Happy New Year! 2018 has arrived and the air is filled with people making resolutions for the year ahead. For WordPress owners, the start of a brand new year presents an opportunity to ensure your website is performing as well as it should, with user experience and security at the forefront of your mind.

We’ve compiled a list of New Year’s resolutions all WordPress owners should make to bring in more leads, sales and success in 2018.

1. I will conduct a digital health check of my website

Just as your internal processes and procedures need a regular check up to ensure they achieve your business objectives and meet customers’ expectations, so does your website.

Here’s a few simple checks that should be done to improve the performance of your site:

• Take the time to fix any broken links, which can drain on bandwidth
• Test the speed of your page loading times, which can become sluggish due to a bad hosting provider, poor code or too many unoptimised images
• Enable caching to create a better user experience to your visitors
• Remove spam comments from the backend of your site which can reduce your SEO score and significantly slow down your site

Although these items can be time consuming, the digital health of your business should be regularly assessed to ensure you’re meeting the evolving needs of your customers, search engines and your organisation.

2. I will optimise my website for users and search engines  

SEO can be a tricky terrain to navigate but a basic understanding has become essential for all business owners who want to see their brand become a household name.

Here’s a few areas to look into when conducting an SEO audit of your current site:

• Master keyword research to understand of the key phrases and search terms your customers are likely to use online.
• Start blogging or producing regular content as Google loves fresh content and your customers will too
• Optimise every image on your site to improve page loading times and provide context of the image to Google
• Gain a better understanding of Google Analytics to achieve valuable insight to help grow your business

Improving the SEO of your website will help you to stay visible to search engines and improve the overall performance of your website.

3. I will regularly update my core, theme and plugins

When you own a website there’s a lot to monitor and maintain in terms of updates. Although this process can be time consuming, updates to the latest core, theme and plugins will improve performance and speed, usability and management, compatibility, and security.

Here’s two vital actions to take this year:

• Update core, theme and plugins to the newest version to keep your site safe from vulnerabilities
• Remove any plugins or themes you do not use to speed up your website and provide fewer opportunities for hackers to access your information

Failing to make the necessary updates will leave your site vulnerable to potential attacks, which is why this is such an important area to regularly monitor.

4. I will make my website as secure as it can be

Although WordPress has a team specifically devoted to identifying and fixing WordPress security issues, you shouldn’t become complacent when it comes to actively reviewing and maintaining your own website’s security.

Here’s a few tips for improving the security of your site: 

• Make the switch from HTTP to HTTPS to ensure your customers’ data isn’t compromised
• Implement two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to the login process
• Have both an onsite and an offsite backup solution in place to ensure the survivability of your data and your business reputation
• Change your password to a random string of letters and numbers to prevent brute force attacks

Remember, WordPress is only secure if these best practices are followed.

5. I will consider outsourcing to WP Tech Support

All websites require regular maintenance to give you the performance, leads and sales you want. If you know you don’t have the capacity or skills to stay on top of this, you should consider outsourcing to a professional.

WP Tech Support can:

• Carry out an initial website health check
• Backup your website to our secure cloud server every day
• Provide weekly WordPress Core, Theme & Plugin updates
• Install a firewall to improve your websites security and monitor for malware 24/7
• Delete any spam comments on your WordPress blog
• Speed up page loading times
• Improve your search visibility

Our great value monthly plans range from just £35 per month – a small price to pay to ensure your website stays up to date and secure.

What will your WordPress New Year’s Resolution be?