How to Have a Website Down for Maintenance in WordPress
The purpose of this post is to provide helpful information on how to have a website down for maintenance in WordPress.
Step one: Make Sure Your Website Is Ready For Visitors
Before you begin your website redesign or maintenance project, you need to make sure that your original site is in good condition and ready for visitors. Start by making sure that all of the necessary hosting options are available and that the server is running smoothly. While it would be amazing to have the world’s best web host, it is not necessary for a basic website.
Look into the performance of your website, especially with mobile users: is your page rendering fast on mobile devices? Are users able to navigate your site easily? Does everything seem to be functioning correctly? Once you have answered these basic questions, you can move on to the more advanced questions — like whether you should change the platform you are using (for example, from WordPress to Joomla) or whether you should develop a mobile app for your site.
Step two: Reduce Unnecessary Functionality
Now that you are confident that your site is in good condition, you can begin removing any unnecessary functions that you do not need. For example, if you are running a business online and do not need to take orders directly (you can handle all of this via a third party platform like Shopify or WooCommerce), you can remove the ordering system from your site.
You should remove any plugins from your site that you no longer need — especially in the case of any major redesign. If you do not need a certain plugin, you should remove it to give your site a fresh start and improve its performance.
Step three: Create a backup of your site before making any changes
If you have been running your site for some time, you probably already have a backup of your original site. However, it is always a good idea to create regular backups of your site. This way, if your website ever gets hacked or damaged by a third party, you can quickly restore it to its original state. With WordPress, there are several tools that you can use for backing up your site. Here are a few of the most popular ones:
- Backup Buddy
- WP-backup
- WPOI
- XCloner
- Website Backup
- All-in-One WP Backup
- One Click Website Backup
- BackWP
As you can see, there are several options here with some great features. However, the most basic option is probably the best one for most people. With Backup Buddy, all you need to do is install the plugin and activate it. Then, you can click on the “Start Monitoring” button to begin backing up your site automatically.
Step four: Plan for the redirection of old URLs
Once you have a backup of your site and you are sure that it is in good condition, you can begin planning for the redirection of old URLs. You should redirect all of the old URLs (that is, the URLs that used to point to your original site) to the new site. Depending on your type of business, you can choose to redirect the traffic from one page to another or from one channel to another. For example, if you are doing online retail and the old URLs pointed to a page selling jeans, you can redirect that page to the new site’s homepage.
There are several tools that you can use to easily set up the redirects for your old URLs. Here are a few of the most popular ones:
- Redirect Manager for WordPress (this is also available for Joomla and Drupal)
- Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
- HTTPS Everywhere
- WordPress SEO by Yoast
- W3 Total Cache
- All in One WP Migrator
- WP Address Book
- Google Analytics
- LiveChat Support
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- ConvertKit
- EMail Marketing
- MailChimp
- HubSpot
- Facebook Marketing
- Twitter Marketing
- Instagram Marketing
- Snapchat Marketing
- YouTube Marketing
- Podcast Marketing
- Dribbble Marketing
- Black Friday Deals
Step five: Test your new site before making it live
Once you have completed all of the steps mentioned above, it’s time to test your new site. To do this, you should use a tool like Alexa to check your site’s performance across different regions and countries. Testing with Alexa is very simple: all you need to do is install the Alexa toolbar on your web browser and then enter your website’s URL into the search bar.
If you are worried about making any mistakes during the testing phase, you can always go back and make changes. However, once you have confirmed that everything is functioning correctly, it’s time to move on to the final step.
Step six: Promote your new site in all the right places
Now that your site is ready for visitors, you need to promote it in all the right places. To do this, you must first establish a social media presence on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. From there, you can easily spread the word about your amazing new site.
Once you have hundreds or even thousands of followers on these platforms, it’s time to take it to the next level by establishing media campaigns. A media campaign is when you promote a product or service using various types of media channels.
To get started, simply choose an industry vertical like adult, technology, or gaming and begin forming strategic partnerships. For example, if you are in the gaming industry and have an amazing new game called “Fortnite,” you can partner with a gaming magazine to do a case study and write an article about your game. In exchange, the magazine will give you a free advertisement and put your game in their spotlight.
To make money online, you need to get creative. There are a variety of ways to make money online, even if you have a tiny blog. Some of the ways include charging for products like the free “WP Toolkit” or selling and displaying ads on your site. Whatever method you choose, establishing a presence on social media is a great place to start.