5 Ways to Future Proof Your WordPress Website
There is no denying that the WordPress ecosystem is evolving, changing, and growing. From the moment you launch your site, you’ll start to feel the tremors of its development as more and more security issues, performance problems, and endless updates loom on the horizon. Thanks to the incredible openness of the community and the tireless work of talented developers, there are many ways to keep your site looking fresh and up-to-date as new content and features are constantly being added. With this in mind, let’s take a quick look at how you can future-proof your WordPress installation and website.
1. Create Backup Copies Of Your Site
You’ll eventually hit a point where you realize that your site is no longer functional or usable. Maybe you update a key formula that causes all of your site’s income to be wiped out. Or perhaps you add a new feature that backfires and hinders the experience of your users. Whatever the case may be, you’ll need a way to restore your site to a previous state. Luckily, the community-driven WordPress project, Backup Buddy, makes this task much simpler. For only $5 a month, you can have a copy of your entire WordPress site, stored in a secure location, backed up to the cloud. If you’re looking for a free trial or want to see how Backup Buddy can help you, go ahead and try them out today.
2. Install A Script That Automates Key Tasks
WordPress is incredibly flexible, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you have an incredible amount of freedom in terms of what you can do with it. On the other hand, this flexibility means that you’ll have to do a lot of the work manually. For example, if you want to update your store’s prices, you’ll have to visit each individual product and change its price. Or if you want to remove all of the products from your store that are sold out, you’ll have to go through all of your existing inventory and check off the sold-out items. This process, while not difficult, is nevertheless a lot of work that can be automated with a little bit of ingenuity. One of the best things you can do for your website and its future is to install a WordPress plugin that can automate certain tasks. For example, if you want to quickly and easily create a backup of your site, you can use a plugin to do this for you. The same goes for installing a coupon code that gives your customers discounts or setting up a product review system that automatically grabs product images from your site and adds them to your review.
3. Integrate With External Services
External services, such as Google Analytics and Suche, can be incredibly helpful in terms of understanding your site’s performance and figuring out ways to make it better. However, these services can also pose a threat to your site’s integrity and data if they are not integrated correctly into your WordPress installation. Having these services directly accessible from within your site, via a dedicated link or a widget, is the simplest and most convenient way to keep track of your site’s analytics and search engine rankings. By directly integrating these services into your site, you make sure that no matter what happens, your site’s data will always be accurate. Moreover, you can use tools, such as Link Monitoring and Link Building Software, to easily find and connect with other websites that are relevant to your business.
4. Use A Content Management System (CMS) To Rebuild And Updating Your Site
A content management system (CMS) is an application or platform that helps you create and maintain your site without needing to know how to code. Some of the most popular and well-known content management systems include, but are not limited to, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. A CMS makes it simple for anyone to update and maintain your site. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can have an experienced developer do any sort of modification or update that you could desire. And to top it off, you can even go through and make some quick bucks by putting your own ads on your site.
5. Integrate With Social Media To Get The Word Out About Your Business
While word-of-mouth is still considered to be the most effective (and free) form of advertising, social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, have taken the internet by storm. To grab the attention of potential customers, post regularly on social media about your products and services. This will not only get your name out there, but it will also expose your business to countless people. Moreover, you can also take advantage of the fact that social media users are already on your site and use the platform to drive business. Simply put, by integrating with social media, you’ll be able to take your business to the next level and make it globally recognized. A good example of this would be Subway’s use of TikTok.
Overall, trying to figure out ways to future-proof your WordPress website can be quite the challenge. However, with a little bit of ingenuity, research, and a bit of luck, you can have a site that is as useful and functional today as it was the day you launched. Moreover, with new features, design elements, and performance enhancing technologies added every day, it’s pretty safe to assume that your site will still be functioning a year from now.