Your website is often your business's first impression and when it comes to WordPress, keeping it running smoothlyrequires more than just hosting it somewhere. Regular maintenance, backups, testing, and performance optimizationare all essential for ensuring uptime, security, and user experience.
At Fawkes Digital Marketing, we don't just host your WordPress site—we actively manage it forperformance, security, and reliability. Below, we break down everything your business should be doing to properlyhost and maintain your WordPress website.
Backup Your Website Regularly
A complete, consistent backup is your first line of defense against data loss, hacking, or server failure.
- What it means: A proper backup includes your website files and your database.
- Frequency: Daily for active sites (especially eCommerce or blogs). Weekly for low-change sites.
Tools:
- Tip: Always store backups offsite—like Google Drive, Amazon S3, or another cloud location.
Create a Staging (Test) Copy of Your Site
Before updating anything, always test changes in a staging environment.
- What it means: A duplicate copy of your website where updates and changes can be safely tested before going live.
- Why it matters: Avoid plugin conflicts, downtime, or broken functionality on your live site.
Tools:
- WP Staging
- BlogVault
- Most premium hosts (like WP Engine, SiteGround, Kinsta) offer one-click staging.
Update Plugins, Themes, and WordPress Core (on Test Site)
Keeping your site software up to date is critical for security and performance.
- What it means: Apply all plugin, theme, and core updates on your test copy first.
- Why it matters: Updates often patch vulnerabilities or improve speed—but can sometimes break things if not compatible.
- Best practice: Review the changelog before updating, and check plugin compatibility with your WordPress version.
Verify the Test Site
Once updates are complete, verify everything works before applying changes to your production site.
- Checklist:
- All pages load correctly
- Forms submit properly
- Menus and navigation function
- No JavaScript or console errors
- eCommerce checkout (if applicable) completes without issues
- Tip: Use tools like Google Search Console or Lighthouse to verify front-end performance and SEO impact.
Note and Fix Any Issues Found During Testing
Don't skip over small bugs—they can snowball into bigger problems later.
- What it means: Track any discrepancies between your live and test environments.
- Best practice: Use a simple issue tracker or project management tool like ClickUp, Trello, or Asana.
- If issues persist: Roll back specific plugin updates or seek developer support before pushing to production.
Update Your Production Site
Once everything has been tested and verified, you can confidently push updates to your live site.
- Tip: Always take a fresh backup right before applying updates to production.
- Optional: Schedule updates during low-traffic hours to minimize potential disruption.
Backup Again (Post-Update)
After successful updates, take one more backup of the working production site.
- Why: This gives you a clean, restorable version of the most up-to-date, functional state of your website.
- Store: In your preferred offsite location for redundancy and versioning.
Beyond Updates: The Hidden Essentials of Great WordPress Hosting
Backing up and updating are the fundamentals—but real hosting management goes much deeper.
Firewall & Security Monitoring
A website firewall (WAF) helps block malicious traffic before it ever reaches your server.
- Recommended: Wordfence, Sucuri, or Cloudflare's free WAF.
- Monitor login attempts, file changes, and uptime.
Performance Monitoring
Your host should provide visibility into site speed and uptime.
Page Speed Optimization
Fast sites rank better and convert more visitors.
- Compress images (TinyPNG)
- Minify CSS/JS
- Use caching (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or your host's built-in cache)
- Serve assets via CDN (Cloudflare, Bunny.net)
Form & Function Testing
Ensure every form, button, and interaction works as expected. Broken contact forms can cost leads.
- Test form submissions regularly.
- Verify email delivery and spam folder routing.
SEO & Analytics Monitoring
Ongoing visibility into your SEO performance is vital.
Why Businesses Choose Fawkes Digital Marketing for WordPress Hosting
At Fawkes Digital Marketing, we go beyond simple hosting. Our Managed WordPress Hosting Services include:
- Automated daily backups and offsite retention
- Proactive plugin and security updates
- Staging environments for safe testing
- 24/7 uptime and performance monitoring
- SEO and page-speed optimization
- Expert U.S.-based support team
We make sure your WordPress site runs fast, stays secure, and helps your business grow without the technical headaches.
Ready to Stop Worrying About Your WordPress Site?
Let's make your WordPress site secure, fast, and stress-free.
Contact Fawkes Digital Marketing to learn more about our managed WordPress hosting plans.