How to audit a WordPress Website
Ensure the Smooth Operation of Your WordPress Website through Regular Audits
Regularly auditing your WordPress website is crucial to maintaining its optimal performance and security. Our comprehensive guide will walk you through the step-by-step process of auditing your website, covering everything from checking broken links to evaluating security vulnerabilities. By following these steps, you can ensure that your website runs smoothly and securely.
What is a WordPress Audit?
A WordPress audit involves conducting a thorough checkup of your website to ensure everything is functioning correctly. This includes identifying and fixing broken links, assessing security vulnerabilities, and evaluating your site’s overall performance. Audits can be performed manually or with the assistance of automated tools.
Why Audit Your WordPress Website?
Regularly auditing your WordPress website is important for several reasons. Firstly, it helps you detect and resolve any issues that may impact your site’s performance. Secondly, it enables you to identify security vulnerabilities, allowing you to take proactive measures to protect your site from potential attacks. Additionally, auditing your website improves the overall user experience, thereby enhancing your conversion rate. Lastly, by identifying and rectifying potential SEO problems, auditing can contribute to improving your search engine ranking.
How to Audit a WordPress Website?
There are various methods to audit a WordPress website. In this guide, we will walk you through a step-by-step manual audit process. However, you can also utilize automated tools that streamline and expedite the auditing process.
Front-End Audit
The first step in auditing your WordPress website is to evaluate its front-end. This involves assessing the design, usability, and overall user experience of your site. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is my site easy to navigate?
- Do all the links on my site work?
- Is my site’s design professional and up-to-date?
- Does my site load quickly?
- Are there any broken images or errors on my site?
To begin, load your website in a web browser and explore it thoroughly. Test all the links to ensure they function correctly. You can also leverage tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to assess your site’s loading speed and identify potential optimization opportunities.
Back-End Audit
Once you have evaluated the front-end of your site, proceed to the back-end assessment, focusing on security, performance, and overall health. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and examine the following:
- Are all WordPress core files up-to-date?
- Do I have any inactive or unused plugins installed?
- Are there any installed themes that I am not utilizing?
- Have I established strong passwords for all user accounts?
- Am I using a secure WordPress hosting provider?
Broken Links (404s)
Broken links refer to links that lead to non-existent pages. They may occur due to page deletion or relocation or due to incorrect URL entry.
To identify broken links on your WordPress website, employ tools like Screaming Frog, which crawl your site and detect any broken links. Once you have compiled a list of broken links, proceed to fix them.
To fix a broken link, locate the correct URL and update the corresponding link on your website. Alternatively, you can implement a 301 redirect to redirect the old URL to the new one.
If you encounter a substantial number of broken links, consider optimizing your permalinks. Permalinks are the URLs of your pages and posts, and incorrectly configured permalinks can lead to broken links.
To optimize your permalinks, navigate to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard. From there, select the appropriate permalink structure for your website.
Security Vulnerabilities
The next step in auditing your WordPress website is to scrutinize it for security vulnerabilities. WordPress websites are frequently targeted by hackers and malware, necessitating vigilant security measures.
To check for security vulnerabilities, leverage tools such as WPScan, which scans your website for known security vulnerabilities. If any vulnerabilities are
discovered, promptly update your WordPress version and plugins. Additionally, consider installing a security plugin like Wordfence to fortify your website’s protection.
While updating your WordPress version and plugins is crucial, it is equally important to ensure the security of your hosting environment. Contact your hosting provider to inquire about their security measures and look for hosting options that offer features such as firewalls and malware scanning. Cloud hosting configurations often provide these security features, making them an advantageous choice.
Backups
Creating backups of your WordPress website is another vital step in the auditing process. Backups serve as copies of your website that can be used to restore it in case of any mishaps. Several methods can be employed to create backups:
- Use a plugin like BackupBuddy to generate a zip file of your website and store it on your server.
- Utilize a service like VaultPress to create a backup of your website.
However, creating backups alone is insufficient. It is essential to regularly test your backups to ensure they can be successfully restored if needed. You can accomplish this by restoring your backup to a staging site, which is a replica of your live website used for testing purposes. Plugins like WP Staging can assist you in creating a staging site and conducting backup tests.
Content Audit
To comprehensively audit your WordPress website, assess your content, encompassing both text and media elements. Performing a content audit involves reviewing all the content on your website and evaluating its quality. During the audit, check for spelling errors, grammar mistakes, and broken links.
After reviewing the content, proceed with making necessary changes. This may involve updating the text, adding new media, or removing irrelevant content. Keeping your content up-to-date is crucial as outdated content can negatively impact the professionalism of your website and lead to broken links.
To facilitate content management and ensure timely updates, consider implementing a content calendar. Content calendars provide a structured plan for publishing new content on your website. Plugins like CoSchedule can aid in creating and managing content calendars efficiently. Additionally, establishing a content workflow using tools like Trello can help you track and manage your content effectively.
Caching
Implementing caching techniques can significantly enhance your website’s speed and performance. Caching involves storing static files on your server, eliminating the need for your website to generate them from scratch for each visitor.
You can enable caching on your WordPress website by utilizing plugins like LiteSpeed Cache. This plugin caches your pages and posts as static files. After installation, configure the plugin according to your preferences.
Another method to cache your WordPress website is by employing a content delivery network (CDN). CDNs are networks of servers that deliver content to your visitors efficiently. To utilize a CDN, sign up for an account with a CDN provider and configure it accordingly.
Performance
Evaluating your website’s performance is crucial during the auditing process. Performance refers to the speed at which your website loads. To improve performance, focus on optimizing your images, CSS, and JavaScript.
Use plugins such as WP Smush to optimize your images by reducing their file sizes without compromising quality. Additionally, plugins like Autoptimize can help optimize your CSS and JavaScript files.
SEO Audit
Conducting an SEO audit is the final step in auditing your WordPress website. SEO aims to optimize your website for search engines like Google. To perform an SEO audit, employ tools like SEMRush to identify and resolve any SEO issues on your website.
In Conclusion
Regularly auditing your WordPress website is crucial to ensure its smooth operation. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can proactively identify and address potential issues before they cause significant damage.
If you require assistance with auditing your WordPress website, feel free to contact us at info@sitebuilderdesign.net. Our team will be delighted to guide you through the auditing process and help you resolve any issues that may arise.
WordPress Audit FAQs
Now that you have learned how to audit a WordPress website, you may have some lingering questions. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions regarding WordPress audits:
- How often should I audit my WordPress website? It is recommended to audit your WordPress website at least once a month. However, if you frequently make changes to your website, more frequent audits may be beneficial.
- What should I look for when auditing my WordPress website? When auditing your WordPress website, pay attention to potential security vulnerabilities. Check if your WordPress version and plugins are up to date. Additionally, create regular backups of your website and ensure they can be restored successfully.
- How can I prevent security vulnerabilities on my WordPress website? To prevent security vulnerabilities, keep your WordPress version and plugins up to date. Install security plugins like Wordfence or VaultPress. Moreover, choose a secure hosting environment with features such as firewalls and malware scanning.
- What are some common WordPress audit problems? Common WordPress audit problems include outdated software, security vulnerabilities, and broken links. Regular audits help identify and resolve these issues before they cause significant harm.
- How do I fix WordPress audit problems? Following the steps outlined in this guide is the best approach to fixing WordPress audit problems. By conducting regular audits, you can promptly identify potential issues and take necessary actions to address them.
Conducting regular audits of your WordPress website is crucial for maintaining its optimal performance and security. By proactively identifying and resolving any issues, you can ensure a smooth and secure experience for your website visitors.
If you require assistance with auditing your WordPress website, do not hesitate to reach out to our team at SiteBuilder Design. We are here to support you throughout the auditing process and help you overcome any challenges you may encounter.