A website maintenance checklist keeps the enquiry path alive. It is not a 40-line ritual. Daily, weekly, and monthly is enough for a small business site, and anything that does not fit those three lists is a project.
Daily
Open the homepage on a phone. Send one test through the form, or place a tiny test only if you already have a safe way to void it. Confirm the phone number and the hours are the ones you are using this week. If the site is down, stop and send the address. The note for that morning is what a critical error means.
Weekly
Confirm a backup finished and that you know where it lives. Look at the form inbox so leads are not sitting in spam. Glance at Search Console only for a sudden drop or a security warning, not for a ranking you wish you had.
Monthly
Update WordPress, the theme, and the plugins, with a backup taken first. Remove users who left. Read the host’s bill so a card expiry does not take the site offline next week. Write down what changed.
A redesign, a migration, and a malware cleanup are not lines on this list. Website maintenance can hold the monthly work. The cost of that month is explained in what WordPress maintenance costs.
Questions
What should I check myself?
That the homepage loads, the form or checkout finishes, and the phone number on the page is still right. That takes five minutes.
How often should WordPress be updated?
Monthly is enough for a calm site, sooner when a security release is announced. Update on a copy first if the site is easy to break.
What is not maintenance?
A new design, a new shop, a move to a new host, and an ad account. Those are projects with their own scope.