Technical Checks – Ensure Your Website is Fast and Secure

A well-built website must be fast, secure, and reliable. Before launching, it’s essential to perform technical checks to avoid issues that could harm your SEO rankings or user experience. This article covers backups, security, and speed optimisation for small business websites.

Why Technical Checks Matter

Your website is often the first impression customers have of your business. A slow or insecure website can lead to lost visitors, poor search rankings, and even data breaches.

Step 1: Set Up Daily Backups

Backups ensure you can quickly recover your website if something goes wrong, such as a hack or plugin failure. Popular backup plugins include:

• UpdraftPlus: Automated daily backups to cloud storage.
• BlogVault: Real-time backups with easy site restoration.
• Jetpack Backup: Simple and reliable backup solution.

Step 2: Install Security Plugins

Security is non-negotiable. WordPress websites are frequent targets for attacks, but you can prevent most issues with the right security measures:

• Wordfence: Provides firewall protection and malware scanning.
• Solid Security Pro: Locks down vulnerabilities and enforces strong passwords.

With both of these plugins, you can enable 2FA to improve the security of your user logins.

Step 3: Test Website Speed

Website speed has a direct impact on both SEO and user experience. Tools like GTmetrix and Google PageSpeed Insights help you identify performance issues.

Some speed optimisation tips include:

• Use a caching plugin, such as WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache.
• Optimise images for web use.
• Enable a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster global load times.

We also offer services to speed up and optimise your WordPress websites.

Step 4: Uptime Monitoring

Monitor your website’s availability with tools like UptimeRobot or Pingdom. These services alert you if your site goes down, allowing for quick response times.

Common Technical Issues

• Unsecured login pages or weak passwords.
• Outdated plugins and themes that pose security risks.
• Excessive use of large media files is slowing the site.

FAQs

Next Steps

These technical checks are part of the bigger picture of website optimisation. Refer to our Small Business Website Launch Checklist for a comprehensive approach to building a high-performing website.

Need technical help? Explore our website for care and maintenance plans.