
.-= Ms. Freeman´s last blog ..My Internet Income Report-First Quarter 2010 =-.
Like you, I always look forward to Spring cleaning in general. Brings a time of renewal to our lives after a Winter season (at least in the U S Northeast and Mid Atlantic regions).
Do get that blog tuned-up.
It’s a scary thing when something goes wrong.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Ah, the de-clutter bug! This one has bitten me as well and I have some major technical problems that I can’t seem to get past. As in, I can’t see certain pages of the WP Dashboard and it drives me crazy. I have a request in for my husband to rescue me. ha!
I too do the regular backups and check for spam etc.
I have a question: I get a couple of ‘comments’ or maybe they are called trackbacks, each day from places like Topsy and ubervu.com letting me know who mentioned my posts on Twitter. Are these considered good backlinks? Should I approve or delete these?
.-= Erica Mueller´s last blog ..The Best Related Post Plugin for WordPress =-.
Erica, I had a similar issue months ago and it turned out to be a plugin.
What I did was to deactivate each plugin one by one and check the page load function in between. I discovered that the page editing function worked fine when I deactivated my Ninja Affiliate plugin, so I checked for an update. There was not one at the time, so in order to edit pages I had to deactivate this particular plugin, then reactivate afterward.
Regarding those trackbacks, most of the ones I receive from those same sources are legit. However, you should run down the source by clicking the link if unsure. I’ve found that some lead back to splogs (spam blogs) while others have lead to legitimate directories or other blogs that have mentioned my article.
The splog links of course are always deleted right away. I have even deleted links to blogs of obvious little value. Some have no real cohesive theme or current updates, so I jettison them from my site.
I am inside of my admin area pretty much daily, and while others are always watching stats, I always look for signs of unwanted company.
Try the plugin exercise if you have not already. It’s a little time consuming but well worth it if you can solve your problem.
Good luck, and let me know how you make out. I’d be interested to know what the issue is in case I or someone else encounters something similar in the future.
Sure hope you solve that, I know what a pain it can be not knowing.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Ah, the de-clutter bug! This one has bitten me as well and I have some major technical problems that I can’t seem to get past. As in, I can’t see certain pages of the WP Dashboard and it drives me crazy. I have a request in for my husband to rescue me. ha!
I too do the regular backups and check for spam etc.
I have a question: I get a couple of ‘comments’ or maybe they are called trackbacks, each day from places like Topsy and ubervu.com letting me know who mentioned my posts on Twitter. Are these considered good backlinks? Should I approve or delete these?
.-= Erica Mueller´s last blog ..The Best Related Post Plugin for WordPress =-.
Erica, I had a similar issue months ago and it turned out to be a plugin.
What I did was to deactivate each plugin one by one and check the page load function in between. I discovered that the page editing function worked fine when I deactivated my Ninja Affiliate plugin, so I checked for an update. There was not one at the time, so in order to edit pages I had to deactivate this particular plugin, then reactivate afterward.
Regarding those trackbacks, most of the ones I receive from those same sources are legit. However, you should run down the source by clicking the link if unsure. I’ve found that some lead back to splogs (spam blogs) while others have lead to legitimate directories or other blogs that have mentioned my article.
The splog links of course are always deleted right away. I have even deleted links to blogs of obvious little value. Some have no real cohesive theme or current updates, so I jettison them from my site.
I am inside of my admin area pretty much daily, and while others are always watching stats, I always look for signs of unwanted company.
Try the plugin exercise if you have not already. It’s a little time consuming but well worth it if you can solve your problem.
Good luck, and let me know how you make out. I’d be interested to know what the issue is in case I or someone else encounters something similar in the future.
Sure hope you solve that, I know what a pain it can be not knowing.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Jimi
excellent article. This is a great reminder to getting my backup running again. I have been manually downloading from FTP and export files.
I tried the mentioned backup plugin, but it doesn’t work. I think I have an issue with the web hosting blocking in it. But I think I will try again.
.-= element321´s last blog ..Final Thoughts on WP-Spam Free =-.
Hi James.
Manual backups are better than none at all but some automation is great. I wonder if the plugin has a later version now available, I know you’d like to get that thing functioning again.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
Jimi
excellent article. This is a great reminder to getting my backup running again. I have been manually downloading from FTP and export files.
I tried the mentioned backup plugin, but it doesn’t work. I think I have an issue with the web hosting blocking in it. But I think I will try again.
.-= element321´s last blog ..Final Thoughts on WP-Spam Free =-.
Hi James.
Manual backups are better than none at all but some automation is great. I wonder if the plugin has a later version now available, I know you’d like to get that thing functioning again.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Blog Maintenance – Keeping Your Blog in A-1 Condition =-.
[...] the previous post I talked about Blog Maintenance and the importance of staying on top of those associated [...]
Very thorough article Jimi. A stern reminder to all of us I suspect.
I suspect that most of us need to get those backup going on a regular basis, and that most here don’t do half of what you suggest.
Great job
.-= Robert Bravery´s last blog ..What to do when your blog goes down =-.
Very thorough article Jimi. A stern reminder to all of us I suspect.
I suspect that most of us need to get those backup going on a regular basis, and that most here don’t do half of what you suggest.
Great job
.-= Robert Bravery´s last blog ..What to do when your blog goes down =-.
[...] As I sit here in my comfy recliner watching television I figure it is a good time to do some PC Maintenance and Blog Spring Cleaning as suggested by Jimi Jones in a post he wrote Blog Maintenance-Keep Your Blog in A-1 Condition. [...]