It’s officially the halfway point of the year—how’s your WordPress site holding up? If you’re like most business owners, bloggers, or ecommerce operators, chances are you’ve been focused on running your business, not babysitting your website. But just like a car needs regular oil changes, your WordPress site needs a mid-year tune-up to stay healthy, secure, and high-performing.
As the highest rated WordPress support company on Google Reviews we help businesses across North America keep their WordPress websites running like a dream all year long. Whether you’re managing a WooCommerce store, a service-based site, or a content-driven blog, this mid-year website maintenance checklist is designed to get your site back in peak condition before things get hectic in Q4.
Why a Mid-Year Website Tune-Up Matters
Let’s be honest—six months on the internet is a long time. Plugins get outdated, security threats evolve, your SEO can start slipping, and your site might feel slower than it did in January. If you haven’t been doing regular maintenance on a weekly or monthly. basis a mid-year tune-up is your chance to course-correct and set your site up for success in the second half of 2025.
Plus, a tune-up is a smart way to:
- Catch and fix performance issues
- Prevent security vulnerabilities
- Improve load times and user experience
- Enhance your SEO visibility
- Ensure plugins and themes are updated and compatible
- Clean up clutter that could be weighing down your site
Step 1: Backup Everything
Before doing anything, make sure your website is backed up. Whether you use your hosting provider’s built-in tools or a third-party plugin, having a full backup—including database and files—is non-negotiable. At Total WP Support, we offer automated daily, weekly, and real-time backups as part of all our WordPress maintenance plans.
Bonus tip: Make sure you can easily restore your site from a back up with one click if needed.
Step 2: Update WordPress Core, Themes, and Plugins
Outdated software is the #1 way hackers gain access to WordPress sites. By mid-year, chances are a few updates have piled up. Head into your dashboard and update:
- The WordPress core (unless you’re already on auto-updates)
- All active and inactive plugins
- Your themes—even the ones you are not actively using
If you’re not sure which updates are safe or you run a complex site, consider using a staging environment or letting a pro handle it. We routinely test all updates before pushing them live for our clients.
Step 3: Audit Your Plugins and Themes
Now is a great time to clean house. Do you still need that plugin you installed for a single project back in February? Too many active plugins can slow down your site and increase the risk of conflicts or vulnerabilities.
Look for:
- Inactive plugins or themes that can be deleted
- Plugins that haven updates available
- Duplicate functionality (e.g., two SEO plugins)
Step 4: Test Your Site Speed
Page speed is a Google ranking factor and a major part of user experience. Use tools like GTMetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights, or WebPageTest to identify what’s slowing your site down.
Look out for:
- Large images
- Render-blocking scripts
- Uncached pages
- Unoptimized database
If you’re struggling to make sense of the reports, our WordPress speed optimization service is designed to boost your scores and real-world performance.
Step 5: Check for Broken Links
Broken links hurt SEO and frustrate visitors. Run your site through a free link checker like BrokenLinkCheck.com or use a plugin like Broken Link Checker to find and fix errors.
Be sure to check:
- Internal links to outdated content
- Affiliate links
- External sources that have moved or disappeared
Step 6: Improve Mobile Responsiveness
More than 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. Mid-year is a good time to double-check how your site looks and behaves on phones and tablets. Try rotating your screen, zooming, and navigating with one hand. Is everything fast, tappable, and intuitive?
If not, Total WP Support can help optimize your site for mobile responsiveness using the latest design techniques and WordPress best practices.
Step 7: Run a Security Scan
Security isn’t a one-time task. Mid-year, it’s smart to run a malware scan and check for file integrity issues. Plugins like Wordfence, iThemes Security, or Sucuri can help, but nothing beats having a human expert review your site for red flags.
Our maintenance clients enjoy real-time security monitoring, malware detection, and automatic alerts if something suspicious happens.
Step 8: Review Google Search Console and Analytics
Has your traffic gone up, down, or sideways? Mid-year is a great checkpoint for checking in on your performance in Google. Head to Google Search Console and Google Analytics (or GA4) to review:
- Top performing pages
- Traffic sources
- Mobile vs desktop performance
- 404 errors or crawl issues
If something looks off, it might be time to revisit your SEO strategy, refresh content, or tweak internal linking.
Step 9: Refresh Your Content
Chances are some of your pages or blog posts are outdated. Look for opportunities to:
- Add new stats, examples, or visuals
- Update service offerings or product info
- Merge underperforming content
- Improve title tags and meta descriptions
Refreshing old content is one of the easiest ways to improve rankings without starting from scratch.
Step 10: Evaluate Your Hosting
Finally, don’t forget about the foundation your site is built on: your web hosting. Is your site slow during traffic spikes? Are you having trouble getting support when something breaks? If so, it might be time to switch.
We host all client sites on lightning-fast Flywheel servers with top-tier performance, backups, and security built in. It’s part of our all-in-one solution that keeps your WordPress site safe, speedy, and scalable.
Need Help With Your Mid-Year WordPress Tune-Up?
Whether you’re short on time, overwhelmed by tech stuff, or just want peace of mind, Total WP Support has you covered. Our expert team can run a full mid-year audit, take care of all the tasks above, and keep your site humming into Q4 and beyond.
Contact us today to book your mid-year WordPress maintenance checkup—or sign up for one of our affordable plans and let us do it for you on autopilot.
Ready to Tune Up Your Site? Let’s Do This.
Don’t wait for things to break. A mid-year WordPress website tune-up is one of the best ways to protect your digital presence, keep your SEO strong, and provide an awesome experience for your visitors. Whether you’re running a WooCommerce store, a blog, or a service-based business, a few hours of maintenance now can save you from massive headaches later.
Need expert help? We’re just a click away. Let’s tune up your WordPress site today.