10 Ten-Minute Tasks to Keep Your Website in Top Shape
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When you have a website, there’s always something that needs to be done. You may not have a solid chunk of time to devote to website tasks, but that’s no reason to just let things go.
Here are 10 website tasks you can do in ten minutes or less to keep it current and running well.
- Review one of your key pages and make sure the information is up to date. Make a list of any changes you should consider.
- Look at one of your older blog posts and decide whether it needs to be updated or improved in some other way.
- Run a broken link check and fix three broken links.
- Schedule a few social media posts promoting some of your less recent but still relevant content.
- Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights and learn how you can make it load more quickly.
- Make sure your theme, plugins, and WordPress installation are up to date. If they aren’t, schedule a time to look after them.
- Find out whether your blog is well-organized by taking my blog navigation quiz.
- Check your list of authorized users and remove any that no longer need access to your site.
- Send an email inviting someone to write a guest post for your blog.
- Consider how much time and stress you’d save if you had a Website Care Plan.
I hope you find this post helpful! I wrote it as my contribution to this month’s Productivity & Organizing Blog Carnival, a pet project of mine since 2009. Be sure to check out the many submissions I received from my readers!
If you have a blog, consider participating in a future edition. It’s not just for organizing and productivity pros!
Photo by ufabizphoto / DepositPhotos
Thanks for this quick pick list! I definitely need to check in on my website more often and this list will relive me of the overwhelm of where to start.
Yes! Because doing something is better than doing nothing.
What great tips! I’ve run the broken link programs from time to time and will admit that they feel overwhelming. I know you suggest fixing three at a time, which makes this more doable. The programs I’ve tried are not as specific as I’d like…as in they don’t point directly to the broken link, but only point to the page. That makes the process much harder. I will give the program you suggested a try to see if it’s any easier.
I have the same problem on Your Organizing Business – and it’s probably true of any blog that’s been around for a while. I was putting off dealing with them until I had several hours to spend on the task, but now I just run the checker and deal with what I can within whatever time I have. It’s a never-ending project, really.
The broken links are still an issue for me. I do love your suggestion of doing just three at a sitting. I haven’t gotten into that groove. However, when I discover broken links while visiting pages on my site, I fix them. It’s a more random approach but it’s better than doing nothing.
Also, I couldn’t resist taking your Blog Navigation quiz. According to the results, I did very well. Phew!
I think so too – better do a few than none at all!
Thanks for taking the quiz – congratulations on your results!
Perfect timing! I’m in the process of reviewing my entire website to make sure it’s up to date. These are great bite sized tasks that make it easier to handle.
That’s great! I love it when that happens, whether I’m doing the seeking or the sharing of information.
There’s not a single thing on this list that I don’t need to do! After 20 years, including 15 years of blogging, I have so many broken links that I can’t bear it. If I can find a replacement link (on the site, or on the Wayback Machine), then I go for it, but yes, tackling even three at a time is better than ignoring it. And I definitely need to try to do one page a day; someone commented on a page that’s been on my site for 20 years and only last year did I notice a typo!
You always give us the wisest, most actionable advice!
Don’t let the volume scare you off! It’s kind of fun when you get into it.
That’s funny that it took you that long to spot the typo. I once sent out an email with a mistake that I and two other people missed. After that, I stopped worrying about it.
A year and a half later and I am still working on those broken links! Slowly but surely. I wish my link checker plugin would let me sort by date of publication of the post with the error. That way I could focus on more recent years’ broken links. Ah, well.
Thanks for reminding us of the essentials!
Here’s a time-saving tip that you may have already thought of: Sort the broken links alphabetically by URL so if you have multiples pointing to the same website they’ll all be listed together. I find it makes it easier that way because you usually have to take the same or a similar action for each one.
Well these are quick and easy. I think I’ll focus on # 2, #3, and #4. I have been in process on going through the older blogs, updating them, improving their “back-end” and re-sharing. Little projects like these are very helpful, Janet. Thanks for sharing them!
I’m glad you’re finding them helpful, Seana. Thanks for sharing your next steps!
Great, easy tips, Janet! Another thing to do is visit your comment section and see if all the people who commented and linked to their website are not broken links. I found several lovely people who changed businesses or websites, and their website page link did not forward to a new website. It was pretty easy to correct. You need to search for the URL or name of the person, and all of their comments will appear. Then, press the Xs next to the URL to remove the websites.
Yes, that happens a lot, doesn’t it?
Great tips Janet, and the order you have them makes it easy to follow. As organizers and bloggers, we need to keep our info up to date.
Thanks! I appreciate your feedback.