Launching your WordPress website is a big achievement — congratulations! 🎉
But once the site is live, it needs ongoing care to remain fast, secure, and trouble-free. Think of your website like a home: once you move in, you still need to clean, maintain, and look after it.
At zesha, we regularly help clients recover from avoidable issues like slow performance, broken pages, or hacked sites. The good news? With some simple best practices, you can keep your site running smoothly long after launch.
Here’s a friendly guide to help you maintain your WordPress website safely and easily.
🔒 1. Keep WordPress, Themes & Plugins Updated
One of the most important things you can do is keep everything updated.
Updates fix:
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Security vulnerabilities
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Bugs
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Compatibility issues
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Performance problems
Make sure to update:
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WordPress core
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Your theme
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All active plugins
Tip:
Avoid updating major versions during peak business hours. Always make sure you (or your developer) have recent backups before performing updates.
🧹 2. Remove Unused Themes and Plugins
Unused themes or plugins add risk — even when they’re inactive.
They can:
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Create security holes
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Slow down your dashboard
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Cause conflicts
If you’re not using it, delete it. Keeping only what’s necessary makes your site lighter and safer.
🛡️ 3. Use Wordfence for Website Security
When it comes to WordPress security, Wordfence is one of the most trusted and comprehensive tools available.
Wordfence provides:
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A powerful firewall
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Login protection
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Malware scanning
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Alerts for suspicious changes
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Two-factor authentication features
It acts as a shield for your site and helps prevent unauthorized access.
Note:
At zesha, we also run regular malware scans on our servers as a best-effort measure to keep our hosting environment clean and safe. However, security inside your individual WordPress installation is still your responsibility — and Wordfence is the recommended tool for that.
🔑 4. Use Strong Passwords & 2FA
Protect your logins, because most attacks start here.
Your WordPress admin password should:
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Be at least 12 characters
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Contain symbols, numbers, and a mix of letter cases
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Never be reused from other accounts
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) wherever possible. Even if someone guesses your password, they won’t be able to log in without your approval.
🗝️ 5. Keep Your cPanel Password Safe & Enable 2FA
Many clients forget that cPanel access is just as important as WordPress access.
With cPanel, someone can:
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Modify your files
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Access your email accounts
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Delete your database
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Edit configuration settings
So please ensure:
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Your cPanel password is strong and unique
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You change it periodically
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You enable 2FA inside your cPanel account
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You never share the password casually
Keeping cPanel secure is a critical part of keeping your website secure.
👨👩👧👦 6. Limit User Access in WordPress
Only give access to the people who really need it — and with the right user role.
Use:
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Administrator only for you or your developer
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Editor for content managers
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Author or Contributor for writers
Fewer admins = fewer risks.
📦 7. Backup Your Website Regularly
Backups are your safety net when something goes wrong — whether from a bad plugin update, accidental deletion, or unexpected issues.
A good backup strategy includes:
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Weekly backups for normal sites
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Daily backups for busy or e-commerce sites
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Off-site backup storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, etc.)
Plugins like UpdraftPlus work well for automated backups.
If anything breaks, a backup can save hours (or days) of work.
🚀 8. Keep Your Website Fast & Optimized
A well-maintained site isn’t just safer — it’s also faster.
To keep things running smoothly:
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Use a caching plugin
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Optimize your images
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Avoid heavy, bloated plugins
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Keep your database clean
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Use a CDN if you receive global traffic
Speed matters for both user experience and SEO.
🔍 9. Regularly Monitor Your Website
Once a month, take a few minutes to check on your website’s health.
Look for:
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Broken links
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Outdated plugins
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Suspicious activity alerts from Wordfence
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Spam comments
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Pages loading slowly
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Forms not sending emails
These quick checks help catch issues early before they become problems.
Final Thoughts
Launching your WordPress site is just the beginning. With the right habits — updates, backups, strong passwords, and basic monitoring — you can keep your site secure and running smoothly for years.
If you’re not comfortable managing things yourself, it’s best to retain your developer or set up an annual maintenance contract (AMC). A well-maintained site always performs better, stays more secure, and builds trust with your visitors.
If you need guidance, the zesha team is here to help point you in the right direction.
