A website is not a one-time deliverable. Frameworks release security fixes, certificates expire, plugins get abandoned and forms quietly stop sending email. A short, repeatable monthly check catches these problems while they are still cheap to fix.
1. Updates
- Apply security and version updates to the CMS, framework, plugins and dependencies — on a staging copy first for anything business-critical.
- Remove plugins and packages you no longer use; every extra component is extra attack surface.
2. Backups
- Confirm automated backups actually ran, covering both files and the database.
- Test a restore occasionally. A backup you have never restored is only a hope.
3. Security
- Check when the SSL/TLS certificate expires.
- Review admin accounts and remove people who no longer need access; enable two-factor authentication.
- Look for unexpected file changes or unfamiliar admin users.
4. Performance and uptime
- Review uptime-monitor reports and error logs for repeating problems.
- Run Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights on your main pages and compare with last month.
5. Functionality
- Submit every contact and checkout form and confirm the notification email arrives.
- Click through your most important user journey on desktop and mobile.
6. Search and analytics
- Check Google Search Console for new crawl errors or indexing problems.
- Confirm analytics is still recording conversions.
Keep a simple log of what you checked and what changed. After three months it becomes your best evidence of how the site behaves — and the fastest way to diagnose the day something does go wrong.