Nothing is obviously broken. The site loads, the phone still rings, and nobody has complained. Yet you have a nagging feeling that the website has been left alone for too long, and you are not sure whether that feeling is worth acting on.
It usually is. Websites rarely fail all at once. They send small signals first, in places owners do not tend to look: an email from the host, a line on a dashboard screen, a footer that still shows a year long gone. This post collects the signs your website needs maintenance, grouped by where you would notice them, and gives each one a rough urgency so you know what to deal with today and what can wait for a proper review.
How to use this list
Go through each section and tick anything that applies. Then look at the urgency labels:
- Today means the problem is either already costing you or could become serious quickly.
- This month means it is a real issue, but you have time to arrange a fix properly.
- Next review means it is a sign of drift rather than damage, and belongs on a list for the next time someone looks over the site.
One tick in “next review” is normal for any site. Several ticks across the sections, or anything in “today”, means the site has gone without care for longer than is wise.
Signs you can see from the outside
These are visible to any visitor. Look at your site the way a first-time customer would, ideally on a phone.
Old dates and stale details (next review)
A copyright year in the footer that is several years old, an “upcoming event” that happened last spring, a “latest news” box whose newest item is from years ago. None of these break anything. They tell visitors nobody is looking after the place, and they tell you the same thing.
The layout jumps while the page loads (this month)
You go to tap a button and the page shifts, so you tap something else. Usually this comes from images or banners without fixed dimensions, or from scripts added over time that load late. It is irritating for visitors and it is one of the things Google measures when it assesses page experience.
Something looks slightly wrong on one browser or one phone (this month)
Icons missing on an iPhone, a menu that will not open on an older Android, a font that has fallen back to a plain default. Small inconsistencies often appear as browsers update and the site’s code does not.
Pages that used to exist now show “not found” (today, if they bring in business)
Click through from your own Google listing and from old social posts. If a page that once brought enquiries now returns an error, that traffic is being wasted every day.
Signs your website needs maintenance that arrive in your inbox
Many warnings come by email, often to an address nobody reads closely. Search your inbox, including spam and any shared mailbox, for messages from your host, your domain registrar, Google and WordPress itself.
Your host mentions resource limits or an old PHP version (this month)
Hosts send these notices before they act. A resource warning can mean a plugin is misbehaving, the site is being hammered by bots, or it has simply outgrown its plan. A PHP version notice usually means the host plans to retire that version, and some hosts move sites forward on a set date whether or not the site is ready.
WordPress emails about updates (this month, or today if one failed)
WordPress sends emails when it updates itself in the background, and also when an automatic update fails. A failure message means the site may be part-way through a change, and someone should look.
Search Console has written to you (this month, or today if it mentions security)
Google sends messages about pages it cannot index, manual actions and, most seriously, security issues. A security message goes straight to “today”.
Your backup tool reports failures, or has gone quiet (today)
If the backup plugin used to email reports and has stopped, find out why. Silence often means it was disconnected, ran out of storage or was deactivated. Until it is working again, you have no recent copy of the site.
You cannot find any renewal reminders at all (today)
Domain and hosting companies send reminders before a renewal is due. If you search and find none, the reminders are probably going to an address that no longer exists, perhaps a former employee’s or the original developer’s. Log in to the registrar and the host, update the contact email, and note the renewal dates yourself. An expired domain takes the website and every email address on it down together.
Form spam has suddenly increased (this month)
A jump in junk submissions often means a spam filter, CAPTCHA or form plugin has stopped working properly, or has fallen behind changes in how bots behave.
Signs in the WordPress dashboard
If you can log in, these are worth a five-minute look.
Site Health shows critical issues (this month)
Under Tools there is a Site Health screen that groups problems into critical issues and recommended improvements. Not every warning matters equally. The guide to which Site Health warnings matter separates the ones to act on from the ones you can safely ignore.
A plugin has not been updated by its author in a long time (this month)
On a plugin’s page in the WordPress.org directory, a notice appears when it has not been tested with recent major releases of WordPress. Plugins can also be closed and removed from the directory altogether. Either way, an abandoned plugin no longer receives fixes. The post on dealing with an abandoned plugin explains how to replace one safely.
The admin area is noticeably slow (this month)
If the dashboard takes much longer to load than the public site, something in the background is working too hard: an oversized database, a plugin running heavy tasks, or hosting that no longer fits the site.
You see users you do not recognise (today)
Go to Users and check every administrator. An admin account you cannot explain is not a maintenance sign. It is a possible security incident, and it should be investigated before anything else.
Deactivated plugins and unused themes are piling up (next review)
A deactivated plugin still sits in the site’s files, and if it has a security flaw, those files can sometimes still be reached directly. Unused themes are the same. Clearing them out reduces risk and makes updates quicker.
Signs in your business numbers
These do not point to a specific fault, but they are often the first place a problem shows.
- Calls are steady but form enquiries have dropped (today). If people still find you but stop writing, test the form before you blame the market.
- Visits from search have fallen and stayed down (this month). Many things cause this, from a search update to a technical fault such as pages blocked from indexing. A technical check rules out the second kind.
- Customers mention a problem you did not know about (today). If customers are telling you, the site has no monitoring, or nobody reads it.
- Ad spend is the same but results have dropped (today, if ads lead to the site). Check that the landing page still loads quickly and the form or button still works.
When the website needs attention more than a tidy-up
Some combinations point to a deeper problem than ordinary upkeep. If you ticked several “today” items, or if the site has had no updates for a long time and also shows strange behaviour such as redirects to other sites or pages you did not create, treat it as an investigation rather than routine work. Check backups exist before anyone starts changing things.
If most of your ticks are “this month” and “next review”, the site has simply been left alone. That is very common and very fixable. The useful question then is how often it should be looked at from now on, which is covered in the post on setting the right pace for upkeep. Whether you bring in a freelancer, train someone in the office or hire a web maintenance agency, someone needs to own the list.
A short record to keep
Whatever you find, write it down with the date: the sign, where you saw it, and what you did. This short record is useful to anyone who works on the site later, and it helps you see whether the same problem keeps coming back. A sign that returns every few months usually has a cause nobody has found yet.
Getting an outside view
If you ran through this list and are not sure what your ticks add up to, our free website health check looks at the same areas from the technical side and gives you a plain list of what needs doing, in order, with no commitment to have us do any of it.
Next in this series: Who Is Responsible for Website Maintenance?
